Ho, July 24, GNA - Indications were that some People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs) and are on antiretroviral drugs were allegedly taking advantage of their good looks to wilfully engage in unprotected sex in the Ho Municipality.
The Ghana News Agency (GNA) has learnt that while male PLWHAs were alleged to be targeting Senior High School girls in town, their female counterparts who looked fashionable went in for middle-aged men with whom they had babies.
About 30 to 40 percent of female PLWHAs who recently attended a workshop on HIV/AIDS were said to be seen with babies with a few others carrying pregnancies.
Mr Livingnus Acquah-Jackson, Chief Executive Director of New Seed International Palliative Care Centre at Sokode, near Ho, told the GNA that six out of 45 young female PLWHAs at the centre had babies while seven had abortions in the past six months.
Mr Gregory Amenuvegbe, Volta Regional Coordinator of HIV/AIDS said the authorities were aware of the situation and were tracking down those involved in the act.
He said wilfully spreading HIV/AIDS was a "serious human rights issue and could amount to manslaughter because they put other people on the death roll." Mr Amenuvegbe said people were unwilling to cooperate with the authorities in their investigations of the matter to establish concrete pieces of evidence to prosecute offenders. He said it was unfortunate that PLWHAs on antiretroviral drugs soon forgot that they remained potential sources of HIV/AIDS and wanted to have babies and multiple sexual partners. Mr Bright Kornu, Volta Regional Focal Person on HIV/AIDS described the situation as worrying and called on the public to be extra careful, abstain from pre-marital sex, be faithful to partners and use condom regularly to protect themselves from the disease.
