2023 Budget: “Unfailingly Activate National HIV & AIDS Fund” – GHANET To Ken Ofori-Atta
Ghana HIV and AIDS Network (GHANET) has appealed to President Akufo-Addo and Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta to quicken the activation of the National HIV and AIDS fund which has stalled since 2016.
The fund was enacted into law in 2016 following the amendment of the GAC Act, 938. According to the Act, the only person who can activate the Fund is the Minister of Finance.
Ernest Amoabeng Ortsin, President of GHANET delivering a solidarity message during the launch of the 2022 World AIDS Day and the 20th Anniversary Celebration of the Ghana AIDS Commission said:
"I, therefore, wish to use this platform to make a special appeal to the Honourable Minister of Finance, Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta, to unfailingly activate the Fund in the 2023 budget which will be read exactly two weeks from today.
We need the National HIV and AIDS Fund to preserve the lives of the over 250,000 Ghanaians who are currently surviving on life-saving Anti-Retroviral (ART) drugs. It is instructive to note that about 8 percent of this number are children (i.e. 20,000). At the present time, the Global Fund is the major donor supporting Ghana’s interventions against HIV and AIDS. I am of the view that this is not tenable as the Global Fund may one day decide to wind down its activities.
As a country, we need to take our destiny into our own hands. And that is why GHANET and all Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Health are calling on the President and Minister of Finance to ACTIVATE the Fund".
Ghana AIDS Commission @ 20
Meanwhile, Mr Ortsin has congratulated the Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC) on the occasion of its 20th Anniversary.
"GHANET has a long history with the Commission dating back to its founding in 2002. Since that period till now, our successive presidents have always served on the Governing Board of the Commission. We are, therefore, very familiar with the story of the Commission...I wish to congratulate the Ghana AIDS Commission for this important milestone and I pray for a successful 2022 World AIDS Day Celebration" he added.
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