Health Promotion Officer at the Bolgatanga Municipal Health Directorate, Francisca Adongo, has raised serious concerns over a sharp decline in HIV awareness activities, particularly media campaigns, warning that the lack of sustained public education may be contributing to the recent rise in infections recorded in the area.
Speaking on A1 Radio ahead of this year’s World AIDS Day, Madam Adongo revealed that media campaigns and community sensitization efforts have largely stalled in recent years. She explained that for nearly two to three years, the municipality has not witnessed the kind of aggressive HIV education that once kept the public alert and informed.
“That kind of awareness is no more and I don’t know whether we’ve gone to sleep. We think the disease is no more.”
She admitted that she was deeply alarmed when she recently reviewed the municipality’s current HIV figures, describing the trend as frightening. “I was scared when I heard the number of cases we have at the municipality. I was really, really scared. In fact, we have to really rise up again.”
She believes the health sector’s inability to maintain consistent public awareness has created a false sense that the disease is no longer a threat. According to her, this complacency has allowed risky behaviours to thrive, especially among groups with limited exposure to health information.
“Maybe we think we have made some gains and we’ve gone to sleep,” she said.
She warned that the municipality may have relaxed too soon after making some earlier progress in HIV prevention, leading to reduced visibility of health messages and weakened community engagement. Madam Adongo stressed the need for health authorities, partners, and the media to revive strong, sustained campaigns to curb the growing threat.
Her call comes at a time when the municipality is recording increasing numbers of new infections, reinforcing fears that the absence of active education and preventive messaging is eroding previous gains.
Source: a1radioonline.com|101.1Mhz|Gifty Eyram Kudiabor|Bolgatanga
