CR tops HIV prevalence in country

According to the Director-General of the Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC), Dr Angela El-Adas, Cape Coast was chosen for the celebration because the Central Region recorded the highest HIV prevalence in the country in 2011.

She said HIV prevalence in Cape Coast in 2011 was more than a 100 per cent increase from the 1.7 per cent in 2010.

She indicated that AIDS continued to be the leading cause of death for women of reproductive age worldwide and called for greater commitment if universal targets and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were to be achieved.

The day was celebrated on a global theme: “Getting to zero new HIV infections, zero AIDS-related deaths and zero discrimination and stigmatisation”.

Ghana is celebrating the day on the theme, “Accelerating to zero together”.

The day was also used to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the GAC.

To bring some relief to People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs), President John Mahama directed that PLWHAs who had registered under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) should not be made to pay the GHC5 service charge at the various health centres.

He said all PLWHAs who were not registered with the NHIS would be organised and registered with the scheme by March 2013 for laboratory services and coverage for opportunistic infections.

In an address read on his behalf at the event, the President said the government was committed to ensuring that PLWHAs were supported to have adequate access to treatment and live healthier lives.

He called on funding partners to provide all the support possible to ensure that all 114,000-plus PLWHAs eligible for treatment were initiated by 2015.

President Mahama pledged that the government would continue to deliver on its commitment of GH¢150 million for the implementation of the National Strategic Plan on HIV/AIDS, 2011 to 2015.

The Central Regional Minister, Mrs Ama Benyiwa Doe, called on all, including traditional rulers, to support efforts at reducing the transmission of the disease in the region and the country as a whole.

The Programme Manager of the National AIDS Control Programme commended the government for the additional funds for anti-retroviral drugs.

He urged men to be actively involved in HIV awareness and prevention activities to help reduce the infections.  

Story by Shirley Asiedu-Addo