ICASA 2025 Opens in Accra with Call for African Health Sovereignty

The 23rd Edition of the International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Africa (ICASA) has opened in Accra with a rallying call to African leaders to invest in health sovereignty, protect rights, empower communities, and embrace innovation to end AIDS as a public health threat.

ICASA, a major bilingual conference held exclusively on the African continent for over 30 years, has played a pivotal role in mitigating the impact of HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Hepatitis, and Malaria, while fostering an environment free from stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV (PLHIV) and their families. It is the first to be hosted by Ghana.

The conference, running from 3 – 8 December in Accra, is under the theme “Africa in Action: Catalysing Integrated Sustainable Responses to End AIDS, TB & Malaria. It aims to catalyze Africa’s progress toward triple elimination and the development of sustainable, resilient health systems. It also seeks to drive innovation through digital technologies and strengthen cooperation among governments, civil society, the private sector, and international organizations to enhance health security and improve pandemic preparedness and response.

It also seeks to strengthen capacity and facilitate knowledge exchange for healthcare professionals, researchers, and policymakers, empower communities and promote human rights and gender equality in the context of HIV/AIDS as well as emerging and reemerging disease sustainable solutions to fill the gap left by the withdrawal of critical AIDS funding.

Speaking at the opening on Wednesday, the Vice President of the Republic of Ghana, Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyeman, urged the continent to take bold steps forward, confront hard truths, and set its own agenda especially at a time when global shifts have led to reduced donor support for healthcare.

“We cannot continue to outsource our healthcare priorities; we must lead our own reforms, build sustainable systems, and strengthen our collective resolve,” the Vice President said.

For her part, the UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima declared that ending AIDS is no longer a medical challenge but a political choice. She urged African leaders to make three decisive commitments: to resource the HIV response despite collapsing international aid, to protect the rights of vulnerable communities amid rising criminalization and inequality, and to seize new innovations to secure health sovereignty.

Ms Byanyima highlighted Africa’s disproportionate HIV burden – 19% of the world’s population but 65% of all people living with HIV – and warned that debt servicing and weak revenue collection continue to undermine health investment. She praised recent domestic financing commitments in countries including Nigeria, Uganda, Côte d’Ivoire, South Africa, Tanzania, and Ghana, but stressed that implementation is critical.

She further pointed to breakthrough prevention tools such as long-acting injectables and vaginal rings, calling for expanded access and local manufacturing to ensure Africa benefits from innovations it helped develop. 

Delivering his remarks virtually, the WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Mohammed Janabi, noted that while new HIV infections have been declining, too many people have remained unreached since 2010. “ICASA is a chance to confront these gaps and strengthen the systems needed to close them. WHO will walk this journey with you,” he said.

The United Nations is prominently represented at the conference, with UNAIDS, UNFPA,UNICEF and WHO bringing expertise and resources to showcase the UN’s commitment to empowering people, safeguarding rights, and delivering essential services to end HIV/AIDS.

This year’s ICASA conference is being attended by heads of government delegations, health ministers, global health agencies, UN representatives, leading researchers, civil society groups, PLHIV networks, youth organisations, donor partners, community advocates, and private sector actors from across Africa and beyond. Also in attendance are continental health institutions, regional economic blocs, pharmaceutical stakeholders, and signatories to major global health initiatives, all reaffirming their commitment