NewzGhana has renewed its call for a country-led global health system, with Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh telling the World Health Summit in Berlin that international health policies must be shaped with countries rather than imposed on them. His remarks come after the government rejected a proposed US$109 million health compact with the United States, citing concerns about provisions involving Ghana’s health data, financing obligations and regulatory authority. Addressing the summit in Germany, Mr Akandoh said countries must have a central role in determining the future of global health.
“The answer from Ghana is a clear one. Global health must not be designed for countries; it must be designed with countries and led by countries,” he said. The position reflects the government’s emphasis on health sovereignty, including protecting national decision-making authority and strengthening domestic capacity to finance and manage healthcare.
Ghana rejected the proposed five-year US health compact in April 2026 after reviewing its terms. President John Dramani Mahama subsequently explained that the agreement raised concerns over requirements relating to Ghana’s pathogen profile and citizens’ medical records. He also cited proposed counterpart funding obligations and provisions he said would restrict the Food and Drugs Authority’s ability to inspect medicines and other medical products supplied under the programme.
The proposed agreement was intended to provide about US$109 million in American health assistance over five years, as Washington sought to restructure aspects of its foreign health support and require recipient countries to assume greater responsibility for financing their health programmes. The government’s rejection brought into focus the tension between securing external health financing and protecting national control over sensitive data, health regulation and policy decisions. The issue remains open to further discussion.
On October 10, President Mahama disclosed that the United States had approached Ghana to review the rejected compact, with the government prepared to engage on provisions it considers unacceptable. At the Berlin summit, Mr Akandoh said Ghana’s position was consistent with President Mahama’s earlier address in Accra, which he described as a call to move “from dependency to dignity, from fragmentation to solidarity, from the promi… President John Dramani Mahama has been honoured at the 2026 World Health Summit in Berlin, Germany, for what organisers described as his “outstanding leadership and commitment to advancing global health”.
The award, a Berliner Bär bearing the World Health Summit insignia, was presented to Ghana’s Minister of Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, who received it on the President’s behalf. The accompanying plaque read: “To His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, President of the Republic of Ghana, in recognition of his outstanding leadership and commitment to advancing global health.” The presenter, identified as Axel, asked the minister to convey the organisers’ greetings to the President. In his address at the summit, Mr Akandoh called for a global health system in which countries have a stronger role in shaping priorities and decisions affecting their populations.
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