HIV/Aids Cases On the Increase

A total of 48,777 cases of HIV/AIDS cases were reported by the end of October last year and it is estimated that 350,000 adults are currently infected with the disease. This puts the prevalence rate of the disease in Ghana at 3-4%.

The Minister of Health, Dr. Kwaku Afriyie disclosed this at a five day workshop organised for community nurses from both the private and public sectors in Accra yesterday. The workshop sponsored by the Ghana Health Service and the World Bank was under the theme "Making a Difference - Changing The Way We work".

The Minister said, "if current trends continue, it is projected that there will be nearly two million AIDS cases in Ghana within the next ten to twelve years. The question at hand is, whether Ghana's health system and its health professionals are well prepared to manage this epidemic burden."

He said although Africa accounts for only 10% of the global population, it represents nearly 80% of all AIDS death. It is therefore "the home of about 70% of all adults living with the virus, 80% of the world's infected children and 95% of all AIDS orphans."

The Government of Ghana health strategies document he said concedes that people living with HIV/AIDS have received less than optimum quality of health service delivery. The Minister said he is therefore personally committed to steering the health service in the right direction in order to provide the highest standard of care for patients.

He said the MOH has reached an advanced stage of making available comprehensive care including antiretroviral medications for people living with HIV/AIDS).

Touching on moves to achieve quality health service the sector Minister said there is the need for health professionals to adopt the right attitudes and acquire the necessary skills and working relationships that go hand in hand with the government's standards and quality assurance initiative.

He noted that the success of governmental and private sector policy initiatives depend on the contribution of competent and committed nurses, a contribution which is central to the delivery of quality care. He said psychosocial support which involves counselling, spiritual and other forms of social support is an important part of care because it enables affected individuals to cope emotionally and socially with their HIV status.

The Minister exhorted the Ghana Nurses and Midwives Council and GRNA to initiate schemes to improve the clinical skills and attitudes of nurses in their work.

He said quality health care delivery has dwindled immensely in the country because of the fall in number of nurses in the country. For instance, he said a decade ago Ghana could boast of over 20,000 nurses, however the current population of nurses in the country stands at 10,000. This he said the MOH is making every effort to improve the working environment of nurses.

The President of the Ghana Registered Nurses Association (GRNA), Mrs. Emma Banga said records at Korle Bu Hospital show that HIV/AIDS cases are the leading cause of admissions and deaths and painted a gloomy picture of the disease in Ghana.

"Currently, the HIV/AIDS statistics show that Ghana has a prevalence rate of 3-4% and that 500,000 persons are already infected. This number is expected to rise rapidly to a prevalence rate of 9.5% by the year 2014."

She said in spite of the brain drain which has plagued the country for years, nurses are still the highest in number among health workers and therefore the bedrock of the health care delivery service of the country. Quality nursing care of HIV/AIDS and other patients she said is a challenge to Ghanaian nurses.

She added that nurses need to be motivated not necessarily in cash, but workshops and conferences for nurses should be instituted.

She urged the over eighty participants to find solutions to some of the problems confronting the sector especially in the areas of positive nurse-patient relations and attitudes.

The Executive Secretary of the Ghana AIDS Commission, Mrs. Bridget Katsriku said such programmes should be organised frequently because when the relationship between nurses and patients is intensified it encourages more people to go for counselling and HIV/AIDS tests.

She said funds from the Ghana AIDS Response Fund (GARFund) would be disbursed soon to relevant organisations in regions where the prevalence rate is high to start their programmes.