World AIDS Day marked in Wa
Ghana has taken the pioneering role to actualise the African Union (AU) action plan on local production of anti retrovirals (ARVs).
Advertisement
Last year, the government set up a nine-member joint technical committee to come up with modalities for the construction and execution of a factory project to produce anti-retroviral drugs for people living with HIV and AIDS in Ghana and the rest of Africa.
The project is a private-public partnership between the Government of Ghana and the Oxford International Biomedical Centre (OIBC).
Currently, a local pharmaceutical firm, Danadams Pharmaceuticals, produces ARVs but is yet to obtain World Health Organisation (WHO) criteria to enable it to meet the WHO pre-qualification standards.
Meanwhile, the government is working closely with local pharmaceutical companies to enable them to produce the ARVs and other essential medicines locally at a lower cost.
The Vice-President, Mr Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, who announced this, said the government alone could not achieve the goals of the national response to HIV and AIDS.
Addressing a durbar of chiefs and people in Wa in the Upper West Region to mark this year’s World AIDS Day, he urged civil society organisations, the private sector, religious leaders and the general public, as social partners, to continue to play their role to ensure that every corner of the country had access to information and services on HIV and AIDS.
The ceremony was on the theme, "Getting to zero: New HIV infections, discrimination and AIDS-related deaths".
Other Trending Stories
Mr Amissah-Arthur said the government last year took steps to address the issue of cost as a barrier to accessing HIV treatment services and ultimately, help Ghana get to zero AIDS-related deaths.
As part of the steps, he said the Ministry of Health was asked to scrap the GH¢5 service charge paid by people living with HIV for treatment while the Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC) was also asked to ensure that all persons living with HIV registered with the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
UNAIDS
The UNAIDS Country Coordinator, Mr Girmay Haile, commended the government for its achievement and continued commitment in its HIV response.
GAC
The Director-General of the GAC, Dr Angela El-Adas, announced that the Global Fund was supporting the GAC with a grant of $15 million in aid of 12,000 new HIV/AIDS patients on treatment.