Ghana spends over US$323 million on HIV and AIDS response in three years

Ghana spent 323. 7 million United States Dollars (US$) on HIV and AIDS related activities over the last three years, the Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC) has disclosed.

The total HIV and AIDS-related expenditure for the years 2019, 2020, and 2021 stood at US$88,648,568, US$107,280,242 and US$127,828,300 respectively.

Dr Kyeremeh Atuahene, the Director General of Ghana AIDS Commission, said the funds for each respective year was the total contribution made by the Government, the private sector and international community.

Dr Atuahene made this known at the launch and dissemination of the National AIDS Spending Assessment (NASA) report for 2019, 2020, and 2021.

NASA is a comprehensive and systemic resource tracking method that describes the financial flow, actual disbursements and expenditures on HIV and AIDS programmes. It describes the HIV and AIDS financial flow and expenditures for both health and non-health activities for the period mentioned while identifying and addressing funding gaps.

The report focuses on three dimensions, including financing, provision and consumption, and the overall estimates on the expenditures of the public, private sectors and international donors on the national HIV and AIDS response.

The Director General explained that findings from NASA 2019, 2020 and 2021 also show a similar trend of over dependence on international sources in financing the national HIV response.

He said there was the need to use the report as an advocacy tool for re-prioritizing HIV spending as the country sought to address the complex inequalities in resource allocation.

“We all have a part to play in defining how we introduce and infuse quality into the daily activities of the national response.” Dr Atuahene stated.

Dr Kwaku Afriyie, the Executive Oversight Minister for GAC and Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, launching the report, commended the NASA steering committee for providing technical support for the exercise.

He urged the Commission to continuously engage government, development partners and all the multi-sectoral stakeholders of the national response.

Dr Afriyie said this would help mobilize adequate funds to finance the implementation of the National Strategic Plan for 2021-2025 to achieve the national targets and end the AIDS epidemic by 2030.

Mr Emmanuel Tetteh Larbi, the GAC Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator, giving a highlight of the report said even though the quantum of funding for HIV kept increasing in the years under review, HIV spending was more than the estimated resources.

He said HIV care and treatment took the largest share of HIV financing, followed by programme enablers, health systems strengthening, and HIV prevention with the report, indicating that HIV response in Ghana was heavily dependent on international funds.

Mr Larbi thus called for local resources mobilisation, institutionalised routine HIV and AIDS resource tracking, and the promotion of innovative approaches to target key populations.

Mrs Cynthia Adobea Asante, Representing the UNAIDS Country Director, commended the GAC for the report and pledged their continued support to ensure that the vulnerable and marginalised were protected.