Over 80% Ashanti prostitutes are HIV Positive

The Ghana AIDS Commission on Wednesday stated that more than 80 percent of Ashanti Region sex workers (prostitutes) are HIV positive. The Greater Accra Region sex workers recorded 78.5 percent, while over 40,000 of the adult population in the Volta, Eastern and Western regions are also in the infection bracket.

The Director General of the Commission, Professor Sakyi A. Amoa said in a speech read on his behalf by a Ugandan Technical Adviser on Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Mr Bernad Mwijiuka at the opening of a three-day workshop on STD/HIV/AIDS for persons with disabilities at Kordiabe in the Dangme West District of Greater Accra.

The workshop, under the theme: "The Challenges of the AIDS pandemic: The role of the disabled," was aimed at articulating the perceptions of persons with disabilities on STD/HIV/AIDS. Professor Amoa noted that the HIV/AIDS situation in Africa and Ghana had assumed an alarming rate as the prevalence rate continued to rise, with over 2/3 of the worlds infected people living in Africa, (28.8 million out of 40 million).

He noted that current statistics globally indicated that five million people were infected last year while 15,000 new infections are being recorded daily this year. He said the hardest hit countries on the continent are South Africa and Zimbabwe with 40 percent infection rate and Botswana 35.8 percent, and Ghana 3.6 percent.

Prof. Amoa explained that with the prevalence rate in the West African sub-region ranging between 5 to 11 percent, Ghana's rate could go up, "if we failed to adopt a more proactive measures to combat the menace."

Citing situation in Zambia where over 1,300 teachers died in ten months, the Central African Republic, which closed down 107 schools due to staff shortages as a result of HIV and Cote d' Ivoire, where the authorities have confirmed that seven out of ten teachers die of AIDS, Prof. Amoa called for measures to avoid or minimize the effects on society.

Prof. Amoa suggested a faster positive behavioural change, by adopting measures to influence social-cultural norms and practices to reduce the spread of infection and also promote care for those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS.

"This implies that we must discourage the negative cultural norms, beliefs and practices in our society and also reduce denial, stigmatization and discrimination against persons infected and immediately affected by the virus.

Mr Francis Adjetey Sowah, Executive Director of Disabled Christian Fellowship International, organisers of the workshop urged government and civil society groups to provide the appropriate counselling and information to equip the disabled on sex and parentage.

He said, "We must be fully informed about taking precautions against sexual and other forms of abuse as a result of our vulnerability in the family, community and institutions."

Mr Sowah debunked the notion that physically challenged persons were inactive sexually, saying, "we are agile, attractive, affectionate and possess a high sensitive sexual ego...in fact our potency is so strong and challenging and we should be recognised as such with vigour and vitality."

He, however, charged the members to be extremely careful with sexual ego "as disability does not mean we are immune to the HIV/AIDS pandemic." The disabled, assembly and unit committee members from the Dangme West District Assembly, the Chiefs and Queen mothers of Kordiabe and a cross section of society attended the workshop.