Ghana to host Africa’s biggest AIDS conference
Ghana has been selected to host the biggest AIDS Conference in Africa, expected to be attended by over 10,000 delegates from the continent and other parts of the world.
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The event, which marks the 23rd edition of the International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA), will take place from December 3-8, 2025 at the Accra International Conference Centre.
It is the first time Ghana will be hosting such an event which will be attended by participants from more than 105 countries.
The selection process was highly competitive, with Ghana's bid emerging as successful due to its demonstrated exceptional dedication to addressing HIV/AIDS challenges in the West African sub-region.
The prestigious conference, dubbed “ICASA 2025,” would be organised by the Society for AIDS in Africa (SSA), an organisation which has been at the forefront of providing a global platform for Africa’s response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Participation
The conference would convene global leaders, researchers, advocates and healthcare professionals to further the continent's fight against HIV/AIDS, STIs, hepatitis, malaria, tuberculosis, emerging viral infections and strengthening Africa's health systems.
At a media engagement in Accra yesterday on Ghana’s hosting of the event, the President of ICASA 2025, Dr David Pagwesese Parirenyatwa, said it was delightful that Ghana had decided to host the conference, which would also coincide with the 35th anniversary of SAA.
“When we saw the President yesterday, we were so happy the way he committed himself to being part and parcel of fighting HIV and AIDS within Ghana. But he also said globally, and that really pleased us. So I think that Ghana deserves all of this,” he said.
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He expressed the hope that the 2024 general election would be peaceful as has been the case in previous polls held in the country.
He described the day as a great one, adding that there was the need for the continent to be determined to fight HIV and AIDS.
The Director-General of the Ghana AIDS Commission, Dr Kyeremeh Atuahene, said Ghana was not only ready to host ICASA 2025, but well prepared and fully committed to making it the best.
He said it was also important to get the commitment of the press to convey the message to the general public and to work with their international colleagues to make the conference well publicised around the world.
Platform
“So for us, it is not just hosting a conference. It is to provide the platform that will bring the spotlight on Ghana's HIV response and all the challenges in order to mobilise the international and local people and the community of practice and experts in HIV and AIDS, to support Ghana and Africa as a whole so that we can make progress towards achieving the 2030 global targets,” he said.
At the end of the day, he said, we wanted to see that 95 per cent of people living with HIV and receiving antiretroviral treatment “are actually virally suppressed. We are lagging behind on these targets and this conference for me will provide significant impetus for us to achieve these targets”.
The Programme Manager of the National AIDS Control Programme, Dr Stephen Ayisi Addo, said there had been efforts in the past for Ghana to host the pan-African conference.
“So if it is happening in our time, then it's a privilege to be able to be part of this history that is evolving. The health sector of the country, led by the Ministry of Health, recognises that there are a lot of threats to the population, and in recent times we've experienced various pandemic threats, like COVID-19,” he said.