President John Dramani Mahama has disclosed that Ghana has invested nearly $67 million in vaccines in recent years through its collaboration with the Vaccine Alliance, GAVI.
He mentioned that the government has already disbursed $20 million this year as part of its co-financing commitments.
Gavi, a global health initiative that unites public and private sectors to enhance vaccine access in low-income nations, aims to secure $9 billion between 2026 and 2030 to immunize 500 million children worldwide.
During the Global Health Summit organized by Gavi and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Brussels, President Mahama articulated Ghana’s goal to evolve from being a Gavi-supported nation to a donor country by 2030.
He referenced Indonesia as a successful example of a nation that has achieved such a transition.
President Mahama emphasized that investing in vaccines is essential for ensuring the future of children, who will eventually become the nation’s professionals and leaders.
He also pointed out Ghana’s 97% immunization coverage, which he described as a significant achievement in public health.
He called on world leaders to prioritize funding for immunization initiatives over military spending, emphasizing that such investments could potentially save up to 500 million children from preventable diseases.
“Our collaboration with Gavi is based on co-financing, and I take pride in stating that in recent years, we have allocated over $67 million for vaccines in partnership with Gavi. One of my initial actions as president was to remove the cap on national insurance. This decision has allowed us to contribute more than Ghc3.5 billion Cedis to the fund. Consequently, this has enabled the fund to advance $20 million for our co-financing partnership with Gavi this year,” he stated.
“We aspire to expedite our transition away from Gavi by the year 2030, and I anticipate that we will diligently strive to emulate Indonesia, ultimately becoming a contributor to Gavi in the future,” he stated.
