Ghana recorded 13,951 new HIV cases in 2025, with women accounting for nearly two-thirds of the total, health authorities have revealed.
The figures, released by the Ghana AIDS Commission, have sparked fresh anxiety over the country’s anti-HIV campaign. Officials warn that widespread risky sexual behaviour and a steep drop in condom usage are driving the surge, leaving Ghana off track to hit global 95-95-95 targets under its 2026–2030 National Strategic Plan.
Addressing stakeholders at the 2026 HIV and AIDS Partnership Forum, the Director of Research, Monitoring and Evaluation at the Commission, Isaiah Doe Kwao, called for an immediate scale-up in prevention, testing, and treatment.
According to data presented by Mr Kwao, 8,900 of the 13,951 new infections—representing 63.8 per cent—were recorded among women. Nationally, slightly over 330,000 people were living with HIV by the end of 2025.
Greater Accra emerged as the epicentre of the epidemic, recording 3,141 new infections and housing a total patient population exceeding 77,000.
Mr Kwao attributed the high figures in urban centres to dense populations and prevalent sexual habits.
“This is important because in populations where there are more people, you realise that more people are engaging in heterosexual sex, which is the highest mode of transmission,” he stated, emphasizing that the central focus must remain on stopping new transmissions. “But the most important is what are we doing to reduce these numbers?”
He identified casual encounters, extramarital affairs, and unprotected intercourse as the primary drivers of the virus.
“For example, side chickism, hookups, people having sex without using a condom. This is one of the most critical transmission modes to get HIV and AIDS,” Mr Kwao noted.
While acknowledging mother-to-child transmission during pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding, he insisted that curbing sexual transmission remains the cornerstone of reducing national infection rates.
He urged sexually active adults to get tested, stick to single partners, and adopt consistent condom use.
“If you should go and test, if you test and you are negative, you live a non-risky life. You stick to your partner. It’s as simple as that. And be faithful to your partner,” he advised.
Ghana’s failure to align with the UNAIDS 95-95-95 benchmark—aimed at ensuring 95% of people living with HIV know their status, 95% of diagnosed individuals receive sustained antiretroviral therapy, and 95% on treatment achieve viral suppression—has been compounded by severe funding constraints.
With international donors pulling back, Mr Kwao highlighted growing donor fatigue and urged the government to step up domestic funding, specifically advocating a larger share of the District Assemblies Common Fund for local HIV programmes.
“But now donor fatigue is setting in. That is why we are encouraging government to increase its financing for the national HIV and AIDS response,” he said.
The Commission is equally targeting private sector support through Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives and strengthening the National HIV and AIDS Fund with expert help from the Ghana AIDS Board’s Resource Mobilisation Committee.
“We are hoping with government support we can be able to engage the private sector so that they can contribute more to the fund through their social corporate responsibility,” he explained.
Mr Kwao concluded with an appeal to the public for individual micro-donations via the mobile short code *9898#.
“Your 1 cedi can go a long way to help the fund because HIV can affect not only you, but also your family,” he urged. “You can also contribute if it’s 1 cedi, 10 cedis, 1 million. We accept so that we can raise funds to bridge the gap that we need to finance the HIV.”
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
