Reduce stigmatization against AIDS - Prof Awuku-Amoa

Accra, Jan. 26 GNA - Professor Sakyi Awuku-Amoa, Director General of the Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC), on Friday called for concerted effort to reduce the stigmatization and discrimination against People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs). He said the negative and judgmental attitudes Ghanaians had over HIV/AIDS was one big challenge to overcome the pandemic. Prof. Awuku Amoa was speaking at the launch of "Legon's Heartbeat 2007", an HIV/AIDS awareness programme which was on the theme: "Reducing the stigma: The role of the student" at the University of Ghana, Legon. The programme, which would be aired on Radio Universe, a campus radio station from February 10, 2007, is being sponsored by the GAC to sensitise students on the effects of stigmatizing the PLWHAs. Prof. Awuku-Amoa cited two studies conducted in 2000 and 2002 in Ghana by the UNAIDS on the stigmatisation and discrimination, which showed that most people with HIV were not opened about their status due to the way they were treated. He said the studies even revealed instances of discrimination by health workers, who refused to care for those, brought for care and treated them with reluctance. This in turn discouraged people with HIV from seeking medical treatment for opportunistic infections. He said the report also raised concerns over the practice of medical confidentiality where in some cases health workers announced the health status of HIV carriers in the presence of other patients, employees and visitors. He said the breach of such confidentiality not only invaded the privacy of the carriers but also resulted in the loss of employment, health care coverage, housing and abandonment by family members. Prof. Awuku-Amoa also called for collaborative actions and sound policies to the national response in the fight against the pandemic. "It requires individuals and societies to re-evaluate their attitudes, prejudices and behaviours towards the PLWHAs," he said. He re-emphasized the need for effective policies that promoted support and care, compassion, tolerance, protection of their human rights and dignity rather than coercion, discrimination and exclusion. Dr Edward Mahama, a Medical Officer and Leader of the People's National Convention (PNC), said having been diagnosed HIV was not a death sentence, and that there was life after HIV. He advised the youth to turn from promiscuous lifestyles and to concentrate on their studies. He also challenged the Government to attach more seriousness to malaria eradication since the disease was claiming more lives than HIV/AIDS. Mr Rashid Odoi, Executive Director, Free World Foundation (FWF), urged the youth to play a vital role in reducing the stigma attached to HIV as well as demystify the myth surrounding the transmission of the infection through positive education campaigns. He also urged students to apply what they learnt about HIV/AIDS to their lifestyles.