Fair Play for Africa, a Pan African campaign to promote Africans right to health, has urged African governments to step up efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the 2015 deadline.
A statement issued on Thursday and copied to the Ghana News Agency, said Fair Play for Africa reminded Africans that the first ever World Cup on the continent is a good platform for African governments to commit more resources towards the realization of the MDGs especially those related to health.
The continent, it said, needed healthy people to contribute meaningfully to development. "As Ghanaians watch the World Cup, let us all
resolve to be involved in tracking the use of national resources to ensure that allocated resources are used for intended purposes.
The statement said Fair Play Ghana also seeks to advocate for national commitment to address HIV/AIDS stigma.
"Fair Play for Africa Campaign is a coalition of more than 200 civil society organizations across 10 African countries advocating that African heads of states keep their promises to spend at least 15 percent (Abuja target) of their national budgets on health.
"Ten years down the line since African governments ratified the Abuja target, only six of the 53 African Union member governments have met this pledge" the statement noted.
It said the UN MDGs seek a two-third reduction in the deaths of children under-five and to reduce maternal mortality rates by three-quarters by 2015.
"Over the last 10 years, only 5 of Africa's 53 countries have managed to halve mortality in children under the age of five. In six countries,
child mortality has actually increased. Average maternal mortality rates have also risen in 23 out of the 49 African countries "it added.
The statement said Fair Play for Africa was closely monitoring the use of the resources to ensure that leakages were blocked and that the resources actually did get to the grassroots to improve health outcomes of vulnerable populations.
It said although Ghana's HIV prevalence rate had declined from 2.2 per cent in 2006 to 1.9 per cent in 2007, HIV/AIDS stigma remained a major hindering factor in combating the disease.
The statement said less than 10 per cent of Ghanaians knew their HIV/AIDS status and the remaining 90 percent were reluctant to test for the disease largely due to stigma.
It called on Ghanaians to desist from all forms of discrimination against Persons Living With HIV/AIDS or suspected to have the virus. It
urged Ghanaians to know their HIV status to enhance efforts to fight the disease and thus achieve MDG 6 (combat HIV & AIDS, malaria and other diseases).
"When we know our HIV/AIDS status, we are able to take proactive steps to remain negative or adopt measures to control the illness. When we change our attitudes, we will contribute greatly to reducing denial, stigma and discrimination" it noted.