HIV/AIDS cases increase among adolescents
HIV and AIDS cases among adolescents increased slightly last year over the previous year’s, the Programme Manager of the National AIDS/STIs Control Programme, Dr Stephen Ayisi Addo, has said.
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The increase, which had been found among young people between 15 and 19 years, Dr Ayisi Addo said, could be attributed to the low use of condoms among adolescents, as well as many other factors.
‘Adolescents are not using condoms because of what their parents have told them about them. School authorities also do not allow health personnel to promote the use of condoms in schools because they think we will be promoting immorality,’ he explained.
But Dr Ayisi Addo said some of the adolescents are engaging in sex and once they were doing so without protection, they were at risk of getting infected with the disease.
He stressed that as a result of lack of education on condom use among adolescents, when they needed it most, they did not know how to use it.
The programme manager pointed out that it was important for all stakeholders to preach strict abstinence from sex to adolescents or else condoms should be made available to those who were already engaged in sex.
Added to the reason for the low condom use among adolescents, he said was the problem youngsters face when they try to buy condoms and stressed that the first question they are often asked at the pharmacy is, ‘who sent you?’
He advised that health workers should be friendly to anyone who needed their services to enable adolescents to avail themselves of their health services whenever they needed them.
“Their approach should not be judgemental but rather to explain the risks involved to adolescents,” he said.
He encouraged schools to be ready for the health sector to educate the students on healthy practices since there are adolescents who are sexually active and others who are HIV positive or have AIDS.
The programme manager mentioned the other reasons for the increase of HIV and AIDS cases among adolescents as the reduction in the HIV and AIDS prevention and awareness campaigns by non-governmental organisations and stressed the need for the campaigns to be intensified.
He also mentioned the difficulty in getting information to out-of-school adolescents as the other reason for the increase.
He advised adolescents who have tested negative to HIV and AIDS to delay early sex because if they start having sex early, it would be easier for them to get infected.
‘Abstinence is relevant and so delay early sex,’ he stressed.
He asked parents to find ways to keep talking to their children about their reproductive health issues.
Dr Ayisi Addo said the Ghana Healh Service and other stakeholders and development partners are strengthening adolescent health clubs in schools to promote sexual and reproductive health education to the in-school youth.
He further said under the Adolescent Reproductive Health Programme, they were training Ghana Education Service (GES) and the Ghana Health Service (GHS) resource persons to train youth in Adolescent reproductive health.
Aditionally, youth corners are being established in selected districts in the Brong Ahafo Region, adding that financial Support had been given to 27 district assemblies and NGOs to reach out to youth in communities with adolescent reproductive health interventions.