Ghana spends $323 million on HIV/AIDS response in three years.
The Ghana HIV/AIDS Commission (GAC) has released the National AIDS Spending Assessment (NASA) report for 2019, 2020, and 2021, revealing that the country spent $323.7 million in the relevant years.
According to the report, total HIV/AIDS-related expenditures for 2019, 2020, and 2021 were $88,648,568, $107,280,242, and $127,828,300, respectively.
Dr Kyeremeh Atuahene, Director-General of the GAC, stated at the launch and dissemination of the NASA report that the funds for each year were the total contribution made by the government, the private sector, and the international donor community.
However, he stated that the findings revealed a continued reliance on international sources to fund the national HIV/AIDS response.
NASA
NASA is a comprehensive and systemic resource tracking method for HIV and AIDS programs that describes the financial flow, actual disbursements, and expenditures.
The NASA process, which is a critical tool for tracking resources and expenditures for the national HIV/AIDS response, maps HIV financial transactions from their origin to their final destination — the recipients of goods and services.
It describes the HIV and AIDS financial flow and expenditures for both health and non-health activities during the specified time period, as well as identifying and addressing funding gaps.
The report focuses on three dimensions — financing, provision, and consumption — as well as overall estimates of public, private, and international donor expenditures on the national HIV/AIDS response.
He said the three year results clearly showed that the country’s expenditure kept increasing yearly.
In this regard, he urged the GAC to continue engaging the government, development partners, and all multi-sectoral stakeholders in the national response to mobilize adequate funds to finance the National Strategic Plan 2021-2025’s implementation.
This, he claimed, would aid in meeting national targets and ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030.
In a report highlight, GAC Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator Emmanuel Tetteh Larbi stated that even though HIV funding increased in the years under review, HIV spending exceeded estimated resources.
According to the report, HIV care and treatment received the greatest share of HIV financing, followed by program enablers, health system strengthening, and HIV prevention, indicating that Ghana’s HIV response was heavily reliant on international funds.
Mr Larbi thus advocated for the mobilization of local resources, the institutionalization of routine HIV and AIDS resource tracking, and the promotion of innovative approaches to target key populations.
Cynthia Adobea Asante, a representative of UNAIDS Country Director, praised the GAC for the report and pledged UNAIDS’ continued support to protect the vulnerable and marginalized.
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