HIV patients on ART on the increase (Back Page)

August 6, 2009


THE number of people with advanced HIV infection who are receiving anti-retroviral therapy (ART) combination therapy increased from 4,154 in January, 2007 to 20,688 in September 2008.
In addition, hospitals with capacity to provide ART in Ghana increased from three in 2003, to 114 in 2008.
This was disclosed by the Director, Policy and Planning at the Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC), Dr Sylvia Anie-Akwettey, at a training workshop in Accra for health reporters as part of a series of workshops organised by the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), with sponsorship from Unilever Ghana Limited and the Public Affairs Department of the United States Embassy in Ghana.
Addressing the journalists, Dr Anie-Akwettey explained that there was neither vaccine nor effective cure for AIDS but pointed out that available anti-retroviral drugs increased survival rate.
Anti-retroviral drugs are medications for the treatment of infections by retro-viruses, primarily HIV. When several such drugs, typically three or four, are taken in combination, the approach is known as highly active anti-retroviral therapy.
Dr Anie-Akwettey pointed out that not all HIV positive individuals could be given anti-retroviral drugs but only those whose immune systems had dropped to a certain level, adding that the drugs were for life and also had side effects so there was the need for medical supervision as one takes them.
She said although HIV and AIDS had no cure, an infected person could live healthily if he knew his status and went for the needed health care early.
She stated that Ghana had 524 voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) sites as of September, 2008 to provide quality services to people to know their HIV status and took the opportunity to advise all Ghanaians to take advantage of these services.
Quoting from the UNAIDS, Dr Anie-Akwettey said the number of people living with HIV and AIDS globally had increased from about eight million in 1990, to 33.2 million in 2007, adding that the number was still increasing.
She said out of the number, “around 68 per cent of the people living with HIV and AIDS are in sub-Saharan Africa, which includes Ghana”.
She, therefore, called on the media to be more proactive in highlighting HIV and AIDS prevention, care and support policy issues, as well as issues of access to drugs, nutritional care, stigma and discrimination.
Touching on “Tools for effective coverage of HIV, AIDS and Malaria”, a media consultant, Dr Doris Dartey, said the media could help to reduce the burden of HIV, AIDS and malaria on the African continent if practitioners played their desired role as educators.
She said instead of concentrating on personalities, journalists could do society a lot of good if they tackled issues which the people were confronted with, adding that many of the stories that the media carried “are purely PR work which benefit few individuals”.
Through questions thrown by Dr Dartey, the participants identified poverty, hunger, diseases, conflicts, ignorance, wars and homelessness as some of the problems which African continent was confronted with.