President John Dramani Mahama has revealed that Ghana has lost about $78 million due to the United States decision to withhold aid to some African countries.
President Mahama said that development had a significant negative impact on Ghana's healthcare delivery sector.
Addressing participants at the 79th World Health Assembly in Geneva on Monday, May 18, said, “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.”
Outlining the importance of the financial support from the USAID, President Mahama said, “These monies went into malaria programmes, maternal and child health, nutrition, HIV/AIDS programmes, including testing and the delivery of antiretroviral drugs”.
President Mahama, who is advocating for Africa's sovereignty in healthcare delivery, averred that global health assistance has declined by about 40 per cent since the outbreak of the Covid-19 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, further noting 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.
He underscored the need for African countries to strengthen domestic healthcare systems and reduce overreliance on foreign assistance 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.