More than a thousand applicants for roles within Ghana’s security services have tested positive for HIV during recent mandatory medical screenings, the Interior Minister has revealed.
Addressing Parliament’s Public Assurance Committee, Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak disclosed that around 1,300 individuals tested positive for the virus out of more than 100,000 applicants who reached the medical examination stage after passing their aptitude tests.
The significant number of positive cases prompted the government to withhold direct medical results from unsuccessful candidates. Mr Mohammed-Mubarak defended the decision, citing international health protocols and the vital need for professional counselling. Instead of receiving a direct diagnosis, those who fail the medical phase are given contact information so they can choose to inquire about their results voluntarily.
“I remember the recent recruitment we had. I think about 1,300 also were on HIV. Can you imagine sending somebody a result telling the person that you have HIV? That’s not the procedure. The person has to go through some orientation,” the minister told the committee.
Under the current system, applicants who proactively get in touch with the recruitment authorities are guided through a counselling process before the specific medical reasons for their disqualification are disclosed.
Beyond HIV, the screening process flagged a wide range of other medical issues, including hepatitis B, heart complications, mental health conditions, drug-related issues, and evidence of major past surgeries.
The minister urged unsuccessful candidates to come forward and request their files, noting that many of the conditions detected are treatable and manageable if caught early, which could allow applicants to try again in future recruitment drives.
“Some of the things that we realised are treatable. People need to know and then also get treatment so that subsequent recruitment they could join,” he stated, adding later: “It may be something minor, it may be something major. Whichever it is, if you get to know, it will be of great interest to you.”
However, the government’s hands-off approach to notifying affected individuals faced scrutiny from committee members. Several MPs pressed the ministry to adopt a more proactive strategy, arguing that directly reaching out to counsel those diagnosed with HIV could curb transmission rates and drastically improve long-term health outcomes through early intervention.
Mr Mohammed-Mubarak rejected the criticism, maintaining that the current framework is designed to shield individuals from the psychological shock of receiving a life-altering diagnosis without immediate, face-to-face support.
He reiterated that the state is prepared to hand over the findings to anyone who asks, but emphasized that sensitive data would not be distributed casually.
“We provided contact for people to call who were interested in knowing why they failed… We are obliged to give them the results, but we can’t send them to you on the phone,” he explained.
