Ghana reduces new HIV infections among children by 76% - UNAIDS Report

A new report by the UNAIDS suggests that since 2009, Ghana and six other countries in sub-Saharan Africa have reduced new HIV infections among children by 50%, with others making significant progress.

The report, titled, “2013 Progress Report on the Global Plan towards elimination of new HIV infections among children by 2015 and keeping their mothers alive,” (Global Plan) showed that Ghana, Botswana, Ethiopia, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa and Zambia were successful in reducing the incidence of HIV infection by half, while Tanzania and Zimbabwe were also reported to have made substantial progress.

According to the report, Ghana in a short time span, “tripled its coverage of antiretroviral medicines for pregnant women living with HIV, resulting in a 76% reduction in the number of new HIV infections among children – the highest reduction observed among the countries with a high burden of pregnant women living with HIV”.

The report praised the Ghanaian government for this success story saying; “the high level of political and financial commitment and the expansion of services by the government are producing results”.

It however recommended that attention now needs to turn towards expanding the coverage of antiretroviral therapy for eligible children and pregnant women and addressing the large unmet need for family planning services.

The report highlights the “130,000 fewer new HIV infections among children across the 21 Global Plan priority countries in Africa – a drop of 38% since 2009.”

 “The progress in the majority of countries is a strong signal that with focused efforts, every child can be born free from HIV,” said Michel Sidibé, executive director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

“But progress has stalled in some countries with high numbers of new HIV infections. We need to find out why and remove the bottlenecks which are preventing scale-up,” he indicated.

Though access to HIV treatment has doubled from 2009-2012 in Chad, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe, the report says, “urgent steps need to be taken to improve early diagnosis of HIV in children and ensure timely access to antiretroviral treatment.”

The Global Plan initiative is spearheaded by UNAIDS and the United States Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). For 2015, the Global Plan targets a 90% reduction in the number of children newly infected with HIV and a 50% reduction in the number of AIDS-related maternal deaths.