GHS, AIDS Commission urged to step up education on HIV/AIDS

By
Samira Larbie, GNA

Accra, Sept.16, GNA – Dr Judith Owusu, a
Medical Practitioner, has called on the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and the
Ghana AIDS Commission to step-up education on HIV and AIDS as recent survey has
shown that a number of reported cases have increased.

She said lots of people who visit the hospital
have tested positive with the HIV and AIDS infections and it was so because the
number of awareness campaigns had reduced.

Dr Owusu speaking at the Young Men Christian
Association (YMCA) training workshop for peer educators in Accra said, the
country did well some years back with an awareness campaign which reflected in
the number of reported cases reported and affected people put on antiretroviral
drugs. This she said helped immensely.

She said the awareness campaign had dropped
significantly and this had contributed to an increase of cases, adding that
silently people think the disease is no more but it is and the numbers recorded
are mind blowing.

She urged the GHS and its stakeholders to come
up with more sensitisation initiatives to address the situation and advised
Ghanaians to be extra careful in order not to contract the deadly disease.

She AIDS is real and people need to protect themselves,
stay with their partners and be careful with sharp objects as people can get
infected easily through this means.

Recent figures by the National AIDS programme
report had also indicated that new HIV infections in Ghana have recorded an
alarming 70.15% increase.

The figure increased from 12,000 new
infections in 2015 to 20,148 in 2016.

The increase in new infections according to
the report is a matter of concern because Ghana recorded significant gains in
the key target areas of ending HIV/ AIDS in five years.

GNA