Forty years after Ghana began its response to HIV and AIDS, the Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC) is calling for stronger domestic financing and intensified prevention efforts to protect the gains made against the epidemic.
The Commission says declining external funding makes it increasingly important for government to take greater responsibility for financing HIV prevention, testing and treatment.
The 2026 World AIDS Day is being marked under the theme, “40 Years of Steady Progress: Stepping Up Prevention to End AIDS.”
For the Ghana AIDS Commission and its stakeholders, the milestone is not only about celebrating progress but also about ensuring that people, particularly those who remain vulnerable to HIV, can access prevention services without interruption.
As Ghana marks four decades of the HIV response, the challenge is to translate the gains in treatment and survival into stronger prevention, reduced stigma and sustainable domestic financing.
At the launch of the 2026 World AIDS Day, Programme Manager of the National AIDS/STI Control Programme (NACP), Dr Emmanuel A. A. Teviu, said prevention messages, testing and linkage to treatment will be brought closer to communities, making it easier for people to know their HIV status and access care.
He noted that the programme is improving the redistribution of HIV commodities among regions to prevent facilities from running out of supplies due to poor stock management.
“We have adequate commodities available so that we can sustain the gains we have achieved in the last 40 years and make sure that our message and call for prevention, for people to go and test and know their status and all that, is not interrupted,” he said.
He explained that the global funding landscape has changed significantly, forcing countries to look inward to close the financing gap.
“Globally, the funding landscape has changed tremendously, and every country is now looking inwards to see how they can close the gap. I am sure we are all aware of what the Government of Ghana has led over the past few months. The Accra Reset Agenda is one of the fallouts from that quest to make sure that we are domestically okay to be able to finance the HIV response,” he said.
Director-General of the Ghana AIDS Commission, Dr Kharmacelle Prosper Akanbong, said government was taking steps to sustain the national response, including funding for HIV commodities and plans to integrate HIV services into the Free Primary Healthcare programme.
“Government is also exploring ways to integrate HIV services into the Free Primary Healthcare programme, allowing community-based health workers to provide prevention education, testing and referrals for treatment. Over the 40 years, a major part of our national response, the financing aspect, was sponsored by donor agencies. We are talking about the World Bank, Global Fund, Joint UN National Task Force for AIDS and bilateral relationships,” he said.
It is established that the changing global funding landscape presents a major challenge, requiring Ghana to mobilise more resources locally. The GAC estimates that sustaining the country’s comprehensive HIV response requires about $220 million, covering medicines, prevention commodities, treatment, human rights interventions and other essential services.
This is a reminder that continued access to services and medicines determines whether people living with HIV can live healthy lives and whether new infections can be prevented.
