Ghana’s John Mahama Calls for Stronger African Health Systems as Aid Cuts Deepen
Ghanaian President John Mahama has called for greater investment in Africa’s pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity, arguing that declining foreign aid makes it increasingly important for countries to strengthen their own health systems.
This story is written and edited by Global South World
Speaking at the Alamein Africa Forum on Saturday, Mahama said African countries spend tens of billions of dollars annually importing medicines and vaccines, while traditional donor funding for health programmes continues to decline.
“African pharmaceuticals represent a high-yield, resilient sector that is ready and open for investment,” Mahama said, pointing to the continent’s growing population and the African Continental Free Trade Area as opportunities to expand local production.
He said greater domestic manufacturing could improve health security, create jobs and retain skilled workers. Citing WHO figures, Mahama said Africa faces a shortage of six million health workers while nearly one million trained healthcare professionals and science graduates remain unemployed.
Mahama also argued that local production would reduce costs and help prevent African countries from being pushed to the back of the queue for lifesaving medicines and vaccines during health emergencies, as experienced during COVID-19 and Ebola outbreaks.
He called for stronger investment mechanisms, faster implementation of the African Medicines Agency and increased capacity to produce active pharmaceutical ingredients on the continent.
“Let us stop treating health as a line item expense in our budget,” Mahama said. “Let us build the factories, integrate supply chains, fund innovators, and secure our citizens’ future.”
The three-day Alamein Africa Forum began on Friday in New Alamein, Egypt, bringing together around 1,500 officials, business leaders, investors and representatives of financial institutions from across Africa.
This article was originally published by Global South World and is republished here with permission. View the original article.
Global South World was created to address the emergence of influential nations outside traditional power structures in geopolitics. Our mission is to amplify voices from the Global South and raise awareness of changes and trends in those countries.