Tarkwa (W/R), Jan. 23, GNA- Dr Ronald Sowa, Western Regional HIV/AIDS Co-ordinator, on Monday announced that Tarkwa District Hospital, in the Western Region, has been accredited to administer anti-retroviral drugs on people diagnosed HIV positive.
He also said the hospital has already trained a team of health personnel to provide efficient service to people with HIV/AIDS. Dr Sowa said these at the inauguration of a 500-million-cedi Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) and Sexually Transmitted Infections Centre at Tarkwa.
He said in 1986, 42 HIV/AIDS cases were detected but currently about 500,000 cases of the disease have been recorded in Ghana. Dr Sowa said according to a sentinel surveillance, while some communities were making progress in reducing the prevalence rate, others have far exceeded the national prevalence rate.
He said the Ghana Health Services and National AIDS Control Programme were encouraging people to go for VCT, to establish their health status and also to help determine the prevalence rate in the country.
Dr Sowa advised Ghanaians not to discrimate against people living with the disease, saying, it was unfortunate that even people who did not know their HIV/AIDS status accused others of the disease. He advised experts dealing with persons suffering from HIV/AIDS to be guided by the principle of confidentiality and to be sensitive to the needs of their clients.
Dr Samuel Kofi Forson, a private medical practitioner, expressed worry that people were still sceptical about HIV/AIDS and reminded the public that no known cure has yet been found to the disease. The Centre was constructed jointly by Gold Fields Ghana Limited and Anglogold Ashanti (Iduapriem) Limited, both mining companies operating in the district.
