US Embassy breaks silence on Ghana’s rejection of health compact

The United States Embassy in Ghana has defended its request for access to Ghana’s health data under a proposed bilateral health compact, insisting that the arrangement was consistent with international best practices and would not involve the disclosure of patients’ personally identifiable information.

The Embassy’s position follows President John Dramani Mahama’s earlier description of the proposed health compact as “humiliating” after Ghana rejected the agreement following concerns raised by Cabinet over provisions relating to health data, counterpart funding and the regulatory authority of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA).

Speaking on behalf of the US Embassy in Ghana, Rolf Olson said the proposed agreement was intended to strengthen Ghana’s capacity to manage its own health programmes rather than undermine the country’s sovereignty.

“Our intention has always been to strengthen our partners’ sovereignty. Contrary to some reporting, we did not immediately pull the plug and cut off all health assistance in one fell swoop,” he said.

He disclosed that the US invested $82 million in Ghana’s health sector during the first year of the new Trump administration and provided an additional $53 million in fiscal year 2026.

He added that the US had also been evaluating a final multimillion-dollar instalment for fiscal year 2027.

However, Rolf Olson said the failure of Ghana and the United States to conclude a bilateral health Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) meant that the US was now moving towards phasing out its support for some existing programmes.

A major point of contention surrounding the proposed compact has been the United States’ request for access to health data generated in Ghana.

Ghanaian authorities had raised concerns about provisions relating to the sharing of health information, while President Mahama publicly criticised aspects of the proposed arrangement.

President Mahama explains why Ghana rejected US health deal

Rolf Olson, however, said the US request was not for information that would identify individual patients.

He explained that the proposed US Global Health MOUs sought aggregate health data, meaning information compiled at a broader level for purposes such as assessing health programmes and measuring their impact.

“Unfortunately, we did not conclude a bilateral health MOU with Ghana this year. As such, we are now in the process of phasing out our support for existing programmes in alignment with the government of Ghana’s push for health sovereignty and country-led global health reform.

“Consistent with long-standing global best practises for measuring the impact of health interventions, the United States Global Health MOUs requested aggregate health data without any personally identifiable information, similar to data sharing that has been done with the PEPFAR programme and many other international health partners over the years,” he stated.

He compared the proposed data-sharing arrangement to existing practices under the US-funded President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) programme and other international health partnerships.

According to him, similar forms of data sharing have taken place between the United States and international health partners over the years to enable programmes to be assessed and their effectiveness measured.

Rolf Olson said the MOUs included provisions for sharing such specimens as part of broader international cooperation on disease surveillance and response.

He likened the arrangement to international coordination during the fight against Ebola, where the sharing and analysis of pathogen samples can assist health authorities and scientists in identifying and responding to infectious diseases.

“The MOUs also include provisions for the sharing of pathogen specimens, which is similar to coordination efforts in the fight against Ebola,” he said.

The US Embassy also pointed to the scale of its health-related investment in Ghana, arguing that the proposed changes should be viewed against the background of decades of cooperation between the two countries.

Rolf Olson disclosed that the United States had invested $2.2 billion in Ghana in health-related areas since 2012.

“We are proud of what our multibillion-dollar investment has been able to achieve, and the number is multibillion. Just since 2012, we have invested $2.2 billion in Ghana in these areas,” he said.

He said the investment had gone beyond financial support, arguing that the programmes had contributed to saving lives, supporting people to participate in Ghana’s economic development and strengthening relations between citizens of both countries.

“But more than that, we think about the thousands of lives saved, people who are now able to contribute to Ghana’s economic development and our strong people-to-people ties,” he added.

According to him, the United States and Ghana spent months discussing the draft agreement, with both sides engaging in negotiations to resolve specific areas of concern.

“Part of the process of discussing the draft MOU was a period of negotiations, which we engaged in here quite robustly and quite, I think, in good faith on both sides over a period of months to work out those particular details,” he stated.

Despite Ghana’s decision not to conclude the bilateral health MOU, Major General Brown said the United States remained open to further discussions with the Ghanaian government.

He said Washington was prepared to continue engaging its Ghanaian counterparts on issues of mutual interest.

“We’re always open to discussion with our good partners in the government of Ghana. And so the door is always open in that regard to discuss topics of mutual interest,” he noted.

President Mahama Explains Why Ghana Rejected the US Health Compact



AK/AM