Funding inadequacy setback for HIV elimination — AIDS Commission

The Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC) says the lack of funding can  impact negatively efforts to end AIDS as a public health threat in the country by 2030.

It said due to inadequate funding, the GAC was unable to begin the treatment of even half of those expected to be given life-saving antiretrovirals.

The Director-General of the commission, Dr Kyeremeh Atuahene, who said this, explained that in the past years, the country was doing almost 70 per cent treatment coverage or more, but the data showed that as of last year, many of those who were on treatment had been lost.

“So we are now down to about 45 per cent, which means that the remaining 55 per cent, if we are not able to put them on treatment, they will die in no time. And so it's a major issue. It’s mainly because of funding,” he stressed.

Partnership forum

Dr Atuahene was briefing the media yesterday, October 22, after addressing the 13th National HIV and AIDS Partnership Forum organised by the GAC on the theme: “Strengthening coordination and mutual accountability for accelerated and sustained impact of the National HIV Response.”

Introduced in 2006, the GAC organises partnership forum and business meetings as a core mechanism for coordination and accountability.

The forum brings together a broad group of stakeholders to review progress on the implementation of HIV and AIDS interventions, build consensus  and mobilise technical and financial support for the next period of implementation.

No money

The GAC director-general said 98 per cent of the country’s population was HIV- negative and that there was the need to  do everything to protect that population.

However, he said the GAC did not have the money to do the education, go to communities, do house-to-house testing and refer people who test positive to health facilities for them to receive further diagnosis and treatment.

“We do not have the money to support those who are on treatment  to adhere to guidelines. And so we are seeing the heavy impact of limited funding in various dimensions of the HIV response,” he said.

However, he said there was hope in eliminating HIV in the country because of new technologies and drugs that had been introduced but stressed that money was needed to make the elimination a reality because the new drugs were expensive and, therefore, beyond the reach of Ghana.

Sufficient investment

The Chief of Staff at the Presidency, Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, stressed the need to invest sufficient resources and efficiently manage things in order to achieve the global HIV and AIDS target by 2025 through effective stakeholder involvement and collaboration.

She expressed the government’s commitment to increase funding for HIV response, adding that the President recently gave specific instructions to the Ministry of Finance in that respect after studying a report from the governing board of the GAC.

There were solidarity statements from the UNAIDS and the Global Fund at the event, chaired by Professor George Gyan-Baffour, who is the Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission.