Upper East marks World’s AIDS Day

The Upper East Region has marked this year’s World AIDS Day with a call on pregnant women to visit health facilities to enable them know their HIV/AIDS status.

This is to enable those who would be tested HIV/AIDS positive to take anti-retroviral drugs to prevent mother to child transmission and to also prolong their lives.

Addressing separate functions at some selected health facilities, mosques and churches, the Upper East Deputy Regional Minister, Mr Daniel Syme, said the global theme for 2014 is “Close the Gap” and stressed that Government was committed to the promotion of the prevention of Mother to Child transmission, safe sex and stigma reduction.

He impressed upon Religious leaders to use their platforms to educate their congregations to avoid acts that would expose them to the virus.

The Deputy Minister also urged families to show compassion to HIV/AIDS patients and to encourage them to constantly take their drugs and stressed that HIV/AIDS patients could live normal lives and contribute positively to national development.

Dr Joseph Opare, Deputy Regional Director in charge of Public Health of the Ghana Health Service, expressed regret that about 50 per cent of pregnant women who tested HIV/AIDS positive refused to attend health facilities to access retroviral therapy as a result of stigma.

The Deputy Director who entreated such pregnant women to do away with the stigma indicated that almost 100 per cent of babies born to HIV/AIDS positive mothers were free of the virus because the mothers adhered strictly to taking their drugs and were also closely monitored by health workers.

Giving the Regional HIV/AIDS prevalence, the Bolgatanga Municipal Director of Ghana Health Service, Dr Thomas Mensah Afful, stated that there had been significant reduction from 5.1 per cent in 2011 to 1.7 per cent in 2013.

On the Municipal level, he said the prevalence rate had moved from 1.9 in 2011 to 3 per cent in 2013.

Mr Nuhu Musah, the Technical Coordinator of Ghana Aids Commission in charge of the Technical Support Unit of the Northern Region, and other health staff from the Upper East Region, educated the public about the disease and the means to avoid contracting it.