President John Dramani Mahama has explained Ghana’s decision to reject a proposed health compact with the United States, citing concerns over health data, counterpart funding and the regulation of medicines entering the country.
The agreement was proposed as an alternative mechanism for providing health support previously channelled through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
However, President Mahama said Ghana’s Ministry of Health reviewed the proposed compact and presented its concerns to Cabinet, which subsequently rejected the arrangement.
Speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, President Mahama said some of the provisions required Ghana to provide the United States with its pathogen profile and medical records.
He questioned the basis for such requirements, saying they raised concerns about the handling and protection of Ghana’s health information.
“It states that we shall give the United States our pathogen profile. It also says we should give our medical records. I mean, who takes another country’s medical records?” he said.
The President further said the proposed agreement required Ghana to provide counterpart funding, while medicines and other medical products supplied under the arrangement would not be subject to inspection by the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA).
He described the conditions as unacceptable and said Cabinet moved quickly to reject the compact after the Ministry of Health raised the concerns.
“It was humiliating. And so it was the compact that was thrown out in record time in our Cabinet. I’ve never seen anything thrown out as fast as that,” President Mahama said.
The proposed compact was part of a US initiative to provide $100 million in health funding to some African countries considered among the worst affected by cuts in US aid.
The funding was intended to support public health systems and strengthen efforts to respond to disease outbreaks.
