Stigmatisation is apartheid -NGO

A development-oriented International charity organization, the Woyome Foundation for Africa (WOFA) has officially started operations in Accra Ghana with the inauguration of its offices and launch of projects.

The Foundation, a non-profit making organization is focusing on the mobilisation of funds and the provision of Treatment, Therapy & Care services aimed at enhancing and improving the living standards of HIV/AIDS affected persons, especially women and children across Africa.

This according to the Foundation’s HIV/AIDS Consultant Stella Afriyie- Ankrah “includes the strengthening of intervention efforts towards the elimination of HIV/AIDS in Africa and a conscious effort to bring to the fore the plight of the thousands of abandoned and infected children orphaned as a result of their parent’s infection or through medical operations.”

The United Nations AIDS and World Health Organisation (UNAIDS/WHO) 2006 global summary of the AIDS pandemic report released in December 2006 shows that an average of 39.5 million people were infected worldwide with an average of 4.3 million adults and children newly infected.

In Africa, the report says, death due to AIDS reached at least 2.9 million of which 500,000 of them were aged 15 years or younger, and the majority belongs to the active workforce.

The fight against the HIV/AIDS menace in Africa is a Herculean one, says WOFA Project Coordinator Vitus Nanbigne, adding that the birth of this Foundation will be the starting point for Africa-led initiatives “not only to tackle the rate of infections but also provide care and support for those affected and make them a core part of the society.”

Under its Africa Life Aid Project, the Woyome Foundation for Africa has initiated a number of activities and campaigns to draw attention to the problem; raise funds globally for the care of PLWHAs & OVCs (Orphaned & Vulnerable Children) and behavioral change to end stigmatization.

Upcoming activities & campaigns including an OVC targeted campaign dubbed One-for-One; an International Africa HIV/AIDS Conference in Accra- Ghana, an Africa Life Aid Concert (which will take place every two years in the country hosting the African Football Nations Cup), an African Response Musical Fiesta, the establishment of flagship program – the construction of a 350 bed Research maintenance and rehabilitation facility and Youth Training Centers and many other locally-focused activities targeting orphaned homes, PLWHAs etc.

According to the Woyome Foundation the people of the world & Africa must know that, Stigmatization is Apartheid; Care and Support is a Right; Drugs and Therapy is a Right; Education and Prevention is a Right.

We must all support each other and this is how you can, “Intervene by donating; Change a terrible situation into a better one; You Make The Difference!” says Vitus Nanbigne.