The Ghana AIDS Commission has indicated that approximately 55% of the over 151, 000 persons living with HIV and AIDS may lose their lives due to a lack of funds to support their treatment.
In an interview with Channel One News, the Director General, Dr. Kyeremeh Atuahene, expressed concern over the lack of commitment toward resourcing the AIDS Fund.
“Consistently we have had funding gaps over the last five years. The funding gap has been more than 80 million dollars a year. If that should continue into 2030, then obviously we cannot achieve the target.
“We have recently done two analyses. One is the investment case which gives us an understanding of the options that we need to take. For example, if you want to maintain the status quo, that is if the funding we have currently is going to remain flat for the period between now and 2030, it means we will have more than 43, 000 new infections, which could have been averted.”
He noted that if the situation continues on the same trajectory, the country is likely to miss its target of drastically reducing AIDS prevalence below the threshold by 2030. He urged organizations and private individuals to support the AIDS Fund to help avert the consequences.
“People living with HIV who are currently on treatment after the end of 2023 are 151,000. Of the 151,000 who are on treatment, that is about 45% of people who need treatment in the country. And so you can see the huge gap in the coverage of treatment services.
“For us to end it, we have to put at least 98% of people living with HIV on treatment. If we are now at 45% then obviously you know that by 2030 we wouldn’t have achieved our target. What is more troubling is the fact that we are going to lose many or most of the 55% of persons who need treatment and are not receiving treatment”, he stated.
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