Ghana’s Vice-President, H.E. Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, has delivered a galvanizing call to action at the 23rd International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA) in Accra, urging the continent to seize its own health sovereignty.
Vice-President Opoku-Agyemang firmly stated that Africa has the capacity to eliminate the AIDS epidemic, but this monumental task hinges on African-led strategies and strengthening sustainable domestic financing in the face of dwindling global support.
“If Africa is to end AIDS, and I believe we can, we must lead our own response and strengthen domestic financing,” she declared, setting the tone for the regional conversation and stressing that achieving health sovereignty is non-negotiable.
The Vice-President addressed delegates, framing the current financial climate – marked by the reduction of international funding for HIV/AIDS – as a crucial challenge that must be met with resilience. She warned that Africa must refuse to let hard-earned health gains in the sector be reversed, calling for a bold strategic overhaul.
H.E. Opoku-Agyemang insisted that this moment demands a willingness to rethink, redesign, and rebuild a sustainable financial foundation that will ensure health security for the next generation of Africans.
“This holistic approach goes beyond simple funding and requires a commitment to building regional pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity, enhancing disease surveillance and laboratory systems, and actively empowering the community and civil society organizations that form the grassroots backbone of the response”
Vice-President Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang
The Vice President noted that earlier this year, Ghana demonstrated its commitment to this cause by convening the Africa Health Sovereignty Summit, aimed at creating a new continental roadmap for sustainable financing, domestic manufacturing, and resilience.
“The message was clear, Africa cannot outsource her health security. Our national approach is anchored in our broader research agenda. This is a long-term strategy to build a self-sustaining, technology-driven, data-enabled, and equitable health system”
Vice-President Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang
She outlined Ghana’s detailed, five-pillar plan designed to integrate the HIV response into a larger, self-reliant framework for achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and financial stability.
Five-Pillar Roadmap
The Vice-President listed the core components of Ghana’s national strategy, which includes structural and financial reforms: sustainable and predictable financing; strengthening Universal Health Coverage (UHC); Mahama Care – lifeline for chronic conditions; free primary health care; and local pharmaceutical manufacturing.
According to Prof. Opoku-Agyemang, a national HIV response roadmap is actively being developed purposely to secure long-term domestic financing mechanisms and strengthen internal accountability for the country’s health spending.
She also revealed that the government has taken the decisive step of uncapping the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to expand the fiscal space for essential health services, making them more accessible to the population.
The Ghana Medical Care Trust Fund also known as the Mahama Cares Policy, on the other hand, she noted, provides vital support for citizens living with chronic and lifelong conditions, ensuring that treatment remains secured and uninterrupted.
Of the Free Primary Health Care, a critical initiative scheduled for launch in January 2026, the Vice President explained that it “aims to guarantee access to essential services for every community by decentralizing care and systematically removing financial barriers at the foundational level.”
“Local Pharmaceutical Manufacturing – A feasibility study is currently underway to enable the local production of key HIV commodities, vaccines, and essential medicines. This move will significantly reduce Ghana’s costly and often precarious dependency on external suppliers”
Vice-President Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang
While delivering the continental challenge, and Ghana’s plan towards tackling it, the Vice-President provided an update on the country’s domestic progress against the epidemic. She noted that around 65% of people living with HIV know their status, and new infections have shown a steady decline, signaling the effectiveness of community-led organizations.
However, she reminded delegates that “Africa still bears over two-thirds of the global HIV burden, with many nations facing significant disparities in achieving the ambitious 95-95-95 targets set by UNAIDS.”
The ongoing ICASA conference, therefore, serves as an urgent platform to translate the commitment to self-reliance into concrete, continent-wide policy.
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