Correspondence from the Bono Region

Records from the Ghana Health Service (GHS) in the Bono Region indicate that the region recorded a total of 1,853 new HIV infections in 2025, highlighting a worrying surge in the spread of the virus within the region.

The troubling statistic translates into an average of 38 new HIV infections each week, heightening concerns among health authorities about the continued spread of the virus despite ongoing prevention and public awareness efforts.

The concerning figures, which position the Bono Region as recording the highest number of HIV infections in Ghana within the year under review, with a prevalence rate of 2.2 percent, were revealed during the 2025 annual performance review meeting held in Sunyani.

Speaking on the trend, the Bono Regional Health Director, Dr Osei Kuffour Afreh, told stakeholders that the theme: “Ensure universal access to quality healthcare through free primary health care services” resonates well with the directorate’s demand for an urgent reinvigoration of prevention and advocacy efforts aimed at promoting safer lifestyle choices among the populace.

“It is imperative that we strengthen community-based advocacy for safer lifestyle choices and ensure that our health promotion messaging reaches all segments of the population. The normalisation of responsible behaviour, particularly during social gatherings and celebrations, must be actively promoted”.

With only 12 out of the 30 medical officers posted to the region reporting for duty, and several critical units struggling with severe understaffing for various reasons, Dr Osei Kuffour Afreh has lamented that the human resource deficit is taking a clear and measurable toll on healthcare delivery.

He explained that the shortfall is overstretching the few available health professionals, leading to increased workloads, longer waiting times for patients, and reduced efficiency across health facilities.

“The region currently faces acute deficits in pharmaceutical staff, laboratory scientists, supply chain practitioners, health information officers, community health nurses, and health service administrators…This prolonged absence of fresh recruitment, compounded by the ongoing migration of existing staff to more attractive opportunities domestically and abroad, is having a measurable and detrimental effect on service delivery across the region”.