Ghana AIDS Commission is urging private individuals and businesses to embrace and contribute to the yet-to-be-established National HIV/AIDS Fund.

The proposed fund will seek to mobilise resources for adequate and reliable funding of national response to HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment.

Officials say a committee is already in place to work modalities of the Fund.

Director General of Ghana AIDS Commission, Ambassador Dr Mokowa Blay Adu-Gyamfi, says this is critical to addressing the drop in donor support.

 “When it started, there were a lot of stakeholders interested in HIV but they have all virtually withdrawn so it is up to us to take the challenges in our own hands and deal with them so we are with the government working out a few programs to help with the funding,” he laments.

She reveals aside the committee that has been set up to deal with it, a consultant has been contracted to work out the strategies to encourage private businessmen to donate to the fund.

“We are soliciting the aid from as many people as possible who can help to have our own Fund, so that we don’t depend on donor funding any longer”.

Statistics from the Ghana AIDS Commission put the number of HIV-infected persons in Ghana at 293,804 as at last year.

New infections account for as much as 20,418.

Ghana targets, by 2020, to achieve the 90-90-90 fast-track treatment.

This means 90 percent of those with the virus should have known their status, 90 percent of those who know their status should have been put on treatment (anti-retroviral access) and 90 percent of those on treatment should have suppressed viral loads.

Ambassador Dr Adu-Gyamfi, says the commission is committed to the cause.

“We have programs where school children are being educated on HIV/AIDS. We are hoping that by 2030 AIDS will not be a public health concern anymore, it will be abolished," he said.