The Ghana AIDS Commission has mounted an aggressive campaign to drive down new HIV infections in Ghana.
The Commission specifically wants persons engaging in sexual activity with their partners or those with multiple partners for material gain to ensure they know their status and that of their clients before having sex.
Ghana aims to reduce new HIV infections in the general population by 85% by 2025, and completely eliminate the virus by 2030.
The Director General of the Ghana AIDS Commission, Dr. Steve Kyeremeh Atuahene, has outlined some steps individuals can take to help reduce the spread.
“If you want to reduce the risk you first reduce the number of sex partners and if that is too difficult for you then you have to protect yourself at all times because you do not know what your client is capable of giving you.”
“You also have to test to know your HIV status because for you to effectively protect yourself against HIV you should know whether you have it or not, and do well to know the HIV status of your partner.”
“Now, we have self-test kits which are free, so you can have as many as you want and encourage your partners to test if you’re a sex worker,” he said.
Dr. Atuahene also advised that aside HIV there are other sexually transmitted Infections that are equally dangerous therefore individuals should stay safe and protect themselves.
The Ghana Aids Commission recently revealed that over 100,000 persons in Ghana are HIV carriers.
According to the Director General of the Commission, Dr. Kyeremeh Atuahene, the HIV carriers are unaware of their status and are spreading it.
He noted that the Commission has mounted an aggressive search for the over 100,000 persons with HIV to bring them under treatment.
This, according to him, is the reason for the launch of the HIV self-test campaign.
“There are people who are under-served when it comes to HIV services. Some are hard to reach and they may not have the opportunity to get any of the services so bringing the services to their doorstep will enable those who fear to know their status to at least start the process by testing to see whether they are reactive or not.”