AIDS commission worried over voluntary testing

The Ghana AIDS Commission is worried over the increasing levels of lack of interest by many Ghanaians in knowing their HIV/AIDS status.

In a few years past, the interest in knowing one’s HIV status was in vogue and really got people being careful about their sex life, the Ghana AIDS Commission mentioned.

Unfortunately, people are no longer showing so much interest in knowing their HIV/AIDS status, according to the Ghana AIDS Commission.

The Commission has a projected target of about 6 million Ghanaians getting tested every year, but it’s worried that the yearly target may not be achieved considering the increasing level of lack of interest by many Ghanaians in knowing their HIV/AIDS status.

The Ghana AIDS Commission blames the reducing rate in the interest in knowing one’s status on ignorance and some misconceptions about HIV and AIDS, including one that says people living with the disease would die shortly after knowing their status.

Technical Coordinator of the Ghana AIDS Commission, Golda Asante, who represented the Director General of the Ghana AIDS Commission, Dr Angela El-Adas, at a regional consultative meeting held in Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region, in an interview with DAILY GUIDE said the fear of being stigmatised by the society continues to be a major contributor to the low interest in testing for HIV status.

According to Golda Asante, it is never true that anyone who tests HIV positive will die immediately or soon after, rather she disclosed that “knowing one’s status will help one to either remain negative or take the anti-retroviral to keep living healthy.”

Ms Asante said the consultative meeting was aimed at getting the AIDS Commission and local stakeholders to find localised ways to encourage more people to get tested to know their HIV status.

In 2014, the United Nations announced new global targets which were to enhance its existing prevention and testing strategies, with the intention of ending the HIV epidemic by 2030.

The Upper East Region has made strides in the fight against the rise of HIV. The prevalence rate reduced from 1.7 percent in 2013 to 1.4 percent in 2014, while coverage of the prevention of mother-to-child transmission and anti-retroviral drugs increased over the same period.

Upper East Regional Minister, Albert Abongo, believes that if the society gets more sensitised on HIV/AIDS prevention and management, the level of stigmatisation will reduce and eventually diminish with time.

He has called for a collaborative effort from all stakeholders, including the media to end the spread of the HIV menace.