Ghana has 334,095 people living with HIV AIDS

The 2023 national and sub-national HIV and AIDS data shows that a total of 334,095 people are living with HIV/AIDS in the country, 17,550 of the number being children below 15 years.

The data further indicates that the country recorded 17,774 new HIV infections, with 1,698 being children below 15 years and 16,076 representing adults above 15 years.

The data also shows that new infections, AIDS deaths and HIV prevalence were declining but not sufficient to achieve the set goals and targets.

In addition, an estimated 50 people are infected with HIV every day, with majority of the new infections been identified as persons between 15 and 49 years old, the economically active population.

Announcing the statistics at a media engagement to disseminate the results and discuss the implications and enhance understanding of the HIV estimation process to promote ownership of the results among stakeholders, the Director-General of the Ghana AIDS Commission, Dr Kyeremeh Atuahene, said although significant strides had been made in the implementation of HIV interventions, more needed to be done to achieve the expected target.

Regional and district-level data show varying prevalence and new infections, with Greater Accra, Ashanti and Eastern regions having the highest number of persons living with HIV while the districts with the highest HIV population include Accra Metropolitan Area, Kumasi Metropolitan Area and Ledzokuku Municipality.