AIDS Commission sets ambitious plan to fight HIV/AIDS

GNA – The Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC) has set for itself an elaborate plan of activities over the next five years to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

The 90-90-90 target set out in the 2016 to 2020 plan requires that 90 per cent of people living with HIV will get to know their status, while 90 per cent who already know their status will receive sustained anti-retroviral treatment.

It also demands that 90 per cent of people receiving treatment will achieve suppressed viral load.

Dr Angela El-Adas, Director-General of GAC, said this on Tuesday during the commission’s annual partnership forum and business meeting.

This is 12th time the Commission has organised such meetings to discuss the progress made and challenges faced in the national HIV and AIDS response strategy implementation efforts, make recommendations and seek funding and technical support to tackle priority areas.

About 300 participants including representatives from ministries, departments, agencies and several HIV stakeholder organisations and individuals are taking part in the two-day event.

It is on the theme: “National strategic plan 2016-2020: sustainable partnership and resource mobilization towards achieving 90-90-90.”

“This year’s theme depicts Ghana’s commitment towards attaining the global long term goal to end AIDS by 2030, firstly by accelerating to the 2020 fast-track targets”, Dr El-Adas said.

Officials said this year’s meeting is unique since it marks the first year of the global strategy to ending AIDS while Ghana strives to attain the 90-90-90 targets by 2020.

The national HIV and AIDS strategic plan is expected to guide the priorities for the national response implementation.

The forum provides stakeholders an opportunity to deliberate further on the high impact priorities.

The meeting would also follow on the five-year commitments made at the 2016 UN high level meeting on HIV and AIDS in New York in June this year.

The business forum would engage government, the private sector, faith-based organisations and development partners to discuss resources for implementation of the national response in 2017 and beyond.

President John Dramani Mahama said in the forward of the strategic plan that: “We must improve our efforts to be more effective and coherent to support the national HIV response and to address barriers which prevent access to available HIV services. No one must be left behind.”

“I believe the strategies in this plan will achieve the ambitious but transformative results we expect by 2020.”

GNA