The Director-General of the Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC), Dr. Kyereme Atuahene, has emphasized the urgent need to address significant funding shortfalls in HIV and AIDS treatment within the country.

Over the past two decades, donor funding for Ghana's HIV and AIDS response has dwindled from 75% to 33%, resulting in substantial funding gaps.

Dr. Atuahene stressed the importance of filling these gaps domestically to prevent any regression in the progress achieved.

He made these remarks during the media launch of the 2023 World AIDS Day, set to be observed on December 1, 2023, with the theme "Let Communities Lead."

Twenty years ago, Ghana introduced Antiretroviral drugs for the treatment of HIV and AIDS, effectively reducing the viral load in affected individuals.

The introduction of Antiretroviral therapy (ART) over the past two decades has saved the lives of thousands of Ghanaians, increasing the number of individuals on ART from 9,790 in 2020 to 13,539 in 2022.

Dr. Atuahene highlighted the risk of losing the benefits of scientific advancements in ART if funding for drugs remains entirely dependent on donors. To address this, the government established the national HIV and AIDS fund to ensure adequate funding for the HIV response.

Consequently, the Commission initiated a resource mobilization campaign to encourage individuals and corporate entities in Ghana to contribute to the fund.

Dr. Leticia Adelaid Appiah, Executive Director of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), emphasized the continued global impact of HIV and AIDS, underscoring the importance of a collective societal approach in the HIV response.

Dr. Kweku Afriyie, Executive Oversight Minister at the Ghana AIDS Commission and Minister for Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation, acknowledged the need to address stigmatization and discrimination experienced by people living with HIV as barriers to achieving the United Nations' 95-95-95 treatment target by 2025 and ending AIDS by 2030.

He added that "ending HIV/ AIDS is possible and it is within our grasp if we allow communities to lead with the right resources and support and commended all stakeholders, local and international, for their diverse roles in HIV and AIDS national response."

Mrs. Linda Asante-Agyei, the Vice President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), emphasized the importance of equipping the media with accurate information to empower communities to take the lead in their actions and achieve their objectives.

She said: “If communities will have to lead the agenda, then it means they have to be empowered and would need the role of the media to do this.

“Our doors are widely open, we will continue to support the GAC and stakeholders to succeed in this fight, we have done it before and we will continue doing it, all we need is for you to open your doors to us whenever we come to you looking for information.”