Banks demanding proof of HIV/AIDS test from customers

Some banks and credit-lending institutions in the country now demand proof of HIV/AIDS test from customers before approving their loan applications.

Nana Antwi Berko, Brong Ahafo Regional Manager of the Medilab Diagnostic Service, a private laboratory test provider, who gave the hint in Sunyani at the weekend.

He did not provide the names of the financial institutions but said the practice was a discrimination against people living with HIV/ADIS.

Nana Berko was speaking at a one-day sensitisation workshop on HIV/AIDS organized by the Youth Ministry of Brong Ahafo Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church.

More than 300 members of youth groups in the church from all the 22 districts in the Presbytery attended the workshop.

The workshop was aimed among others at equipping participants with the requisite knowledge to enable them to deal effectively with the pandemic.

Nana Berko noted that negative attitudes against carriers of the disease was not helping in the fight against the HIV/AIDS, adding that until the society embraced victims, they would continue to conceal their health status thereby spreading the disease.

He said that currently about four percent of Ghanaians were living with the HIV/AIDS and called on religious leaders to use the pulpit to educate their members about the disease

The Reverend Dr. Kwame Amoah-Kuma, Brong Ahafo Presbytery chairperson of the Church, noted that "many Christians fear that introducing comprehensive reproductive health and HIV/AIDS education in schools may increase promiscuity among the youth".

" This is a mere fantasy since if nothing is done for children below 15 years who are considered 'the window of hope', the disease will rather spread fast among them," he said.

Rev. Dr. Amoah-Kuma said that the time had come for the youth to create awareness among themselves to minimize the spread of the disease.

He said the Presbyterian Church would continue to organize special HIV/AIDS programmes periodically to enable the youth to play a meaningful role in the fight against the disease.

Miss Alice Okyere-Dankwah, Presbytery Superintendent of Young People's Guild, called on the youth to abstain from pre-marital sex as a way of fighting the disease.

She asked girls to be very vigilant to avoid being raped since the occurrence of the incidence that was on the increase contributed to the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Miss Okyere-Dankwah urged Christians to be compassionate to people living with HIV?AIDS.

The participants marched through the principal streets of Sunyani amidst singing to educate to the people about HIV/AIDS.