Wassa Akropong Records 93 Aids Cases in 4 Months

HIV/AIDS cases have assumed alarming proportions among the people of Wassa Akropong and the nearby communities in the Wassa Amenfi district of the Western Region. This was disclosed by Mrs Bertha Washington, the Executive Director of Community Home Health Care (CHHC), an NGO based in Accra. Mrs. Washington revealed to the Chronicle in an interview that between January and April , this year alone, about 93 cases were recorded.

The situation has, therefore, necessitated the establishment of a branch office of CHHC at Akropong in collaboration with Wisdom Association. The executive director explained that CHHC's vision is to help fight the spread of the disease in the country, especially in communities where the disease has assumed alarming proportions. It is also to help people living with HIV/AIDS live in their communities without discrimination and rejection and to assist them acquire income-generating jobs.

The president of Wisdom Association, Mr. Yeboah, said they teamed up with CHHC after a feasibility study brought to light the high incidence of the disease in the area. Yeboah stressed that the association provides a supportive environment to victims of the disease, who want to make friends, and discusses thorny issues like sexuality, discrimination, prejudices, death and other problems with them.

The president emphasized the need to sensitise them to come together to support themselves and their families. He pointed out that their target has been to reach people suffering from the deadly disease and also to support orphans of the plague. He commended the paramount chief of the area, Kasapreko Kwame Bassanyin II, the former president of the Western Regional House of Chiefs, for supporting their cause.