{"id":279,"date":"2018-06-20T10:52:44","date_gmt":"2018-06-20T10:52:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sendwestafrica.org\/nu\/p4h-national-advocacy-team-calls-on-government-to-provide-details-on-the-2018-national-hiv-fund\/"},"modified":"2018-06-20T10:52:44","modified_gmt":"2018-06-20T10:52:44","slug":"p4h-national-advocacy-team-calls-on-government-to-provide-details-on-the-2018-national-hiv-fund","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sendwestafrica.org\/ghana\/p4h-national-advocacy-team-calls-on-government-to-provide-details-on-the-2018-national-hiv-fund\/","title":{"rendered":"P4H National Advocacy Team calls on government to provide details on the 2018 National HIV Fund"},"content":{"rendered":"

Press Release<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

The People for Health (P4H) National Advocacy Team is calling on the president and government to provide details on the sustainable funding for HIV prevention announced at the 2018 National HIV & AIDS Research Conference (NHARCON) in Accra.<\/span><\/p>\n

In an opening statement read by Minister of Aviation Cecilia Dapaah, President H.E. Nana Addo Dankwah Akuffo<\/span>-Addo assured Ghanaians that government will provide funds for HIV activities to reduce the rate of HIV infections in the country.<\/span><\/p>\n

While news of sustainable funding for HIV prevention is welcome, the P4H Advocacy Team has serious concerns about the lack of details provided in the statement, such as the timeline for the release of the funds, the source of the funds, and specific plans for allocations and sustainability.<\/span><\/p>\n

Government enacted the National HIV and AIDS Funds Act 938<\/i> in 2016, which established the National HIV\/AIDS Fund. <\/span><\/p>\n

Section 22 of the act states that sources of money for the fund include: moneys approved by parliament for the fund; grants, donations, gifts and other voluntary contributions; returns on investment of funds by the commission; moneys that the minister responsible for finance may determine with the approval of parliament; and other moneys or property that may become lawfully payable and vested in the board for the fund. <\/span><\/p>\n

Section 25 of the act states that a Fund Management Committee will manage the fund, make recommendations to the board on matters concerned with financing the fund, pursue policies to ensure the achievement of the object of the fund, liaise with public agencies to sustain funding to promote the best interest of persons living with HIV and AIDS, prepare guidelines and procedures for the management and disbursements of moneys from the fund, and deal with any matter concerned with financing and sustaining the HIV and AIDS response. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Section 27 also states that the Fund Management Committee will submit audits and annual reports to parliament. <\/span><\/p>\n

However, the P4H Advocacy Team believes more specific sources than are provided in Section 22 of the act should be made known for the funding promised at NHARCON, in addition to more detail about the extent of pending audits and reports. As for the Fund Management Committee, it is not clear whether the fund is even operational yet. <\/span><\/p>\n

Therefore, our team is calling on the president and government to respond to the following questions:<\/span><\/p>\n