Skin worst affected by HIV (Sat. October 31, 2009)

THE skin has been identified as the most commonly affected organ in persons infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).
That is because approximately 90 per cent of people living with the deadly virus develop skin changes and symptoms at some stage during the course of infection.
This came out at the opening of a two-day HIV and AIDS conference which took place in Accra on Wednesday. The conference is being organised by the Centre for Human Rights and Health Foundation (CHRiHF) on the theme: “HIV and AIDS and Skin Complications: Orthodox and Herbal Approach”.
The objective of the conference is to bring together policy makers, researchers, proprietors of pharmaceutical companies and cosmetic clinics, herbalists, people living with HIV and AIDS, as well as civil society groups, to discuss how best to manage HIV and AIDS-related skin infections.
The participants would also learn from people living with HIV and AIDS and the effects the disease have on their skin.
Topics for the conference are: The importance of skin in the area of HIV and AIDS; HIV and AIDS and skin manifestations; the role of orthodox and herbal medicine in fighting HIV and skin complications and practical steps to deal with HIV skin-related complications.
In his address, the former Director-General of the Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC), Professor Sakyi Awuku Amoa, said Ghanaians should not be complacent because the rate of HIV infection had stabilised.
He said the current national prevalence of 1.7 per cent did not mean that the country could relax since there still existed the possibility of the country losing control of the situation as had happened in other countries such as Russia.
Professor Amoa said it was unfortunate to hear some people profess to have knowledge of issues of HIV and AIDS but tended to lack many of the salient points, which could help them to prevent its spread.
He explained that such situations usually brought about stigmatisation and noted that people lived comfortably with others they did not know suffered from HIV and AIDS but changed towards them as soon as they got to know of their status.
Professor Amoa commended herbalists who had come out with preparations to help in the management of some opportunistic infections of the pandemic but advised those who claimed to have cure to present their preparations for scientific tests.
The Executive Director of CHRiHF, Mr Atta Kwaku Boadi, said the organisation was committed to the promotion and protection of human health and expressed the hope that the conference would bring the activities of the organisation closer to people, especially in the area of ensuring equitable access to quality health care in the country.
He said the foundation, which was established a year ago, had been a campaigner for human rights issues and quality health care, especially for people living with HIV and AIDS, through research, education, advocacy and workshops, among other things.
Speaking on behalf of the UN agencies in Ghana, the Social Mobilisation Advisor of the United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS), Mr Jacob Agudze Larbi, said the respective agencies were committed to supporting Ghana in its fight against HIV and AIDS.
The chairperson for the occasion, who is also the Director for Policy and Planning of the GAC, Dr Sylvia Annie Akwettey, said it was important to recognise the diseases which affected people infected with HIV, since many sufferers had problems with the skin.