By Yussif Ibrahim
Kumasi, July 22, GNA – A total of 68,354 people are living with HIV in the Ashanti Region, according to the 2025 HIV Estimates released by the Ghana AIDS Commission, highlighting the continuing burden of the disease in the country’s most populous region outside Greater Accra.
The figure places Ashanti second only to the Greater Accra Region, which recorded 77,512 people living with HIV.
The region also recorded 2,852 new HIV infections within the reporting period, again, the second-highest figure nationally after Greater Accra’s 3,141, a reminder that despite years of intervention, the virus continues to find new footholds across communities in Ashanti region.
Beyond the regional totals, the district-level data tells an even more textured story of how the disease plays out differently from one community to the next.
Asokwa recorded the highest adult (15–49 years) HIV prevalence in the region at 3.25 per cent, followed by Juaben (2.95) per cent, Offinso (2.68) percent, Asante Akim North (2.62) per cent, and Old Tafo (2.47) per cent.
Obuasi, a mining community with a long history of migrant labour, recorded a prevalence of 2.22 percent, while Obuasi East and Bekwai posted 2.01 percent and 2.14 percent respectively, figures that reflect the intersection of mobility, economic activity and vulnerability to infection in such communities.
By contrast, districts such as Sekyere Kumawu (0.65%), Asokore Mampong (0.75%) and Adansi Asokwa (0.79%) recorded some of the lowest prevalence rates in the region, illustrating wide disparities even within Ashanti’s own boundaries and pointing to the need for targeted, rather than blanket, interventions.
Nationally, the estimates indicate that 337,435 people are living with HIV in Ghana, with 13,951 new infections and 12,051 AIDS-related deaths recorded.
Adult (15–49) HIV prevalence stands at 1.40 per cent nationally, meaning Ashanti’s regional average sits notably above the national figure, a gap that demands sustained regional attention.
On the treatment front, the data shows adult (15+) antiretroviral therapy (ART) coverage nationally at 57.6 per cent, while children (0–14) ART coverage lags behind at 39.6 per cent, a gap that leaves many young people vulnerable to poor health outcomes.
Prevention of Mother-To-Child Transmission (PMTCT) coverage, however, stood at an encouraging 98.9 per cent nationally, reflecting sustained investment in ensuring pregnant women living with HIV do not pass the virus to their babies.
Ghana’s progress towards the global 95-95-95 targets which measure the proportion of people living with HIV who know their status, are on treatment, and are virally suppressed, stood at 70 percent, 81 percent and 92 percent respectively, suggesting steady but incomplete progress toward ending HIV as a public health threat by 2030.
Madam Olivia Graham, Ashanti Regional Technical Coordinator of the Ghana AIDS Commission, said the figures should serve as a call to action rather than a source of despair.
She called for renewed community-level testing, adherence support for those already on treatment, and continued destigmatisation of people living with HIV, particularly in high-burden districts.
GNA
Edited by Kwabia Owusu-Mensah/Lydia Kukua Asamoah
Reporter: Yussif Ibrahim
July 22, 2026