Let us rekindle the fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS

Samuel Opoku-Afriyie, a medical practitioner at the Effiduase government hospital, has stressed the need to rekindle the fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS.

He said HIV/AIDS was still causing havoc in society and there was the need for broader stakeholder engagement and investments to help fight the disease in communities.

Mr Opoku-Afriyie made the call at a durbar to commemorate this year’s World AIDS Day celebration at Asokore, in the Sekyere East District.

He said the outbreak of the COVID-19 seemed to have overshadowed the education and awareness creation on HIV/AIDS in the communities and called on stakeholders to help promote sustainable education on the disease.

Mr Opoku-Afriyie called on religious leaders, traditional leaders, NGOs, Civil Society Organizations and others to lead the educational campaign to help reduce the spread of the virus in communities.

He called on the people to adhere to the abstinence, being faithful and the condom use preventive measures, which were the only ways to stay out of the disease.

Mrs Nana Ama Safo, the HIV/AIDS Focal Person in the Sekyere East District, said the event was to create the needed awareness, screen people and provide them with condoms as part of efforts to fight the spread of the disease in the district.

She said aside from promoting education on risk reduction behaviours, efforts were being made to mobilize resources to sustain public education campaigns to help curb the spread of the disease.

Nana Osei Appiah Kubi, Akyeampehene of the Asokore Traditional Area commended the government and the Ghana AIDS Commission for the initiative and pledged the commitment of the traditional council to help in the fight against the HIV/AIDs disease in the area.