Government asked to set up homes for PLWHA

Jirapa (U/W), March 22, GNA - Calls by advocacy groups on people to show compassion, care and support for people Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) does not seem to be receiving positive response from some people.

To Mr Tangara Naaso, an opinion leader in Jirapa, the government should isolate all those who are known to be living with the disease by building separate homes for them.

This, he said, would be the most appropriate way of checking them from infecting more people.

He made these suggestions during an interaction between Mr Ambrose Dery, the Upper West Regional Minister, and the chiefs and elders of the Jirapa Traditional Area when he paid a day's working visit to the Jirapa/Lambussie District.

Mr Naaso claimed that seven daughters from his household had died through HIV/AIDS, saying if that continued he would not have any grandchild.

Mr Dery explained that even if all those infected with the virus could come forward to be identified, the suggestion was not an effective and dignified way of fighting the pandemic. The Regional Minister advised the youth to avoid pre-marital sex and urged those who could not withstand temptation to use condoms since the disease had the potential to wipe out the human resource base of the nation.

He also urged those who were experiencing symptoms of the disease not to hide it and suffer in silence because anti-retroviral drugs are available to prolong their lives.