Ghana rejected a proposed United States health compact after Cabinet raised concerns over provisions involving health data, counterpart funding and the inspection of medical products, President John Mahama has said.
Mahama explained the decision during a conversation at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York on September 25. The proposed agreement was intended to replace health assistance previously provided through the United States Agency for International Development.
He said Ghana’s Ministry of Health reviewed the document before submitting an Information Paper to Cabinet, where several provisions were flagged.
Among the concerns, according to Mahama, were requirements for Ghana to provide the United States with its pathogen profile and medical records.
“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 said the proposed arrangement also required Ghana to provide a specified amount in counterpart funding. He added that medicines and other medical products supplied under the programme would not be subject to inspection by Ghana’s Food and Drugs Authority.
Describing the conditions as “humiliating”, Mahama said Cabinet rejected the compact and directed the Health Minister to inform the US ambassador that Ghana would proceed without the arrangement.
“We said ‘no, we don’t want it’ and we’re doing fine,” he said.
Ghana had earlier rejected the proposed agreement in 2026 after negotiations broke down over concerns about the sharing of sensitive health information. Reuters reported in April that the proposed five-year arrangement would have provided about $109 million in US health assistance.
Mahama linked the decision to the government’s Accra Reset initiative, which seeks to reduce dependence on external health financing and strengthen Africa’s capacity to produce medicines and vaccines.
He said the withdrawal of $174 million previously included in Ghana’s national budget created funding gaps in the health and education sectors, with the health sector facing an annual shortfall of about $74 million.
According to Mahama, the experience reinforced the need for African countries to develop stronger domestic capacity and more self-reliant health systems.
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