Arrest quacks who advertisers HIV cure, Police urged

Ms Golda Asante, Head of the Eastern Regional Secretariat of the Technical Support Unit (TSU) of the Ghana Aids Commission (GAC), has called on the police to arrest people who advertise that they have a cure for HIV without the relevant documentation from the Food and Drugs Authority.

Ms Asante said because of desperation, many crooks and cheats are advertising various fake preparations as cure for HIV and Aids.

Ms Asante, who said this during a forum organized by the Eastern Regional branch of the Police Ladies Association (POLAS) at Koforidua, explained that, such imposters do that to take advantage of People Living with HIV (PLHIV) and Aids patients and their families.

Ms Asante said the GAC is prepared to support anybody, who comes with a herbal cure for HIV, to go through all the necessary documentation and trials.

She appealed to the police not to arrest ladies found with condoms in their bags, because the availability of condoms whenever people want to have sex, helps to protect them and the country from the spread of HIV.

Ms Asante called on the police to encourage rape survivors to go to the hospital for post exposure treatment within 48 hours from the time they were raped to help protect them from getting infected with the disease.

She said in 2014, about 5,096 people tested HIV positive in Eastern Region including 2,433 pregnant women and urged the police to strictly follow their training procedure in handling people, especially people involved in accidents, to protect themselves from the HIV disease.

Ms Asante said contracting the HIV is not the end of life because there are drugs for managing it, and that, there are people on drugs who contracted HIV over 20 years ago and are surviving on those drugs in Ghana.

Police Superintendent Eunice Annor, the Regional President of POLAS, thanked the TSU for the interaction and urged the members of the Association to test and know their HIV status so that those with the disease can seek early treatment.

She also appealed to the members of the Association to practice safe sex.

Earlier, the members of the Association were educated on the safe use of the male and female condoms, whilst some were tested for hepatitis B and eye tests.