Government is considering implementing a report which proposes that industries whose activities have been identified to contribute to the spread of the HIV and AIDS diseases be made to contribute to the National HIV and AIDS Fund, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has said.
This comes on the back of concerns over underfunding HIV programmes in the country, with donors calling on government to fill the funding gap for more than 60 percent of the estimated cost of the National HIV and AIDS Strategic Plan 2021-2025.
Currently, government is required to provide funding to meet the costs of rapid diagnostic test kits, re-agents and other laboratory supplies, as well as anti-retroviral medicines to treat some 225,000 persons and the provision of condoms.
Costs of prevention services for the general population, coordination and management of the national response must equally be borne by government.
It is against this background that Dr. Bawumai said government is fully committed to increasing domestic resources to meet these demands through the National HIV and AIDS Fund.
“This Fund will not only ensure adequate domestic resources for the HIV and AIDS response, but will also make the national response financially self-reliant on a sustainable basis,” he stated.
However, he said, since the Ghana AIDS Commission Act 2016 (Act 938) did not provide any dedicated sources of revenue for the Fund, the previous governing board identified additional sources of funding that can ensure continuous inflows of revenue into the Fund.
“The governing board believes that HIV financing should be a shared responsibility, and therefore industries whose activities create conditions for the spread of HIV should share the burden of funding,” the Vice President said, speaking at the swearing-in of the Ghana AIDS Commission’s new governing board.
He maintained that since 2017, there has been tremendous progress in the country’s response in fighting against the disease, as new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths have fallen by 14 percent and 19 percent respectively between 2016 and 2020.
This feat was attributed as a direct result of scaling up the testing and anti-retroviral treatment services using differentiated service delivery models throughout the country.
Dr. Bawumia further noted that within the same period uptake of HIV testing increased by 80 percent; whereas the number of HIV-positive pregnant mothers receiving antiretroviral therapy to prevent mother-to-child transmission increased by 159 percent.
“Significant progress has also been made in the area of data system strengthening, which has enhanced data capture and data use in health facilities across the country,” he said.
These positive developments, he said, places the country in a much stronger position to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) target of ending AIDS by 2030.
HIV remains a major public health concern, and AIDS is one of the leading causes of death in Ghana – with an average of 21,000 deaths annually over the last five years.
“With more than 245,000 of the estimated 346,000 persons living with HIV on antiretroviral treatment,” Dr. Bawumia said, “we should not be seeing such significant numbers of new infections and AIDS-related deaths.”
Also, he asked members of the Board to use their experience and technical expertise to halt incidents where patients on life-saving anti-retroviral treatment switch to herbal or spiritual substitutes.
“With COVID still present, we face a serious challenge in ending AIDS by 2030, because it has the potential to reverse the gains made in the HIV response. We cannot afford to see the significant gains achieved in the HIV and AIDS response reversed,” he said.
Members of the Board
The newly constituted governing board, which is chaired by the President’s nominee Dr. Kwaku Afriyie, includes the Director-General of the Ghana AIDS Commission, Mr. Kyeremeh Atuahene; Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyemang Manu; and Gender Minister, Sarah Adwoa.
Others are Minister of Local Government, Dan Botwe; Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye; and Executive Director of National Population Council, Dr. Leticia Adelaide Appiah.
The rest are Government Statistician, Dr. Samuel Kobina Annim; President, Ghana HIV & AIDS Network, Mr. Victor Attah Ntumi; President, Network of Association of Persons Living with HIV, Mrs. Elsie Comelia Arkorful-Ayeh; Member of Parliament, Patrick Boakye Yiadom; and Dr. Sebastian N. Sandraare, also a Member of Parliament.
The Christian Group is represented by Dr. Cyril Kwao Fayose; Federation of Muslim and Ahmadiyya Mission, Alhaji Muhammed Baba Shajbu; National House of Chiefs, Pimampim Yaw Kagbrese V; Ghana Employers Association Rep., Mrs. Victoria M.E. Hajar; Trade Union Congress Rep., Mr. Franklin Owusu Ansah; and Mrs. Lucy Brimpojng Ofori-Ayeh and Prof. Kwasi Torpey, both President’s nominees.
