Denial of HIV status and stigmatisation accounting for low ART uptake – GAC 

Denial of HIV-positive status and persistent stigmatisation remain major barriers to the uptake of Antiretroviral Therapy (ART), Madam Olivia Graham, the Ashanti Regional Technical Coordinator of the Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC), has disclosed. 

According to the 2024 national HIV estimates released by the Commission, only 47.5 per cent of the country’s 334,721 people living with HIV, are currently on treatment. 

“A lot of people are in denial when they are told they are infected with HIV, and so they refuse to seek treatment.  

Stigma is also contributing significantly to people not going for treatment,” Madam Graham noted, when she addressed the media in Kumasi during the inauguration of the Regional AIDS Committee. 

She emphasised the need for individuals diagnosed with HIV to accept their status and enroll in treatment, especially as Ghana works to achieve the global 95-95-95 HIV targets by 2030. 

Providing updates on the Ashanti Region’s HIV situation, Madam Graham revealed that, the region had an estimated 63,159 people living with HIV, making it the second highest after the Greater Accra Region, which has 77,821. 

The Kumasi Metropolitan area alone accounts for 7,582 cases, placing it among the top five highest-burdened districts nationwide.  

Kumasi also recorded 360 new infections in 2024, second only to the Accra Metropolitan area, which recorded 421. 

The region currently has an adult HIV prevalence rate of 1.59 per cent, slightly above the national prevalence of 1.49 per cent.  

This, she said, called for intensified efforts by all stakeholders to reduce new infections and improve treatment coverage. 

Madam Graham called for sustained public education, increased testing, and expanded treatment access to help the country move toward epidemic control. 

Dr. Frank Amoakohene, Ashanti Regional Minister and Chair of the Regional AIDS Committee, urged members of the committee to collaborate effectively with partners to achieve national HIV targets. 

“We have a lot of work to do, especially because males hardly turn up for testing,” he emphasised. 

He reiterated government’s commitment to safeguarding the health and well-being of Ghanaians through the Ministry of Health, the Ghana Health Service, and the Ghana AIDS Commission. 

Dr. Amoakohene said various interventions were being implemented to strengthen HIV prevention, testing, and treatment services across the country. 

Source: GNA 

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