UNAIDS Boss arrives in Ghana to celebrate 10th anniversary of AIDS Commission

The Executive Director of the joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), Mr Michel Sidibe on Wednesday arrived in the country for a three-day state visit to mark the 10th anniversary of the Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC).

He was met on arrival by the Director General of the GAC, Dr. Angela El-Adas, the Minister of Health and other dignitaries at the GAC secretariat in Accra.

Mr Sidibe, who expressed delight on his arrival in Ghana, noted that the past year had seen a remarkable transformation across Africa and that Ghana was showing the way on the continent fighting for social justice.

He is expected to participate in events marking the 10th anniversary and attend meetings with high-level government officials, members of civil society and other key stakeholders in the national AIDS response.

The Executive Director will tour La General Hospital, a facility that provides comprehensive HIV services to pregnant women to prevent new HIV infections in children.

He will also visit Dan Adams, a production plant that manufactures antiretroviral medicines.

Again, Mr Sidibe will have informal interactions with civil society members and other key AIDS stakeholders at the Ghana AIDS Commission Fair at the Accra International Conference Centre.

Mr. Sidibe will as part of the visit join a roundtable discussion at the Vice-President’s Office at the Castle, Osu, with key Ministers and other stakeholders in the AIDS response on the theme: “HIV in Ghana: Getting to Zero.”

His visit will be climaxed with a courtesy call on President John Evans Atta Mills at the Castle, Osu.

Finally, Mr Sidibe and Dr Angela El-Adas, Director-General of Ghana AIDS Commission, will participate in a press briefing at the VIP lounge at the Kotoka International Airport.

According to the UNAIDS, getting to zero new infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths, would require African solution, innovation and responsive to the needs of the African people.

This the UNAIDS calls for exploring more diversified funding sources for AIDS, creating an all African medicines regulatory agency for faster roll-out of drugs and stronger quality assurances and catalyzing local production of medicines.

Source: GNA

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