By Linda Naa Deide Aryeetey
Accra, Aug. 5, GNA – Mr. Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, Minister of Health, has urged African nations to invest in robust data systems to ensure accurate representation of the continent’s realities.
Addressing the Africa Health Sovereignty Summit in Accra, he said political courage was needed to prioritise health funding, even under fiscal constraints.
“Health when financed wisely, always pays itself back in productivity, stability and in life,” he stated.
The summit, hosted by Ghana, convened African Heads of State, policymakers, and global health stakeholders to chart a path toward continental healthcare independence.
It provided a platform to reimagine a future where Africa owns its health destiny through solidarity, wisdom, and internal investment.
Mr. Akandoh criticised decades of externally driven health policies, noting that donor ceilings had shaped national budgets rather than public health needs.
“For decades, our continent has been spoken to, often with goodwill, but rarely on equal footing, our budgets were calibrated not by public need, but by donor ceilings,” he said.
He argued that dependency undermines sovereignty and that external benevolence cannot replace self-determination in Africa’s healthcare systems.
Referencing the 2001 Abuja Declaration, Mr. Akandoh lamented that many African countries had failed to meet the commitment to allocate 15 percent of national budgets to health.
He cited Ghana’s progress through initiatives such as the National Health Insurance Scheme, Community-based Health Planning Services, and investments in local pharmaceutical production as steps toward health sovereignty.
The minister clarified that sovereignty does not mean rejecting international partnerships but rather engaging in relationships based on equality and mutual respect.
He called on delegates to move beyond ceremonial declarations to concrete actions, shared learning, and collective ambition.
“The future will not be dictated by declarations, it will be shaped by what we choose to do after this summit ends,” he stated.
The Africa Health Sovereignty Summit forms part of the Accra Initiative, which seeks to reform global health governance and promote African-led, investment-driven health systems
GNA
Edited by Kenneth Sackey