Ashanti Region records drop in HIV prevalence rate : For three consecutive years

HIV prevalence rate in the Ashanti Region has for three consecutive years recorded drops from 3.2 per cent in 2013 to 2.8 per cent in 2014 and 2.7 per cent in 2015.

The Ashanti Regional Coordinator for HIV and AIDS, Dr Thomas Agyarko-Poku, who made the disclosure in an interview with the Daily Graphic in Kumasi, said even though the HIV prevalence rate kept dropping, that did not call for celebration because there were still many cases unreported both in the region and in parts of the country as a whole.

He said in spite of reduction in the spread of HIV, the Ashanti Region remained the second highest in the country after the Eastern Region, which was leading with a rate of 6.2 per cent.

Dr Agyarko-Poku said the Obuasi Municipality in the Ashanti Region came second as a town in the country with the most prevalent HIV rate after Agomenya in the Eastern Region.

Meanwhile, the Obuasi municipality came highest in the Ashanti Region with a prevalence rate of 4.0 followed by the Kumasi Metropolis with 2.8 per cent; Agroyesum, 2.6 per cent, and Asante-Mampong,1.4 per cent in that order.

Success story            

Dr Agyarko-Poku attributed the drop in rate of recorded cases in the region to the hard work of the HIV Management Team.

He said increase in the number of treatment centres in the region from 24 to 52 was another reason that had accounted for the drop in the HIV rate, since many people now received education and had access to centres where they received treatment. 

According to the regional coordinator, the decision to increase the number of treatment centres was due to the fact that the population in the region kept increasing thereby making it difficult for service providers to effectively attend to all who were infected. 

He cited an instance in the past where as many as 5,000 patients visited one treatment centre, and said that posed a challenge to the service providers who fought to provide efficient service.

Dr Agyarko-Poku said with the increased number of treatment centres, people infected with the disease would no longer have to walk long distances in order to access health care. Additionally, he said, in view of the increase in the number of treatment centres, more people now had access to medication.

Awareness creation

He said the Ashanti Regional HIV Management Team relied more on radio as a means of educating and creating awareness among the people. He said the team also visited mosques, churches and societal gatherings.

Dr Agyarko-Poku said there were currently 16,000 HIV infected persons on medication in the region and that the number was expected to increase to 20,000 in the coming years if care was not taken.

The regional coordinator said there were enough drugs in stock now, but wished there was a stockpile that could last for three months instead of the current one month.

Challenges

He said sending HIV patients to spiritual centres or prayer camps and shrines for treatment was one major challenge the HIV management team was working to address, because many of such people were brought back to the hospital when their conditions had become worse.

He called on the Food and Drugs Authority to help check advertisements on radio and television that claimed to have a cure for HIV and AIDS, since the disease had no known cure.