President John Dramani Mahama has hosted senior global health leaders at the Presidency for high-level talks on strengthening public health systems across the African continent.

The delegation included Ms Winnie Byanyima, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UNAIDS, and Ms Joy Phumaphi, Executive Secretary of the African Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA).

Discussions focused on deepening public health cooperation, strengthening immunisation systems, and intensifying the fight against HIV/AIDS and malaria across Africa.

President Mahama, who is championing the “Accra Reset”, a bold, Africa-led initiative to reimagine the global health architecture, reiterated the need for the continent to take ownership of its own vaccine production.

He briefed the delegation on the Accra Reset, which he launched in 2025 as a Global South response to structural inequities in international cooperation. The initiative seeks to move African and other Global South nations away from traditional aid dependency toward greater self-reliance and multidimensional sovereignty.

The President noted that Ghana has embarked on an ambitious drive to scale up local vaccine production. He also updated the officials on the launch of Ghana’s Free Primary Health Care (FPHC) programme, part of the country’s broader push toward Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

Under the FPHC programme, he explained, all citizens are entitled to free basic medical services at primary healthcare facilities, including CHPS compounds and polyclinics, without the need for a health insurance card.

For her part, Ms Byanyima commended President Mahama for championing health sovereignty, both on the African continent and on the global stage.

Ghana is hosting a two-day Extraordinary Session of the African Union (AU) Assembly of Heads of State and Government, bringing together African leaders to deliberate on strategies to strengthen healthcare systems and advance Universal Health Coverage across the continent.

The two-day summit, which concludes tomorrow, July 22, 2026, is being held under the theme: “Advancing Justice, Equity and Universal Health Coverage: Ending AIDS, TB, Improving Maternal Health, Addressing Endemic Non-Communicable and Neglected Tropical Diseases and Conditions in Africa.”

Participants include Ministers of Health, Finance, and Foreign Affairs; representatives of the African Union Commission and Regional Economic Communities; development partners; civil society organisations; youth representatives; and private sector stakeholders.

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