US withdrawal of USAID cost Ghana $78 million – Mahama

President John Dramani Mahama says Ghana lost $78 million in health funding following the closure of programmes funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Addressing the 79th World Health Assembly in Geneva on Monday, President Mahama said the withdrawal of U.S. assistance had created serious financing gaps in Ghana’s healthcare system and across Africa.

“The World Health Organization’s budget has been gutted by the withdrawal of U.S. assistance, forcing the organization to scale down programs and undertake steep staff retrenchments,” he said.

He explained that Ghana had experienced a significant decline in health financing support from bilateral and multilateral partners since 2025.

“Ghana lost $78 million in health funding following the closure of U.S. aid programs,” President Mahama stated.

According to him, the lost funding mainly supported malaria interventions, maternal and child healthcare, nutrition programmes, and HIV/AIDS services, including testing and the delivery of antiretroviral drugs.

“This money went mainly into malaria programs, maternal and child health, nutrition, HIV AIDS programs, including testing and delivery of antiretroviral drugs,” he added.

President Mahama said the effects of the funding cuts were being felt across the African continent, citing South Africa as an example where the abrupt withdrawal of the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) funding had disrupted healthcare delivery.

“In South Africa, the abrupt withdrawal of PEPFAR funding has shut clinics, terminated gender-based violence programs, and left 1.4 million people living with HIV uncertain about their treatment continuity,” he noted.

He further warned that global health experts estimate that “by 2030, 9 million preventable deaths could occur due to these shifts.”

The President explained that the worsening outlook for healthcare financing partly inspired the African Health Sovereignty Conference, popularly known as the Accra Reset, held in August last year to promote self-reliance in Africa’s health sector.

“It is this gloomy outlook for the future of global health that prompted the convening of the African Health Sovereignty Conference, famously known as the Accra Reset,” he said.

Last year, the United States officially shut down and dismantled USAID, merging its remaining operations into the U.S. State Department. The decision brought to an end more than six decades of independent American humanitarian and development assistance operations worldwide.

Despite the challenges, President Mahama said African leaders were determined to find solutions rather than dwell on the setbacks.

“These troubling statistics are known, and we are not here to lament or wring our hands over them. We are here to discuss how we can continue to save lives, even in the face of adversity,” he stated.