President Mahama discusses health cooperation with UN, ALMA officials
President John Dramani Mahama has held talks with top global health leaders at the Jubilee House, focused on improving public health cooperation, strengthening immunisation systems, and combating HIV/AIDS and malaria across the African continent.
The delegation included Madam Winnie Byanyima, UN Under-Secretary-General and UNAIDS Executive Director, and Madam Joy Phumaphi, Executive Secretary of the African Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA).
President Mahama, who is championing the Accra Reset, a bold Africa-led initiative designed to reimagine the global health architecture, reiterated the need for Africa to champion its own vaccine production.
He briefed the delegation on the Accra Reset, which he initiated in 2025 to serve as a Global South response to structural inequities in international cooperation, aimed at moving African countries and other Global South nations away from traditional aid dependency toward multidimensional sovereignty.
He said Ghana had embarked on an ambitious initiative to enhance local production of vaccines.
President Mahama also informed the UN officials about the launch of the Free Primary Health Care programme in Ghana, describing it as part of efforts to accelerate the country’s progress toward Universal Health Coverage.
He explained that under the programme, all citizens were eligible for free basic medical services at primary facilities such as CHPS compounds and polyclinics, without the need for a health insurance card.
Madam Byanyima commended President Mahama for championing health sovereignty both on the African continent and on the global stage.
The talks came as Ghana hosts an Extraordinary Session of the African Union Assembly of Heads of State and Government in Accra, bringing together African leaders for deliberations on measures to strengthen healthcare systems and advance Universal Health Coverage across the continent.
The two-day summit, which ends on Wednesday, July 22, 2026, is being held under the theme “Advancing Justice, Equity and Universal Health Coverage: Ending AIDS, TB, Improving Maternal Health, Addressing Endemic Non-Communicable and Neglected Tropical Diseases and Conditions in Africa.”
Participants at the summit include Ministers of Health, Finance and Foreign Affairs, the African Union Commission, Regional Economic Communities, development partners, civil society organisations, youth representatives and private sector stakeholders.
Richard Aniagyei, ISD
