Aids Commission to launch fund to support programmes

The Ghana Aids Commission is planning on launching the National HIV and AIDS Fund aimed at ensuring sustainable domestic financing of the Aids response in the country, Director-General Kyeremeh Atuahene has said.

Donor funding for the commission has dropped rapidly, and according to the Director-General, there is the need to explore other funding options to ensure it meets its responsibilities.

“The commission is going to launch the National HIV and AIDS Fund that has been created to bring about sustainable domestic financing of the AIDS response, and very soon we are going to put out the necessary information for people to donate,” he told Business24 in an interview after appearing before the Public Accounts Committee in parliament.

Mr. Atuahene said adolescent girls and young women between the ages of 15 and 24 account for one in five new HIV infections in the country.

“We are going to launch a campaign very soon targeting these groups, and we need the funds to do all this. Currently, the commission is not able to do much because it is limited in terms of resources.

“Just as we have demonstrably shown our commitment to fighting COVID, let’s marshal the same kind of effort to do it for HIV as well. If we do that we will be in a position to eliminate AIDS and HIV within the shortest possible time in this country,” he added.

As many as 142,000 Ghanaians are HIV-positive but do not know their status, according to the commission.

Last year, 20,068 new infections were recorded across Ghana, with 13,616 HIV/Aids-related deaths.