Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), has said in spite of the significant decline in HIV prevalence, new infections of approximately 20,000 continue to occur in the country each year.
He said with a current national adult prevalence of 1.7 per cent, Ghana had witnessed a decline in HIV prevalence from 3.6 per cent in 2004 to 2.0 per cent in 2019, indicating that although there had been some progress, the disease was still formidable in the country.
Dr. Kuma-Aboagye said this at the launch of World AIDS Day in Accra. The event, slated for December 1 — when it is held annually — is on the global theme: “Global solidarity, shared responsibility”, with an adopted sub-theme: “Stay safe, Let’s end AIDS by 2030”.
Dr. Kuma-Aboagye said “an estimated 342,307 of the approximately 38 million people estimated to be living with HIV worldwide are in Ghana, and 153,901 of the 25.4 million had access to treatment as of the end of 2019”.
He said a review of the data so far showed that the GHS’s overall uptake, including HIV services, was below expected targets due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said the impact of the pandemic was, however, significantly mitigated by the timely provision of clear guidelines and commodities for service delivery, continuous monitoring and engagement with stakeholders to address challenges during the second quarter of the year.
He, therefore, advised that staying safe from HIV infections meant adopting a comprehensive combination of prevention and promotion strategies, including the use of condoms and accessing testing and treatment services.
For the purpose of clarity cum education, HIV causes AIDS and interferes with the body’s ability to fight infections. The virus can be transmitted through contact with infected blood, semen or vaginal fluids.
Within a few weeks of HIV infection, flu-like symptoms such as fever, sore throat and fatigue can occur. Then the disease is usually asymptomatic until it progresses to AIDS. AIDS symptoms include weight loss, fever or night sweats, fatigue and recurrent infections.
No cure exists for AIDS, but strict adherence to antiretroviral regimens (ARVs) can dramatically slow the disease’s progress as well as prevent secondary infections and complications.
Source: TheBBCghana.Com
