President John Dramani Mahama has called for bold reforms to the global health system, urging world leaders and international health stakeholders to move beyond discussions and focus on practical action that improves healthcare delivery, particularly in developing countries.

Addressing delegates at the 79th World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, President Mahama said the current global health system was struggling to meet the needs of vulnerable populations and called for a new approach grounded in partnership, fairness, and sustainability.

The President outlined what he described as “three requests” to the global health community as discussions on reforms continue.

“I leave this assembly with three requests, three asks,” he said.

President Mahama first urged global institutions and stakeholders not to allow reforms to remain superficial.

“First, let us not let reform be a ceiling,” he stated.

“If we are to fix the system, we must be brave enough to look at institutional mandates and measures without fear.”

He also stressed the need to prioritise implementation over repeated policy discussions and declarations.

“Second, let us invest in execution. The world does not need more communiqués. It needs deal rooms, local factories, and resilient supply chains,” he said.

According to him, the true measure of success in global healthcare should be the quality of services available to ordinary people, particularly children in poorer countries.

“Third, let us measure success by the clinic, not the conference. The only metric that matters is whether a child in the Global South has a reasonable chance of survival as a child in the Global North.”

President Mahama said the existing global health structure, created decades ago, was no longer fit for purpose.

“The old global health order, built in the aftermath of a different century, is stuttering,” he told the gathering. “But a new order is rising.”

He said the emerging system must be driven by cooperation and shared responsibility rather than dependence on aid.

“This will be an order defined by agency, not aid, by partnership, not paternalism,” he stressed.

President Mahama also highlighted the challenges faced by women and families in developing countries who continue to contend with weak healthcare infrastructure.

“And it is being built for the mother in the Global South who, even as we speak this morning, will be delivering her child under the light of a lamp tonight,” he said.

Using an African proverb, he urged leaders to prioritise long-term reforms over short-term political gains.

“In Africa, we have a saying that one who plants the tree does not always sit in its shade,” he said.

“The reforms we are discussing today are for generations we may never meet. Yet let our seriousness today be the shade they will rest in tomorrow,” he concluded.