Dr. Fred Nana Poku, the Director of Technical Services at the Ghana Aids Commission has called for more funding from stakeholders to intensify the work of the commission.
This comes after the Commission released the 2023 national and sub-national HIV and AIDS estimates and projections.
According to the report, majority of the new infections have been identified as persons between 15 and 49 years old, the economically active population.
The report also showed that a total of 334,095 people were living with HIV/AIDS in the country, 17,550 of the number being children below 15 years.
It also indicated that the country recorded 17,774 new HIV infections, with 1,698 being children below 15 years and 16,076 representing adults above 15 years.
The data showed that new infections, AIDS deaths and HIV prevalence were declining but not sufficient to achieve the set goals and targets.
Regional and district-level data show varying prevalence and new infections, with Greater Accra, Ashanti and Eastern regions having the highest number of persons living with HIV while the districts with the highest HIV population include Accra Metropolitan Area, Kumasi Metropolitan Area and Ledzokuku Municipality.
The commission identified challenges, including data capture, validation, and quality issues, which needed to be addressed expeditiously.
Speaking in an exclusive interview on Atinka FM’s AM Drive with host Nana Yaw Fianko, Dr. Fred Nana Poku said the Commission requires funding from major stakeholders to facilitate the work of the commission.
He added that the funds will go a long way to ensure that Ghana beats the epidemic.
“We need support from everyone, every single person, the media, the Ghanaian people themselves. We need funding from our partners and all stakeholders to ensure that we are able to beat this epidemic down. The staffing of the commission has dropped. Some have retired, some of the staff have also resigned, some have travelled to further their education and other things. We used to have data officers in hospitals but funding has been withdrawn and they are no longer working,” he added.
Ghana | Atinkaonline.com | Vivian Adu
