President endorses campaign

The UNAIDS-FIFA Global Protect the Ball campaign reached the Flagstaff House last Friday where President John Dramani Mahama signed his signature on the ball that is being sent to countries that have qualified for the FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

The convenor of the project, Dr Djibril Diallo, presented the ball to President Mahama.

President Mahama signed his signature on the ball as one of the 32 heads of state whose countries have qualified for the tournament.

The Global Protect the Ball campaign is aimed at using the FIFA World Cup to fight HIV/AIDS.

In Ghana, the project is being executed through a collaboration among UNAIDS, the Ghana Football Association (GFA) and the National Youth Authority (NTA).

President hail organisers

President Mahama commended the organisers of the project for the move and said they could count on Ghana to play a key role.

He said Ghana was determined to do all it could to help in the global fight against the disease.

Mr Mahama said from the early 1990s, Ghana decided to openly confront HIV and AIDS and, since then, significant successes had been chalked up.

"We have gone from a prevalence rate of about five per cent to the current rate of about 1.3 per cent," he said.

He said it was the wish of the nation to get to zero per cent, adding, "That is possible."

Mr Mahama stated that sometimes the world was a victim of its own success. 

"We met a few years ago in New York to do a major review of the progress we have made in the fight against HIV and AIDS and the report was very positive. But often when you make progress like this, that is when there is the tendency to let off your guard," he said. 

Later, he said, the commitment to raise funds for the global response started dwindling, adding that the time to commit more funds to fight the disease was now.

Dr Diallo speaks 

Dr Diallo expressed the hope that with the support of leaders such as Mr Mahama, the battle against the disease looked bright.

He said there were over 15 million people globally who were eligible for life-saving anti-retroviral treatment.

"We want to ensure that they have access to treatment by 2015," he said.

He said the Protect the Ball campaign would be officially launched in Brazil on June 9 and extended UNAIDS’s invitation to Mr Mahama to grace the occasion.

He described President Mahama as the new face of the Global Protect the Ball campaign. 

Afriyie-Ankrah

The Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah, expressed confidence that football would successfully drive the battle against HIV/AIDS in Ghana.