Ghana’s Deputy Health Minister Tapped for AU Panel to Reshape Global Health

Story by Fada Amakye

Deputy Minister of Health Dr. Grace Ayensu-Danquah has been appointed to the Secretariat of the African Union’s High Level Ministerial Committee (AHLMC), placing Ghana at the center of Africa’s push to reform global health governance.

The appointment was announced in a letter dated April 13, 2026, signed by Africa CDC Director General Dr. Jean Kaseya, following a decision by the AU Assembly at its 39th Ordinary Session in February 2026. The AHLMC is a flagship AU initiative created to consolidate Africa’s position and push for a more equitable, coherent, and effective global health system.

Dr. Ayensu-Danquah, who is also the National Democratic Congress MP for Essikado-Ketan, will join a Secretariat led by Africa CDC and supported by member states including Ghana and South Africa. The Secretariat provides strategic, technical, and operational support to the committee across high-level engagement, policy analysis, stakeholder coordination, and delivery of reforms.

As a member, the board-certified general surgeon will help advance key priorities including health governance reform, sustainable financing, equity in access to healthcare, resilient health systems, and data accountability. Each workstream is backed by a dedicated Secretariat team to ensure coordination and quality outcomes.

Dr. Kaseya said her experience and leadership at national and continental levels would “greatly enrich the work of the AHLMC Secretariat” and help drive meaningful reform in global health systems.

:Ghana’s health agenda: The appointment aligns with President John Dramani Mahama’s health agenda, which emphasizes health sovereignty, preventive care, and regional cooperation. The President recently launched the Free Primary Healthcare policy to help Ghana achieve Universal Health Coverage by 2030 and rolled out the Ghana Medical Health Trust to mobilize sustainable funding for critical healthcare delivery, infrastructure, and specialist care.

:Background: Dr. Ayensu-Danquah holds medical degrees from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and the University of Southern California, and a Master of Public Health from Johns Hopkins University. She maintains active medical licences in California, Michigan, and Maryland, operates a private surgical facility in Accra, and serves as an Adjunct Professor of Surgery at the University of Utah’s Center for Global Surgery.

She is a fellow of the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons and the American College of Surgeons, and previously served on the Technical Advisory Committee on the Safety of Vaccines and Biological Products of Ghana’s Food and Drugs Authority. Through her Healing Hands Organisation, she provides free surgical and medical care to underserved communities and donates essential equipment to rural health facilities.

Her appointment is seen as boosting Ghana’s role in continental and global health governance, backing initiatives that promote equity in access to medicines, local manufacturing of health products, stronger disease surveillance, and data accountability.