President John Dramani Mahama will convene African Heads of State and global health stakeholders in Accra on August 5, 2025, for the Africa Health Sovereignty Summit.

The summit comes as African leaders express concern about threats to health progress made over recent decades. 

Child mortality has been halved since 1990, maternal deaths have decreased by over 40% since 2000, and HIV/AIDS deaths have been reduced by half since 2010. 

Additionally, 1.4 billion people now enjoy healthier lives through improved tobacco control, cleaner air, and better access to clean water, sanitation, and healthcare.

However, shifting geopolitics, reduced donor funding, and emerging health threats have exposed vulnerabilities in the global health system, according to summit organizers.

According to a press statement from the presidency, the summit will bring together policymakers and health experts to address what organizers describe as structural flaws in the current global health system, which they say no longer reflects today’s political, economic, and demographic realities.

“Africa must take charge of its health destiny—not in isolation, but through determined, coordinated action,” President Mahama said about the gathering. “This Summit is our moment to lead not only in financing our systems but also in reshaping the rules that govern global health—rules that must reflect the voices and realities of our people.”

The gathering will formally endorse The Accra Initiative, an outcome document establishing principles and a roadmap for reforming global health governance aligned with national priorities for health sovereignty.

The summit will create a Presidential High-Level Panel to design a roadmap for reimagined global health governance and secure commitment to principles of inclusivity, leadership, accountability, resilience, sustainable funding, and cross-sector collaboration. 

It will also launch the SUSTAIN Initiative to promote country-led health systems powered by domestic resources, private sector engagement, and philanthropic partnerships, alongside endorsement of the Accra Compact, articulating Africa’s vision for health sovereignty and a more equitable global health order.

The summit builds on ongoing work by President Paul Kagame of Rwanda and African Union institutions to improve health financing and continental health coordination. 

It follows President Mahama’s speech in June 2025 at the Global Summit on Health and Prosperity in Brussels.

The initiative draws inspiration from President Mahama’s leadership during the 2014 Ebola outbreak, when he directed regional efforts to control the epidemic, demonstrating Africa’s capacity to respond to health crises through coordinated action.

The summit represents Africa’s push for greater control over health policy and financing decisions that affect the continent’s 1.3 billion people.

Richard Aniagyei, ISD