'How do we survive?' – Former Deputy Minister of Health reacts to donor exit

Former Deputy Minister of Health, Alexander Akwasi Acquah, has cautioned that Ghana is not yet in a position to wean itself off donor support.

He warned that a sudden withdrawal could expose serious gaps in the country’s health financing system.

Speaking on JoyNews PM Express on May 4, 2026, he said although there is a need to reduce reliance on external aid, the country must first address deep structural inefficiencies.

“Well, currently, I would say no, we just have to do something about it,” he stated.

He made this remark while responding to the question on whether Ghana is ready to fully fund its health sector without foreign assistance.

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This follows renewed debate after Ghana reportedly rejected a US-backed health deal.

Acquah disclosed that even when donor support is available, systemic bottlenecks undermine its impact.

He cited past challenges in clearing medical supplies at the ports, despite being provided as aid.

“Even though I was in my former position as the deputy minister, I could not come to terms with the fact that we had aid in terms of logistics from foreign partners, and we could not just clear them from the ports,” he said.

He questioned the logic of taxing essential health donations while at the same time seeking to eliminate reliance on external assistance.

“You remember that big story... even when the aid was coming, we still wanted to take taxes on them to support our budgets, and now we say we want to wean ourselves totally from them. How do we survive?” he asked.

Referencing the Abuja Declaration, Acquah noted that even the pledge for African countries to allocate 15 per cent of their budgets to health aims at a continued support from development partners.

He stressed that the immediate priority should be tackling inefficiencies and waste within the public sector.

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“And like Dr Nii Moi Thompson said, we may have to look into our systems and cut off all the waste, because there is a lot of waste within our public sector,” he said.

Acquah warned that the health sector is already under strain as external funding declines, particularly following reductions from the United States.

“You cannot take away the health sector most often than not; we have relied on aid. It’s become one of the major motivations. The health sector is suffering especially when the US and others got cut off,” he indicated.

He added that several programmes that depended heavily on donor funding are now facing significant challenges.

“You know, there are certain areas that got a lot of motivation from some of this aid, and now that they are not coming, it has become critical,” he noted.

Acquah further disclosed that recent engagements with the Ghana Health Service have highlighted the potential risks if urgent reforms are not undertaken.

“Program managers gave us an indication of what is ahead if we do not sit up to look at the finance and health financing,” he said.

Despite concerns over US support, he noted that other development partners remain engaged, offering Ghana an opportunity to rethink its strategy and strengthen domestic resource mobilisation.

“There are some other donor agencies that are still with us and so it gives us an opportunity to start looking beyond it. Let’s look at our source,” he added.

MRA/VPO

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