Mahama: Ghana to exit Gavi funding by 2030
President John Dramani Mahama has announced plans for Ghana to transition away from dependence on international vaccine support programmes by the end of the decade, describing the move as part of a broader push toward health independence and stronger local healthcare systems.
Addressing the 79th World Health Assembly in Geneva, the President said Ghana was steadily progressing toward ending its reliance on financial support from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, with the country targeting a full exit from the programme by 2030.
“Ghana, I am also happy to report, is on track to exit Gavi funding for vaccines by the year 2030, and we hope to transition into a donor in the not-too-distant future,” he announced.
Mr Mahama presented the development as a sign of Ghana’s growing capacity to finance and manage key areas of its healthcare system independently, particularly in vaccine procurement and immunisation delivery.
He linked the country’s progress to a larger continental agenda focused on reducing Africa’s vulnerability within the global health system, arguing that many developing nations remain overly dependent on external actors for essential healthcare needs.
Throughout his address, the President repeatedly stressed the importance of what he described as “health sovereignty”, the ability of countries to fund, regulate, and sustain their own healthcare systems without excessive dependence on foreign aid.
“A continent that manufactures less than one per cent of its vaccines while carrying 25 per cent of the global disease burden is not sovereign,” he said. “It is vulnerable. It is, at best, a ward of the international system.”
He clarified, however, that calls for self-reliance should not be mistaken for a rejection of international cooperation.
“By sovereignty, we do not mean isolationism,” he stated. “We are advocating the practical capacity of a nation to finance its own core functions, regulate its own quality, produce its own medicines and govern its own data.”
The President used the global platform to promote the “Accra Reset Initiative,” a reform agenda aimed at reshaping international health governance and strengthening healthcare systems across the Global South.
According to him, Ghana’s domestic gains in vaccine access and health financing provided the basis for the initiative.
“These domestic achievements are the foundation of my leadership of the Accra Reset Initiative,” he said.
Mr Mahama also expressed reservations about aspects of ongoing discussions surrounding reforms to the global health architecture, cautioning against efforts that merely preserve existing systems without addressing deeper structural problems.
“As a committed apostle of reform of the world health architecture, I’m concerned about whispers I have heard that the current draft resolution seeks to protect existing organisational mandates and prohibits the recommendation of measures or consolidations,” he stated.
Drawing on a proverb from Mali’s Dogon people, he warned against symbolic reforms that fail to produce meaningful change.
“In Mali, the Dogon people warn that: ‘Do not let the sight of those eating roasted maize force you to cook your maize seeds,’” he said.
“If we launch a process of reform that is prohibited from recommending actual reform, we are merely performing a ritual.”
The President further argued that global health institutions should place outcomes for ordinary people above bureaucratic interests.
“We cannot prioritise institutional comfort over human survival,” he stressed.
“The WHO’s legitimacy is not served by protecting silos. It is served by a fearless analysis of what works.”
Mr Mahama also recalled hosting World Health Organization Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and other international figures in Accra in 2025 to advance discussions on healthcare reform and sovereignty.
“When I hosted Director-General Tedros, President Obasanjo and many others in Accra in 2025, we firmed up a vision for health sovereignty,” he said.
As part of the Accra Reset Initiative, the President outlined three major structures intended to drive reforms and coordination within global healthcare systems.
He said the first pillar focuses on high-level policy reform. In contrast,, the second, the Reform Interlock Observatory, aims to improve coordination among institutions such as WHO, Gavi and the Global Fund.
“It is a coherent mechanism to ensure that the strategies of the WHO, Gavi and the Global Fund don’t clash on the desk of a district health officer in rural Africa. They must be in sync,” he explained.
The final component, known as the Health Investment National Gateway Enablers (HING), is intended to transform political commitments into practical investments in pharmaceutical manufacturing and health innovation across developing countries.
“This will serve as the operational engine that converts political will into bankable, executable investments in local manufacturing and bio-innovation,” he said.
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