The Upper East Regional Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)/Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) Data Manager, Samuel Efa-Quayson, has revealed that HIV prevalence in the region stands at 1.9 percent.
This, he said, implies that in every 100 people, there is a possibility that two people are HIV positive.
He emphasised that, though the virus is no respecter of age or profession, the data available has shown that the virus is common among youth between ages 15 and 24 across the country.
Mr. Efa-Quayson revealed this when he spoke to Mark Smith on A1 Radio’s Daybreak Upper East show.
According to him, there is a cause for concern even though 1.9% could be said to be minimal.
He attributed the prevalence of the disease to the reluctance of various institutions to educate the people about the disease. He explained that over the past few years, stakeholders in the sector had prioritised education on the treatment and management of the disease, neglecting almost completely, education about transmission and prevention.
The Disease Control Officer at the Bolgatanga Municipal Health Directorate, Emmanuel Konlam, pointed out that the interest of people engaging in unprotected sex with multiple partners coupled with the involvement of most youth in drugs are driving factors.
He said most of the youth who engaged in drugs had little concern about the virus and as such, could not be bothered to make the right decisions. Mr. Konlam added the sharing of sharp objections and another means of transmission.
To address this, the Ghana HIV/AIDS Network (GHANET) is embarking on a project dubbed “Self-Test Project, which is to provide HIV test kits for individuals to get themselves tested and get to know their results within 20 minutes.
This, the GHANET Public Relations Officer, Patrick Anamoo, revealed, is to draw the service closer to the people and also avoid stigmatisation, which most people posit is the reason they don’t get tested.
He said the network was currently embarking on the exercise in 50 Districts across the country and in three districts in the Region, including Bolgatanga Municipal, Kassena Nankana West, and Bongo District.
Mr. Anamoo added that the project targets mostly the youth and “galamsey” areas, which have been identified as hotspot areas for the virus.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Gilbert Azeem Tiroog|Ghana
There is need for Mass education to create awareness of the causes, signs and symptoms,preventive measures in order for the populace to be much abreast with the condition HIV/AIDS which will go a long of reducing the menace if not stop completely