According to estimates, 350,000 people in Ghana are HIV positive.
7% of the total are children, and 66% of the females.
Out of the estimated 350,000 people that were identified, 72% were treated, and of those, 87% had their viral load controlled in 58% of cases.
Additionally, 2 pregnant women have HIV for every 100.
HIV prevalence among homosexual people is 18%, however
it is 4.6% among female sex workers, which is much higher than the national
prevalence rate.
Unfortunately, a large number of afflicted Ghanaians
are unaware of their condition.
Prior to the program's national scale-up, the HIV
self-testing intervention's pilot phase has therefore been completed in a few
Ghanaian districts and municipalities.
HIV self-testing enables individuals to do an HIV test
and receive their results in the privacy of their own home or another place.
The self-testing kits will be sold at hospitals,
drugstores, and other authorized locations.
Dr. Stephen Ayisi Addo, the NACP's programme manager,
told the media on the sidelines of a meeting on result sharing and HIVST
stakeholder engagement organized by Ghana HIV and AIDS Network (GHANET) in
Kumasi that there are over 100,000 people who may have HIV but are unaware of
it; as a result, the self-testing initiative will encourage many Ghanaians to
test to learn their status for early detection.
According to him, training has been provided for all
relevant parties, such as service providers and health professionals, and
community-based groups have also carried out sensitization campaigns.
"New Juaben has a high prevalence of HIV, but the
majority do not know their status so this is giving them the opportunity to
know their status if the test kits come and we distribute so it will help us
know exactly how many people have HIV," said Isaac Acheampong Fianko of
the Beyond Hope Foundation, which piloted the self-testing program in New
Juaben South in the Eastern region. Some people are out and about, unsure of
their situation. Without the test, you won't know if you have the
infection. Many times, individuals are frightened to visit the hospital.
Out of the 1000 self-testing kits used, Maxwell Osei
Owusu, Chief of Staff at Acts Ghana, a nonprofit organization operating in
Abuakwa North Municipality, also stated that 13 of them had a positive
reaction, but only 7 of them had the virus confirmed, with the remaining 6 not
believing it and refusing to undergo a confirmatory test.
"Initially, we received 1000 kits, and after
distribution, we discovered 13 cases; of those 13, we were able to confirm 7
and start treatment; however, there are still about 6 people who refuse to
accept that they have the virus because it requires long-term medication that
they will need to take for the rest of their lives.
1 Comments
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