Parliament passes Ghana AIDS Commission Bill

Parliament has passed the Ghana AIDS Commission Bill 2015. The Bill gives legal backing to the establishment of the Ghana AIDS Commission.

It also establishes the National HIV and AIDS Fund, provide for the Management of the Fund to prevent and control the HIV and AIDS epidemic, to promote and protect the rights of persons living with HIV or AIDS and to provide for related purposes,

The Act when assented to by the President will empower the AIDS Commission to formulate policies on the HIV and AIDS epidemic and to direct and coordinate activities in the fight against HIV and AIDS.

The Act also provides for offences and penalties. It states that a person who discriminates against a person infected or affected by HIV or AIDS, denies burial for a person suspected or perceived to be HIV or AIDS positive, discloses information that concerns the HIV status or AIDS status of another person, discriminates against an employee, denies another person the right to be elected to a public office or the right to vote on accounts of HIV status among others.

Any person who commits such offences is liable on summary conviction to a fine of not less than two hundred penalty units and not more than five hundred penalty units or to a term of imprisonment of not less than eighteen months and not more than three years or both.