In Ghana, the WHO World Health Report (2004) indicates an adult mortality¹⁴ rate per 1000 population of 354 for males and 303 for females. Life expectancy for males is 56.3; for females 58.8. Healthy life expectancy is 49.2 for males; 50.3 for females.¹⁵

HIV/AIDS is a huge burden for sub-Saharan Africa. Throughout the region in 2003, an estimated 23-27 million people were thought to be living with the disease which also caused up to 2.5 million deaths. This represents a huge loss and impacts significantly on health systems and social and family structures.

Ghana is severely affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Estimates suggest that in Ghana, between 210,000 and 560,000 people were living with HIV/AIDS at the end of 2003. In the same year, up to 49,000 adults and children are thought to have died from the disease (Table 2).

Table 2 Ghana HIV and AIDS estimates, end 2003

Source: 2004 Report on the global AIDS epidemic.

UNAIDS reports

Ghana’s population of over 18 million has an HIV/AIDS prevalence rate currently estimated to be below the 5% threshold. While awareness of the epidemic is thought to be over 95%, this awareness has yet to translate into widespread behavioural change. The National Strategic Framework for HIV/AIDS (NSFW) was adopted in 2001 and constitutes one direction of the national response.

Ghana’s HIV/AIDS strategic plan focuses on five thematic areas: prevention of new infection; care and support for people living with HIV; creating an enabling environment for the national response; decentralizing implementation through institutional arrangements; and research, monitoring and evaluation.

Multilateral and bilateral partners, NGOs and civil society organisations actively participate in the national response under government leadership. There are more than 2500 community-based organisations and NGOs implementing HIV/AIDS interventions in the country. There has been substantial funding from bilateral and multilateral partners for the national HIV/AIDS response.¹⁶