AIDS Commission will not tolerate stigma and discrimination

Koforidua, Nov 10, GNA - The Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC) on Tuesday said with

the mandate given to it to eradicate stigma and discrimination of persons affected by the

virus, it would not tolerate any contrary performance from its stakeholders. The Acting Director-General of the GAC, Dr Angela El-Adas, said this when she and Dr

Richard Amenyah, Director of Technical and Research, paid a courtesy call on Mr Samuel

Ofosu-Ampofo, the Eastern Regional Minister.

The duo officially informed the minister about the selection of the region to host World

AIDS Day that falls on December 01. According to Dr El-Adas, the days when groups of people hid behind education on the

virus, took money and use it for their personal gains were gone and that every pesewa given

to organizations to work towards that new mandate would be monitored and accounted for. She said stigma and discrimination over the years had prevented people infected with the

virus from taking advantage of services and care available. Dr El-Adas said in view of that the President had charged the GAC to focus on

eradication of stigma to ensure that the disease could be considered as any other disease.

She said the region had been chosen to host the day not because of its high prevalence

rate but as a result of commitment of political leaders, traditional authorities and the civil

society in the area to education on the pandemic. Dr El-Adas particularly mentioned the setting up of a committee by the Regional Minister

to probe organizations that took money from the GAC and to find out how those moneys

were spent. Mr Ofosu-Ampofo thanked the GAC for choosing the region for the national celebration

and assured them that everything would be done to make the programme a success. He said his resolve to personally get involved in HIV/AIDS activities stemmed from the

fact that over 20 percent of deaths recorded in the region last year were AIDS related cases. 10 Nov. 09