Help in our effort to eradicate HIV/AIDS – AIDS Commission to youth

The Ghana AIDS Commission has called on the Ghanaian youth to assume ambassadorial roles to help the country eradicate HIV and AIDS by 2030.

This call to action was made at a workshop organized by the Global Fund in Accra, to help the youth gain a deeper understanding of the HIV epidemic among young people in the country and to also help them and other stakeholders comprehend the funding available for the national AIDS response and the ability to analyse the different funder's priorities and the implication for an evidence-informed response for young people.

As the brainchild of the former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, the Global Fund was founded in 2001 with special focus on preventing and eradicating three diseases namely; AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

The workshop comes at a time Ghana is contending with a high number of reported new HIV infections and an alarming prevalence rate among the population, especially among the youth.

The year ending 2020, had alarming statistics put out by the Ghana AIDS Commission as an estimated 346,120 were persons living with HIV. This comprised 229,755 (66%) females and 116,364 (34%) males. The HIV population for Adult (15+ years) and children (0-14 years) was also 317,410 and 28,710 respectively.

The national HIV prevalence also stood at 1.68%.

Madam Rita Afriyie, an official at the Ghana AIDS Commission took the youth through some strategies and interventions to fight HIV and also, the National HIV and STI Policy which aims at, among other things, addressing health and development challenges posed by HIV and AIDS, sustain, scale up treatment, care and support for people living with HIV.

To reduce the prevalence rate and deaths resulting from AIDS, Madam Afriyie also advised the youth to have protected and safe sex and act as ambassadors, educating others on AIDS and accessibility to treatment.