Minister seeks new vision for global health
Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, has called for a new vision for global health that places Africa at the core of future governance, trade, financing and innovation. Speaking on Tuesday at the Africa Health Sovereignty Summit in Accra, Ghana, Prof. Pate challenged existing frameworks that reduced global health to […]
Muhammad Pate
Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, has called for a new vision for global health that places Africa at the core of future governance, trade, financing and innovation.
Speaking on Tuesday at the Africa Health Sovereignty Summit in Accra, Ghana, Prof. Pate challenged existing frameworks that reduced global health to a narrow set of diseases or priorities largely shaped by external narratives:
He said global health is often described through the lens of a few priority issues like HIV, malaria and tuberculosis, or through specific areas such as health financing or maternal and child health.
“Yet these issues are framed by externally driven perspectives, leaving African voices, especially from poorer countries, less acknowledged,” he said.
The minister explained that most health progress in lower-income countries over the past 25 years has depended on domestic financing and local leadership, with donor support playing a complementary role.
He warned that shifting geopolitics and nationalist tendencies demand a recalibration.
“We cannot build healthier populations purely on the generosity of other nations. It is time to define our path, rooted in sovereignty and aligned with local needs,” he said.