The Technical Coordinator for the Ghana AIDS Commission in-charge of Northern, North-East and Savannah Regions, Mr. Nuhu Musa, has cautioned the general public against disregard for education on HIV/AIDS.
Speaking in an interview with Yagbon News as Ghana today December 1, joins the rest of the world in marking World AIDS Day explained that the high rate of infections among young people poses a big threat to the fight against HIV-AIDS in Ghana.
Mr. Musa urged people go in for Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) to know their HIV/AIDS status.
He said the advantages in knowing ones status far outweighed the disadvantages, adding that, antiretroviral drugs are available at almost all hospitals to be given to those who may test positive for HIV/AIDS.
The Technical Coordinator called for concerted efforts from chiefs, churches and mosques to integrate the teaching of HIV/AIDs its causes and related symptoms in their daily sermons to increase the awareness of the disease among the youth.
He stressed the need for the public to give love and support to People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) instead of them being stigmatized and discriminated against.
Mr Musa urged that people remained faithful to their sexual partners to prevent the spread of the disease or better still adopt the use of a condom.
He also advised parents to take good care of their girls to prevent them from falling prey to unscrupulous men who may entice them with money and later abuse them sexually and leading to infections with the virus.
He reminded the public that HIV/AIDS is real, adding that, the only way to prevent one’s self from being infected with the AIDS virus is to guard against promiscuity or unprotected sex.
figures from the Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC) in a report revealed that out of the 18,928 new HIV/AIDS infections in 2020, a total of 5,211 are young people between the ages of 15 and 24, representing 28% of all new infections in 2020.
4,325 representing 83% are females, while 886 representing 17% are males.
The report also indicates that out of the 18,928 new HIV/AIDS infections recorded in 2020, adults of 25 years and above constitute 10,032, representing 53%.
The total number of new infections of children from ages 0-14 mother to child transmission was 3,596, representing 19%.
Source: yagbonradioonline
