During the 2024 World AIDS Day commemoration in Ghana, the Ghana AIDS Commission disclosed alarming statistics showing that 183,000 individuals living with HIV in the country are not adhering to anti-retroviral therapy (ART).
Dr. Kyeremeh Atuahene, the Commission’s Director-General, explained that this failure threatens Ghana’s progress toward the UN’s 95-95-95 targets, which aim to end AIDS by 2030. He noted that 35% of Ghanaians living with HIV remain undiagnosed, while 55% of those diagnosed are not on treatment.
Dr. Atuahene emphasized the societal and economic toll of untreated HIV, including productivity loss, preventable deaths, and ongoing new infections. Each day, Ghana records 50 new HIV infections and 34 AIDS-related deaths.
The government, through Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, announced steps to integrate HIV services into the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and ensure a steady supply of ART medications. The UN AIDS Country Director, Dr. Sucilla Perez, and WHO Country Director, Dr. Frank Lule, urged stakeholders to combat stigma and discrimination, which remain barriers to care.
Observed on December 1 annually, this year’s event was marked under the global theme “Take the Rights Path” and the local theme “Ending AIDS Together, Stepping Up Prevention.”
