Africa-Press – Ghana. The High-Level Accra Initiative has called for a re-imagined global health order that empowers nations to lead resilient and self-sustaining health responses.
A communique issued at the end of the Africa Health Sovereignty Summit said the Summit places health within a broader agenda for stimulating investment and economic transformation.
It said in this new paradigm, health was treated as a foundational sector that strengthens labour productivity, drives innovation and catalyses value chains across diagnostics, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, logistics, and digital infrastructure.
It said health thus serves as a strategic lens through which wider continental ambitions for industrialisation, trade integration, and geo-economic sovereignty can be pursued.
The communique said the Accra Initiative endorsed the following principles in reimagining a new global health order.
These are to improve continental leadership, national accountability and institutional resilience; and to ensure equity, transparency, and inclusive participation in decision-making.
Others are to ensure inclusive participation of low and middle-income countries and civil society; and to secure diversified, sustainable financing from domestic, regional, and private sources.
The rest are to position health as a productivity and innovation driver within economic policy, to embed Africa-led standards, data sovereignty, and manufacturing in continental value chains, and to foster cross-sectoral collaboration to address interconnected challenges in health, economy, and security.
It said the Initiative further agreed on a strategic outcome that includes the formation of a Presidential High-Level Panel for further engagement and inclusivity on a framework of a reimagined global health architecture and a roadmap for the national implementation and strengthened coordination with international development partners for a smooth transition.
The communique said building on Africa’s proven legacy of health leadership, the Summit launched the SUSTAIN Initiative, a framework designed to promote country-owned, investment-driven, and sustainable health systems.
This initiative aims to bridge the funding gap arising from declining external aid by mobilizing domestic resources and engaging the private sector.
It said SUSTAIN would further serve as a vehicle for a broader reimagining of Africa’s place in the world—linking sovereign health systems to wider capabilities in trade, data governance, and industrial policy.
This includes embedding health sovereignty into Africa’s continental economic platforms: the AU’s 4D framework exemplified by the PROPER platform for supply chain traceability, the PanaBlOS digital certification system for mobility and biosecurity and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Hub for integrating African businesses into global trade networks.
It noted that these platforms complement SUSTAIN as an operational framework to transition from donor volatility toward investment-led, nationally financed systems.
It said the Accra Initiative marks a pivotal step toward securing a healthier, more equitable future for all, reinforcing collective responsibility and innovative approaches to global health governance.
The Communique said beyond the specific domain of health, the Accra Initiative would serve both as a reference point and contributor to the broader discussions around reforming multilateralism, global cooperation and development for a sustainable, post-aid world.
At the Africa Health Sovereignty Summit, on August 5, 2025, in Accra, Ghana, convened under the patronage of President John Dramani Mahama of Ghana, with participation by: Former Nigerian Olusegun Obasanjo, former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and Former President of Mauritius Ameenah Gurib-Fakim.
The rest are Madam Amma Twum-Amoah, African Union (AU) Commissioner for Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development and Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO).
For More News And Analysis About Ghana Follow Africa-Press
