US aid suspension costs Ghana $78m, Mahama tells World Health Assembly

President John Dramani Mahama has disclosed that Ghana has lost about $78 million following the decision by the United States to suspend aid support to some African countries.

Delivering a keynote address at the 79th World Health Assembly in Geneva on Monday, May 18, Mr Mahama said the development had dealt a significant blow to Ghana’s healthcare sector and broader development agenda.

“In Ghana, health financing from bilateral and multilateral partners has significantly decreased since 2025. Ghana lost $78 million in health funding following the closure of US aid programmes,” he told the Assembly.

“These monies went into malaria programmes, maternal and child health, nutrition, HIV/AIDS programmes, including testing and the delivery of antiretroviral drugs,” he added.

The President, who is attending the global health gathering to advocate greater health sovereignty for countries in the Global South, also expressed concern over the steady decline in international health support since the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to him, global health assistance has declined by about 40 per cent since the pandemic, with Ghana among the countries heavily affected by the reduction in funding.

Six years after the last global pandemic, COVID-19, the world health architecture is changing rapidly. Overall, humanitarian assistance is reported to have declined by 40 per cent, and some of the largest Western economies have significantly cut their overseas development assistance,” he said.

Mr Mahama further noted that the budget of the World Health Organisation had also been severely affected by the withdrawal of US support.

“The World Health Organisation’s budget has been gutted by the withdrawal of US assistance, forcing the organisation to scale down programmes and undertake staff retrenchment,” he stated.

Mr Mahama stressed the need for African countries to strengthen domestic healthcare systems and reduce overreliance on foreign assistance in order to safeguard public health delivery.

The 79th World Health Assembly has brought together world leaders, policymakers, and health experts to deliberate on pressing global health challenges and sustainable healthcare financing.

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