Moslems urged to know their HIV status

Ms Mavis Ama Frimpong, Deputy Eastern Regional Minister, has urged Moslems to motivate their relations to know their HIV status, and those who test positive, should seek early treatment because there are drugs for effective management of the virus.

She urged the Moslem family heads to encourage their pregnant women to agree for their HIV status to be determined when they visit any medical facility and those found positive to follow the prescriptions given to them by the health authorities, to ensure that no HIV positive mother transmits the virus to her newly-born baby.

Ms Frimpong explained that it was only through this means that the country could achieve her desire for zero new HIV infections.

She was addressing the Friday gathering of the Moslem community at the Koforidua Central Mosque, as part of activities marking the observation of the World AIDS Day in the Eastern Region.

The programme was organized by the Eastern Regional AIDS Committee, in collaboration with the Regional Technical Support Unit of the Ghana AIDS Commission.

The Deputy Regional Minister said, the HIV prevalence in Ghana is 1.6 but that of the Eastern Region is 3.7, and it is the determination of the Regional Coordinating Council to ensure that the figure reduces, but pointed out that that cannot be achieved without the support and efforts of the Moslem community in the region.

Later, the Deputy Regional Minister led members of the Eastern Regional AIDS Committee to visit People Living with HIV (PLWHIV) at Matthew 25, a Charity Society run by the Catholic Church that provides care and support for PLWHIV.

She advised PLWHIV to contribute towards efforts at reducing the prevalence of the virus in the country, by practising safe sex, to protect their partners and relations.