'Support people living with HIV' - Dr Ayisi Addo

Programme Manager at the National AIDS/STI Control Programme (NACP), Dr Stephen Ayisi Addo has appealed to the public to support People Living with HIV and AIDS in the communities to help reduce stigmatization and discrimination.

He stressed the need to intensify the education on prevention until a cure or vaccine is found to prevent new infections or reduce the number of HIV positive patients.

"We are calling on civil society groups, chiefs, religious and traditional leaders, to help to talk about it in the community so that we prevent HIV infections," Dr Ayisi Addo stated at the second Ghana News Agency Tema Regional Office project dubbed, “GNA-Tema Stakeholder Engagement and Workers Appreciation Day,” seminar at Tema.

The event is a platform rolled-out for state and non-state actors to address national issues and also served as a motivational mechanism to recognize the editorial contribution of reporters towards national development in general and growth and promotion of the Tema GNA as the industrial news hub.

Dr Ayisi Addo recommended an enabling environment for people to confidently know their status.

The NACP Programme Manager noted that unlike other conditions, HIV is cumulative.

He also advised HIV patients to adhere to their treatment schedules as it can help supress the virus.

"The message now is there is treatment so even if you know your status, it is not a death sentence," he said.