In an eloquent speech, he called for “a fundamental shift away from dependence on donor support for health infrastructure. ” He added that “the outdated notion that health drains our economies must be rejected. In truth, health is the engine of our productivity and the engine of inclusive growth.”
He even cited a WHO study that said for every dollar invested in Healthcare, there is a four-dollar return. Listening to the speech, which till then sounded positively Nkrumahist, I said, “So far, so good”.
Then he praised Ramaphosa for COVID leadership, Ellen Johnson for Ebola leadership as well as Kagame, Kofi Annan, Obasanjo and Ruto for health leadership. There was no mention of President Bush who launched PEPFAR through which, together with the Global Fund, the US has spent 120 billion USD on HIV and saved 26 million lives, mostly in Africa.
And there was no mention of the West spending more US$ 157 billion to help Africa, not to mention bilateral assistance from US and EU. There is more but you get the picture.
Indeed, truth be told, President Mahama’s summit was necessitated by what the WHO Director, Tedros Gebreyjesus reported as “health aid projected to decline by up to 40% this year compared to 2 years ago.” fffff