2019 World AIDS Day launched

This year’s World AIDS Day has been launched with a reminder to the public that HIV and AIDS remains a health threat in the country.

This is because people have become complacent and are, therefore, no longer assessing services such as testing and free medication, the Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC) has said.

According to the commission, such attitude towards HIV and AIDs services could erode the achievement of national response.

At the launch in Accra yesterday, the acting Director General of the GAC, Mr Atuahene Kyeremeh, said Ghana had the capacity to end the HIV and AIDS menace in line with a UN 90-90-90 target, but observed that complacency was slowing down the process.

World AIDS Day is commemorated every first day of December.

The global theme for this year’s celebration is: “Communities make the difference”, while the national theme is:

“Communities make the difference-help end AIDS”.

The launch will be followed by a month of media and community-related activities such as media engagements, public lectures, national thanksgiving and Muslim service, among other programmes, and would be climaxed on December 1, 2020.

UN agenda

The 90-90-90 is a UN agenda to guide member countries to end HIV and AIDS.

Under the targets, the countries are expected to ensure that by 2020, 90 per cent of all people living with HIV know their status, 90 per cent of all people diagnosed with HIV infection received sustained antiretroviral therapy in 12 months, while 90 per cent of all people receiving antiretroviral therapy had viral suppression.

Appeal

Mr Atuahene appealed to the public to get tested and to prioritise good practices which would keep their status negative, while urging those on antiretroviral drugs to continue to stay on them to ensure vital suppression.

He also called for increased efforts to end the stigmatisation of persons living with the condition to help achieve the 90-90-90 agenda.

The Director General explained that the annual commemoration was an opportunity for the GAC to review the progress and impact of national response in order to prepare for the ensuing year.

He said 2020 was a critical year for the GAC, particularly because the 90-90-90 targets were supposed to be delivered by 2020, and therefore, called on all stakeholders, especially the media, to increase advocacy.

The Presidential Advisor on HIV, Dr Mokowa Blay Adu-Gyamfi, said the event was also an opportunity for stakeholders to reflect on response interventions and make a renewed commitment towards the achievement of the 90-90-90 targets.

She said the community-based focus of the 2019 commemoration indicated that no contribution was too small or irrelevant towards the delivery of the targets.

New policy

The event was also used to launch a new national HIV and AIDS Policy 2019. It is a revised version of existing policies and supersedes a recently revised edition of 2013.

The policy provides an overarching direction for Ghana in its effort to deliver the 90-90-90 treatment targets by 2020, and ultimately, SDG 3, which calls for an end to the AIDS epidemic by 2030.

Background

First commemorated in 1988, the World AIDS Day was instituted by the UN and marked every December 1.

It is dedicated to raising awareness of AIDS, galvanising support and commitment to end the menace and also inspiring global solidarity for infected persons.

According to a 2018 national estimates and projections, HIV/AIDS prevalence rate was 1.69 per cent, with 334,713 people living with HIV in the country.

The projected number of new infections in 2018 was 19,931.

Writer’s email doreen.andoh@graphic.com.gh