The Accra Reset initiative has announced the establishment of an 18-member high-level panel tasked with proposing reforms to the global health architecture and governance system.
The panel forms part of efforts to advance African health and economic sovereignty under an initiative championed by President John Mahama.
A statement issued on Friday, April 3, 2026, explained that the panel, co-chaired by Peter Piot, El Hadj As Sy, Nisia Trindade and Budi Gunadi Sadikin, has been mandated “to produce concrete, actionable proposals for restructuring a global health order that has treated governments of the Global South as passive takers rather than as sovereign actors with the right to shape rules under which their people live.”
Other members of the panel include Mohammed Pate, Catherine Kyobutungi, Magda Robalo, Precious Matsoso, James Mworia, Moustapha Cisse, Yik Ying (YY) Teo, Soumya Swaminathan, Hajime Inoue, Eduardo Banzon, Antonio Rabici Lalabalavu, Paulo Esteves, Carla Vizzotti, Maha Barakat, Mark Dybul, John Nkengasong, Gunilla Carlson and Hafou Toure.
It added that the panel’s work will be supported by a High-Level Consultative Group, which will provide a structured engagement platform with key global health institutions including the World Health Organization (WHO), World Trade Organization (WTO), the Global Fund, Africa CDC, AUDA-NEPAD and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
“The Panel’s work will be guided by a High-Level Consultative Group which creates a structured engagement pathway with the principal organs of the existing global health system,” the statement noted.
Members of the High-Level Consultative Group include Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Peter Sands, Sania Nishtar, Delese Mimi Darko, Jean Kaseya, Nardos Bekele-Thomas, Mohamed Awad Tag El Din, Jiho Cha, Ayoade Alakija, Makhtar Diop, Winnie Byanyima, Amma Twum-Amoah and Priya Basu.
The panel is expected to begin work immediately, with its terms of reference to be refined and adopted with input from major global bodies such as the World Health Assembly and the United Nations General Assembly.
Former UNAIDS Executive Director and Mali’s former Health Minister, Michel Sidibé, has been appointed as Special Advisor and Envoy to the co-chairs.
The statement highlighted his extensive experience, noting that he “brings to the role, decades of operational engagement with the architecture the Panel is charged with reforming.”
The Accra Reset initiative is positioning itself as a platform to push for greater representation and decision-making power for countries in the Global South within international health systems.
