Don't share Anti-retroviral drugs with others-Counsellor

Saltpond (C/), Oct. 9, GNA-HIV/AIDS Counsellor, Miss Christine Antoh has cautioned people on anti-retroviral drugs against sharing them with other people living with HIV/AIDS but have not been tested Miss Anto, who is also a Nursing Officer(Public Health) explained that before one could be put on the drug, he or she had to go through a test known as "CD4 Counts" to determine the viral load or the quantity of virus in the person.

The drug is recommended for only people with high quantity of the virus, the counsellor stated at a workshop for peer educators at Saltpond.

FED KASTLE Promotions, a Saltpond-based Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) organized the workshop for 30 participants from 10 communities in the Mfantseman District It was sponsored by the Ghana AIDS Commission and the Mfantseman District Assembly.

Niss Anto advised the participants and other people engaged in education on the HIV/AIDS to protect the identity of the people living with the disease, saying it is an offence to disclose one's HIV/AIDS status to another person without permission, from the one with the disease .

She called for intensification of public education on the importance of one knowing his or her HIV/AIDS status.

Nana Baah the VII, Nifahene of Nkusukum Traditional Area and Chief of Saltpond Lower Town said, knowing one's HIV/AIDS status would help in planning for one's life.

The Chief, who is also the chairman of Mfantseman District AIDS Committee advised pregnant women to go for voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) to prevent mother- to-child transmission of the disease. Mr Jonathan Benefo, District HIV/AIDS Monitoring and Evaluation focal person said though the prevalence rate in the Central Region had reduced from 5.4 to 2.5 in the past four years, it should not make people to 'drop their guard' "We should not be complacent but work harder to keep the rate still lower," Mr Benefo said.

Mr Francis Ejaaku Donkoh, Executive Director of the NGO appealed to the donor agencies to provide more funds for HIV/AIDS programmes to enable the organization to intensify their educational campaign. He urged the participants to impart what they had learnt at the workshop to their peers and cautioned them against leading promiscuous lifestyles.