The President of Ghana HIV and AIDS Network (GHANET), Ernest Agyabeng Ortsin, has appealed to Ghanaians to step up prevention efforts against HIV /AIDS.
He warned that the fight against HIV and AIDS was not yet over adding that even though the national prevalence has declined to 1.53%, the rate of new infections is quite alarming.
Earlier this year, the Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC) reported that the cases of new infections in the year 2023 were 17,774. Also, in November this year, the National AIDS/STI Control Programme (NACP) reported that between January and September this year, 2024, the number of newly diagnosed HIV cases came up to about 34,000.
According to Mr Ortsin, despite all the progress the country has made in the fight against HIV and AIDS, the disease is still a major threat.
He, therefore, made a special appeal to all Ghanaians, particularly the youth to exercise caution towards risky sexual behaviors.
He said recent reports of an increase in sex parties, also known as orgies, and hookups, also known as transactional sex, are concerning.
The GHANET president also appealed to the government to consider introducing newer interventions and strategies in the fight against HIV and AIDS.
He said for instance, the Ghanaian public has widely embraced the recent introduction of HIV self-testing (HIVST) kits, leading to soaring demand for the kits.
In the same vein, GHANET believes that a mass rollout of interventions on Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PreP) and Post Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) will gain high acceptance and popularity, especially among the youth, and shore up condom usage.
Mr. Ostin Agyabeng urged the private sector, especially community pharmacies, to back these initiatives and ensure the availability of these commodities throughout the country.
He added that Ghana’s progress towards the UNAIDS 95-95-95 targets, at present, is uninspiring.
The country has been able to test only 65% of the estimated 334,000 persons living with HIV (PLHIV).
Only 69% of the tested individuals have received treatment. And only 89% of patients have achieved viral suppression after treatment.
According to him, the absence of a dedicated fund is a major factor affecting Ghana’s national response adding that successive governments have only fulfilled their promise to establish an AIDS Fund.
Ghana has invested billions of US dollars in the fight against HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.
However, it is concerning to note that the Global Fund is currently making transitional arrangements that may see its support for countries come to an end.
It is on this basis that GHANET wishes to vociferously call on the government to operationalize the National HIV and AIDS Fund (NHAF) as proposed by the GAC Act, 2016 (Act 938).
He later said Finally, as Ghana prepares to host the 23rd edition of the International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA 23) in December 2025, GHANET calls for support from all sections of Ghanaian society will make the event a grand success.
Ghana| Atinkaonline.com | Yaw Preko
