President John Dramani Mahama has explained why Ghana rejected a proposed US health compact, saying some of its conditions were “humiliating” and were rejected by Cabinet in “record time.”
Mahama made the remarks during an engagement with the Council on Foreign Relations in New York on September 25, where he outlined the concerns raised by Ghanaian officials after receiving the proposed agreement.
He said the Ministry of Health reviewed the compact and identified several provisions that raised concerns, including requirements relating to health data, financing and regulatory oversight.
“When we received it, we flagged several things,” Mahama said.
“One, it says that we shall give the United States our pathogen profile. That means that diseases that are endemic in Ghana, what is the pathogen profile in the country.”
He said the proposed agreement also required Ghana to provide medical records to the United States, a condition he questioned.
“They also said we should give our medical records. I mean, who takes another country’s medical records? And so that was strange,” he said.
Ghana had previously rejected the proposed agreement, which was expected to provide about $109 million in US health assistance over five years, citing concerns over sensitive health data. The agreement was part of the Trump administration’s “America First Global Health Strategy,” which places greater emphasis on recipient countries contributing to their own health programmes.
Mahama said the financial obligations contained in the compact were another concern.
“And it says we will have to put up a certain amount of money as part of the programme into health care,” he said.
He also criticised a provision he said would have prevented Ghana’s Food and Drugs Authority from inspecting medicines brought into the country under the programme.
“And it also says that any medication that shall be brought into our country our Food and Drugs Authority has absolutely no right to inspect,” Mahama said.
“It was humiliating. And so it was a compact that was thrown out in record time.”
According to Mahama, Cabinet rejected the proposal after the concerns were presented for consideration. Ghana’s rejection followed similar resistance to aspects of the US health agreements in other African countries, including Zimbabwe, while concerns over data provisions have also emerged in other negotiations.
