Dr. Stephen Ayisi Addo, the National AIDS Control Programme’s (NACP) programme manager, has disclosed that two persons in the Volta Region become HIV positive every day.
In light of this, he urged everyone to get an HIV test and find out their status. He clarified that this would enable early antiretroviral therapy (ART) for people living with HIV (PLHIV) in order to guarantee viral suppression and stop the trend.
Last Friday, July 5, after the public Health Walk on “Antiretroviral Therapy @20” through Ho’s main streets, Dr. Addo was speaking at a durbar at Ho Jubilee Park. The Ghana AIDS Commission, the Volta Regional Health Directorate, and the NACP collaborated to organise the morning workout, which had as its topic “Celebrating the Success of Antiretroviral Therapy in Ghana.”
According to Dr. Addo, 12,000 persons in the nation passed away last year from HIV-related illnesses. He mentioned that ART is currently being provided to 150,000 PLHIV in the nation.
Dr. Addo underlined the significance of consolidating the nation’s 20 years of ART advancements. He urged people to lead sexually responsible lives in order to help international efforts to put an end to the AIDS scourge by 2030. “We need a healthy nation for progress and to attain the Sustainable Development Goals,” he stated.
Ernest Amoabeng Ortsin, the President of the Ghana HIV and AIDS Network, emphasised the necessity of the government supplying domestic resources to support HIV control initiatives. “We cannot continue to rely on donor funding alone for these programmes,” he said.
It was emphasised by Mr. Ortsin, the acting President of the Global Fund’s Ghana Country Coordinating Mechanism, that the National HIV/AIDS Fund needed to get up and running.
According to Elsie Arye, President of the Network of Associations of People Living with HIV, HIV infection is still spreading throughout Ghana. She also said that persons who test positive for HIV have no right to voluntarily spread the virus to others, underscoring the need for Ghana to be safeguarded against new infections.
HIV control and early treatment efforts are hampered by the fact that many people in the region still do not know their HIV status, according to Kwesi Brenyah, the regional chemist. As a result, he raised his voice in support of the movement encouraging individuals to get an HIV test and learn their status.