President Mahama calls for stronger public-private partnership to protect mothers and children
President John Dramani Mahama has called for stronger collaboration between governments and the private sector to improve maternal and child health, saying public policy must be matched by corporate responsibility to save lives.
Speaking at the “Full Circle: Making Global Development Work Again” side event of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York, President Mahama said maternal and child health would be an important test of the Accra Reset agenda.
He said health was selected as an initial focus of the global development reset because weaknesses in health systems continue to have serious consequences, particularly for women and children.
“Globally, nearly seven out of 10 maternal deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa every year, and my own country, Ghana, is not an exception,” President Mahama said.
He noted that Ghana’s maternal mortality rate remains above the Sustainable Development Goal target, stressing the need for urgent and sustained interventions.
According to him, government alone cannot address the challenge, making collaboration with businesses and other stakeholders essential.
President Mahama cited the Mother Africa Initiative, championed by Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan, and the Business United for Mothers, Babies, and Youth (BUMBY) campaign as examples of efforts to mobilise public and private resources towards better health outcomes.
“We are bringing public policy and corporate responsibility together to safeguard the lives of mothers and children,” he said.
The President said such initiatives would also provide an opportunity to test the financial and governance architecture proposed under the Accra Reset and demonstrate whether global development reforms could deliver measurable results.
He stressed that the focus should go beyond policy formulation to ensuring that policies translate into tangible improvements in people’s lives.
President Mahama further linked maternal and child health to the broader goal of strengthening health sovereignty across the Global South, arguing that countries need stronger domestic health systems and greater capacity to produce essential health products locally.
He said reducing excessive dependence on external sources would be critical to building resilient health systems capable of responding to the needs of their populations.
At the event, President Mahama also launched the report, “A Sovereign Future for Health,” which contains 10 recommendations for reforming global health governance and strengthening countries’ ability to shape and implement their own health priorities.
He said Ghana would work with governments, international health organisations, development finance institutions, philanthropies and the private sector to translate the recommendations into practical programmes.
President Mahama said the ultimate test of the Accra Reset should be whether it delivers tangible improvements for ordinary people, particularly those whose lives depend on functioning health systems.
“The reality must be for that baby girl born tonight, whether in Kathmandu, in Arusha, or Damango,” he said.
