UOG to develop HIV/AIDS prevention policy

A policy aimed at facilitating the prevention and control of HIV/AIDS at the University of Ghana, Legon, is expected to be ready before the end of this year.

Professor John Anarfi, Deputy Director of the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) of the University, told the GNA in an interview in Accra on Monday that although there were pockets of HIV/AIDS prevention activities on campus by various groups, there was no comprehensive programme managed or supported from the top to deal with the pandemic on campus.

Prof. Anarfi said so far, it was only the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi that had set up a committee and drawn up a comprehensive HIV/AIDS programme to deal with the spread and prevention of the disease. It started with an initial amount of 30 million cedis out of the 300 million cedis targeted for the implementation of the programme.

He said the lack of information about the state of the disease on the Legon campus could be attributed to the absence or inadequate records from the Legon Hospital.

Recent HIV/AIDS research studies conducted in selected tertiary institutions in and out of the country showed that records from clinics and health facilities at universities and other tertiary institutions were usually inadequate.

This was because they did not capture the situation of university personnel and students, who might attend outside clinics, either because the under-resourced university hospitals were unable to offer the necessary treatment or because of concern that records from such hospitals would not remain confidential.

On whether HIV/AIDS prevention messages played a significant role during the orientation of new students to the University of Ghana, Prof. Anarfi said it might be part of the orientation process depending on the person, who was in charge of the programme at the time.

He called for greater focus on HIV/AIDS prevention activities among tertiary students, explaining that these students were among the most vulnerable because of they formed the bulk of the youth, who were the hardest hit by the scourge.

He said the liberal environment coupled with the mix of partners and the close community of students living together between three and four months over a period of time made it a fertile ground for the spread of the disease.