Ghana has capacity to host AIDS conference
Ghana has indicated that it has the capacity and is well positioned to host the 2025 International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA).
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It explained that aside the fact that it was known for peace, had stable democratic credentials and free press, it had the strong commitment of the government, development partners and stakeholders, including healthcare professionals and civil society, to host the conference, which was the largest conference on HIV and AIDS in Africa.
It added that the country had a strong scientific community that would provide the needed technical assistance when given the nod.
The Director-General of the Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC), Dr Kyeremeh Atuahene, expoused these virtues of the country at a meeting between the visiting 23rd ICASA Assessment team to Ghana and development partners and civil society in the HIV and AIDS space.
Hosting bid
In April this year, Ghana through the Ministry of Health (MOH), put in a preposition to host the 2025 ICASA. The other bidding countries are South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Ghana and South Africa eventually sailed through to the second stage. The assessment team, which would also visit South Africa from Ghana, was in the country to assess her capacity to host the conference.
It is the third time Ghana had put in the bid to host the conference but failed in the previous attempts.
Joined by the Programme Manager of the National AIDS Control Programme, Dr Stephen Ayisi Addo, and an official from the Ghana Tourism Authority, Dr Atuahene detailed why Ghana should this time around be given the nod to host the conference, which boasted of over 8000 physical participants.
We have very active civil society in the country, including at-risk groups or key affected populations. We have a vibrant hospitality industry that will provide the needed services for the visiting participants of the conference. We also have very interesting tourism sites that will be site attractions to the conference, and these sites also include UNESCO-accredited historical sites. Security is generally very good in every city or town that you would visit, he said.
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He said Ghana hosting ICASA 2025 would not only shine a spotlight on the crucial issues surrounding HIV and AIDS, but also provide an invaluable opportunity for greater participation and engagement from various stakeholders across Africa and beyond.
Besides these, he said, South Africa had twice hosted the conference while for more than a decade, the conference had not been hosted in any West African country.
Furthermore, the headquarters of Society for AIDS in Africa (SAA), organisers of the conference, was in Accra, adding that, a good number of ICASA participants had long been yearning for the opportunity to visit Ghana as ICASA participants.
National response
Dr Ayisi Addo said Ghana s national response to HIV was unparalleled, with the country currently having an estimated population of over 335,000 people living with HIV.
He said Ghana s prevention, treatment and care support programmes had also been in line with best practices globally, pointing out that, it was also the heart of the African continental trade.
In terms of human resource capacity, we have it. We have organised big international conferences so we have the capacity of people who are used to such cultures. The All-African Games was held in Accra recently with over 18,000 people. 54 countries came to this country. We believe that with all that we have done, Ghana qualifies to effectively host ICASA 2025, he stressed.
A marketing officer from the Ghana Tourism Authority, Rhoda Boakye, said aside the tourist attractions that the country boasted , there were educational facilities around the venue of the proposed conference that boasted big hostels and a great shuttle system that could transport participants to the venue of the conference.
She said the roads in Accra were also good and so was the telecommunication system.
SAA Coordinator, Luc Armand H. Bodea, mentioned the impact of hosting ICASA on the country to include academic, economic and socio-economic impacts; visibility of the host country and impact on the health systems.
The leader of the assessment team, SAA President, who is also the former Minister of Health of Zimbabwe, Dr David Parirenyatwa, remarked that they were impressed by the strong partnership Ghana had and its commitment to host the conference.
The team also included a board member of SAA, Dr Emmy Chesire.