The Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC) is advocating for the nationwide expansion of a targeted HIV prevention programme for adolescent girls and young women, following encouraging results in regions where the intervention is currently being implemented.
The Commission says extending the Adolescent Girls and Young Women (AGYW) Project to more parts of the country is necessary to sustain the decline in new HIV infections among young people and prevent emerging hotspots.
The Global Fund-supported project is currently being implemented in selected high-burden districts in the Greater Accra, Eastern and Ashanti Regions.
Dr Fred Nana Poku, Director of Technical Services at the GAC, made the call during an interview on the sidelines of a review meeting involving peer educators and community health nurses engaged in the project.
He said although the intervention had contributed to reducing new HIV infections among young people, the number of infections remained significant and required a broader national response.
“We think that the project should be expanded to involve other areas and regions, not just the implementing regions,” Dr Poku said.
Young people remain major concern
Data from the Ghana AIDS Commission indicate that 3,835 new HIV infections were recorded among people aged 15 to 24 in 2025.
The figure accounted for 27.5 per cent of all new HIV infections recorded during the year, although it represented a decline from the 4,278 infections recorded among the same age group in 2024.
Dr Poku said the continued contribution of young people to more than one-quarter of new infections underscored the need to broaden prevention programmes beyond areas currently considered high burden.
He cautioned that focusing interventions only on selected regions could create gaps in prevention and leave areas with relatively low infection rates susceptible to becoming future hotspots.
“The fact that young people still accounted for more than one-quarter of new infections highlights the need for sustained and broader prevention efforts,” he said.
According to him, risk-taking behaviours among adolescents and young people were not limited to particular geographical areas, making a nationwide approach important.
He added that expanding the programme would require additional funding to ensure that adolescent girls and young women in underserved communities could also access a comprehensive package of HIV prevention services.
Expanding access to prevention services
Dr Anthony Ashinyo, Deputy Programme Manager of the National AIDS/STI Control Programme, said the AGYW Project was providing beneficiaries considered at risk with a range of prevention and health services.
These include HIV education, sexually transmitted infection screening, condoms, HIV self-test kits and referrals for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).
He said combining the different interventions had enabled beneficiaries to make better-informed decisions and adopt safer practices.
Dr Ashinyo noted that the decline in new infections recorded since the interventions began in the targeted areas was an encouraging indication of the potential impact of the programme.
The project is being implemented by Hope for Future Generations (HFFG), in partnership with the National AIDS/STI Control Programme, with support from the Global Fund.
Digital platforms boost youth engagement
Ms Rita Lodonu, Project Coordinator of the AGYW Project at HFFG, said the implementing partners were intensifying their activities to reach more beneficiaries before the project ends on December 31, 2026.
She said the project had increasingly relied on digital platforms, including social media influencers, to engage young women and provide information on HIV prevention and available health services.
According to her, the approach had generated increased interest among beneficiaries, particularly enquiries about where to obtain HIV self-test kits and access appropriate health services.
Ms Lodonu said the review meeting was therefore important for peer educators and community health nurses to assess challenges encountered in the field and develop practical measures to improve their engagement with beneficiaries.
She said the project would continue combining community-based interventions with digital approaches to promote HIV testing, prevention and referrals to appropriate health services.
The GAC believes extending the programme beyond its current operational regions could help sustain progress in HIV prevention and support Ghana’s objective of ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.
