Dignitaries in a group picture after the press conference
The Society of AIDS in Africa (SAA) in partnership with the Ghana AIDS Commission and the World Health Organisation (WHO) has launched the 23rd edition of the International Symposium of AIDS and Associated Cancers in Africa (ICASA) at the Accra International Conference Centre.
This year’s edition, themed, “Africa in Action: catalysing integrated sustainable responses to end AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria,” will be held in Accra from December 3 to 8, 2025.
The conference is expected to host about 3,000 delegates from 85 countries, while the organisers will use the opportunity to celebrate its 35th anniversary.
Speaking at the pre-event conference, Minister for Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, emphasised the need for partnership with country-led initiatives to strengthen the health sector, noting that Africa must invest its resources where it is most needed.
“We must begin to look at our domestic resource mobilisation and invest it in the health sector,” he said, adding that, it is an undeniable fact that the health of the people in every nation is the wealth of the nation.
“Any single dollar you invest in the health sector, you are likely to get two or three-fourths of the money you invest,” he noted.
He added that Africa should learn from one another and join forces to fight diseases.
“TB will not end because of good intentions. TB will end because political leaders deliberately choose to fund it, legislate for it and privatise it,” he mentioned.
He disclosed that the country is expanding support to community systems through both the ministries budget framework and collaboration with partners to combat TB, stressing that if communities are not funded, the country will not meet UN’s TB target.
“Fund community-led action because communities are the true engine of the TB response,” he pointed out.
WHO representative to Ghana, Dr. Fiona Braka, urged the government to take charge and provide permanent budget lines for these initiatives, and advised the media to hold leaders accountable while creating awareness on AIDS.
President of the Ghana AIDS Commission, Dr. Kharmacelle Prosper Akanbong, urged the public to know their HIV status.
By Florence Asamoah Adom