World AIDS Day 2019 launched in Ghana

The Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC) launched the 2019 World AIDS Day campaign with some highlights of the revised HIV& AIDS Policy and the reconstructed GAC Website

The launch attracted several participants from the government, civil society, the National Association of People Living with HIV (NAP+), traditional leaders, the United Nations system and the media.

The launch symbolized a rededication to the national AIDS response and has started a month-long campaign which culminates with a national event on 1 December in Accra. The global theme for the 2019 World AIDS Day is ‘Communities make the difference’. Ghana has adopted the theme ‘Communities make the difference; Help end AIDS’ to stress the fact that every Ghanaian can contribute in different ways to end AIDS as a public threat.  

Speaking at the launch, the UNAIDS Country Director, Ms. Angela Trenton-Mbonde noted that while there has been a lot of progress in the AIDS response worldwide, much more still needs to be done. She cited the global progress towards reaching the 90-90-90 targets as 79-62-53. The Ghana statistics are 66-60-67. Stressing that communities contribute to the AIDS response in many ways, she emphasized that “the strong advocacy and monition role played by communities are needed to ensure that AIDS is maintained as a priority on the political agenda”. She highlighted the important role of women, including market women, mentoring mothers, and traditional queen mothers in the implementation of evidence-based strategies to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV through the “Free to Shine” campaign led by Her Excellency the First Lady of Ghana.   She further called on the media to continue to inform and educate the general public and spread the message that communities should take action to end AIDS.

The Presidential Advisor on HIV and the immediate past Director-General of GAC, Ambassador Dr. Mokowah Blay Adu Gyamfi, chaired the event.