A total of 1,386 people living with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) are currently on anti-retroviral treatment in the Ningo-Prampram District.
Madam Gifty Ofori Ansah, the Ningo-Prampram District Director of Health Service, said in an interview with the Ghana News Agency that three of them were pregnant women.
Madam Ansah said that for the entire year 2022, the district recorded 330 HIV-positive cases, made up of 108 males and 222 females.
She indicated that comparing half-year to half-year, the district recorded a decrease in cases, as it documented 203 in 2022 compared to the 130 positive cases that were seen in the first half of 2023.
She revealed that out of a total of 1,789 pregnant women tested in the first half of 2023, 19 came out positive, compared to 18, and 58 seen for 2022 and 2021, respectively.
She said out of 739 pregnant women who were retested for HIV at 34 weeks of gestation, three were found to be positive.
The Health Director observed that while in the first half, 17 of the p
regnant women had already tested HIV positive before getting pregnant in the first half of 2023. In 2022, around the same period, 26 of them knew their positive status ahead of their pregnancies.
She said to commemorate World AIDS Day, the district had embarked on a series of awareness creation and testing for fishermen at the Ningo seashore, religious organisations, farmers’ day durbar, and identifiable groupings.
She added that sensitization on HIV would also be carried out at out-patient departments, antenatal clinics, clinical care, and child welfare clinics, as well as during home visits.
Madam Ansah advised the public against stigmatising people living with HIV, noting that the virus could not be transmitted by mere social contact.
She noted that showing them love and support rather than stigmatising them would encourage them to access care without any limitation.
‘When an HIV-positive person on ART achieves viral suppression, the risk of HIV transmission is zero. Instead of stigmatising and discri
minating against PLHIV, I encourage the public to rather take steps to get tested for HIV and get to know their status,’ she stated.
She said all must get tested and those on treatment must be supported to achieve viral suppression to reduce the risk of transmitting HIV to other people, adding that by so doing, new infections could be prevented for the realisation of the global target of eliminating AIDS by 2030.
Source: Ghana News Agency