According to the 2022 report from the Ghana Aids Commission, there are 72,429 people living in the Ashanti Region who are infected with HIV. Out of the mentioned individuals, just over 26,000 are currently undergoing antiretroviral treatment at healthcare centers.
The utilization of antiretrovirals cannot explain the situation for the remaining 46,421 people. These individuals have either discontinued their ARV medication or are unaware of their HIV status. In the opinion of Dennis Bandoh, who is the deputy Ashanti regional focal person for HIV/AIDS, the region has reported 4,618 fresh incidents by the conclusion of the third quarter of 2023—an upsurge of 2.1 percent compared to the corresponding period in the previous year.
During an interview with the GNA, he shared that a total of 62,835 pregnant women had received positive test results for the Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission. Among them, 681 were positive for HIV. Additionally, out of 51,940 individuals who underwent HIV testing services, 3,937 were found to be positive.
According to his viewpoint, certain males think that if their pregnant spouses or partners receive a negative test result, it implies that the men are also negative. The regional HIV estimates in the report rank Greater Accra as the highest with 85,403 cases, followed by Ashanti Region with 72,429 cases and Eastern Region with 46,339 cases. Out of a total of 9,359 deaths caused by AIDS, 4,353 were men and 5,006 were women.
In the nation, there were 16,574 fresh incidents of HIV contraction, with females accounting for 10,927 of the cases and men making up 5,647. 2,868 individuals fell within the age bracket of 0 to 14, while 13,706 individuals were aged 15 and above. The problem of the HIV epidemic persisted, affecting certain populations and regions to a greater extent.