Ghana rejects US health deal
- Ghana rejected a proposed bilateral U.S. health aid agreement after President John Dramani Mahama’s government objected to clauses requiring sensitive health data sharing. - Reuters reported the draft deal was worth $109 million over five years, part of Washington’s new country-by-country “America First” health strategy. - Ghana joins African pushback after similar disputes in Zimbabwe and Zambia over U.S. aid terms. (reuters.com)
Ghana has rejected a proposed U.S. health aid deal after objecting to terms that would have required sharing sensitive patient data. (reuters.com) Reuters reported on April 28 that the talks collapsed under President John Dramani Mahama’s government, which balked at the data-sharing provisions in the draft bilateral agreement. (reuters.com) The proposed package was worth $109 million over five years, according to a source familiar with the negotiations cited by Reuters. (reuters.com) The dispute sits inside a larger U.S. shift away from the old United States Agency for International Development model toward direct country deals under the Trump administration’s “America First Global Health Strategy.” (pbs.org) Under that approach, recipient governments are asked to co-finance programs and, over time, take on the full cost themselves rather than rely on open-ended U.S. support. (pbs.org) PBS reported that Kenya signed a five-year $1.6 billion agreement under the new framework and pledged hundreds of millions of dollars in domestic spending alongside it. (pbs.org) Ghana is not the first government to resist the new terms. Reuters said the same data issue derailed talks with Zimbabwe earlier in 2026, and Business Insider Africa said Zambia also pushed back over sovereignty concerns. (reuters.com) (africa.businessinsider.com) In Kenya, a court also suspended implementation of a U.S. health agreement while it hears a case brought by a consumer protection group, Reuters reported. (reuters.com) The U.S. State Department told Reuters it does not disclose details of bilateral negotiations, and Ghanaian government and foreign ministry spokespeople did not respond to Reuters requests for comment. (reuters.com) For now, Ghana’s decision leaves one more gap in Washington’s effort to rebuild global health aid through smaller, tightly negotiated country deals. (reuters.com) (pbs.org)
