World AIDS Day celebrated in Ahanta West District

Agona-Nkwanta (W/R), Dec 15, GNA- Mrs Oliver Opoku-Adomah, Western Regional Focal Person of the Ghana AIDS Commission, on Monday called on non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and Community Based Organizations (CBOs) who have sourced funds from the Ghana AIDS Response Fund (GARFUND) to use the money to victims of the disease.
She made the call at the Ahanta West District Celebration of World AIDS Day at Agona-Nkwanta near Takoradi.
Mrs. Opoku-Adomah said some NGOs and CBOs had received money from the GARFUND but were not using it to help People Living with the disease.
She said the Ghana AIDS Commission has taken 14 NGOs and CBOs to court to retrieve money sourced from the GARFUND but misapplied. Dr. Roland Sowah, Senior Medical Officer at the Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital, said the education on HIV/AIDS is not making any impact because the rate of infection keep rising and stigmatisation against people living with the disease is still going on. He therefore called on traditional rulers, opinion leaders and the public to come together to combat the spread of the disease.
Dr Sowah said some traditional practices like widowhood rites and female genital mutilation are responsible for the spread of the disease. He said some people believe the disease is caused by evil spirits and therefore seek treatment at prayer camps.
Dr. Sowah said a pilot project is being carried out in the Eastern Region to break transmission of the disease from infected mother to the child through the administration of anti retroviral drugs. He said Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) helps the government to know the number of people infected with the disease and the required HIV/AIDS drugs it has to import.
He said VCT is strictly confidential and voluntary and people who are found to be HIV/AIDS positive are able to access drugs imported by the government.
Miss Rosemond Blay, district director of education, inaugurated the HIV/AIDS Clubs in five schools in the area.