Ghana: Fighting HIV/Aids Before 2010
By, Ghanaian Chronicle (Accra), June 11, 2007
WITH LESS than three years for all HIV/AIDS prone countries across the globe to fulfill the pledge to achieve universal access to HIV prevention, treatment and care by 2010, Action Aid International Ghana has expressed fears that Ghana, unlike some other African countries, was in danger of missing the target which was fashioned to give hope to the over 40 million people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide.
According to the Northern Regional Senior Programme Officer of Action Aid Ghana, Mr. Anaba Nabila Kumsonyare, Ghana as a nation had failed to recognise that one of the easiest ways of preventing the virus from spreading was providing drugs to HIV positive pregnant women to curtail mother to child transmission, which is currently one of the leading causes of HIV/AIDS.
Speaking at the Global Week of Action on HIV/AIDS celebration here in Tamale, the Action Aid official passionately called on the ruling government to urgently attach seriousness to the implementation of the pledge to achieve universal access to HIV prevention, treatment and care by 2010. The Programme which was sponsored by Action Aid International Ghana was jointly organised by Northern Sector Action on Awareness Centre (NORSAAC), Social Centre for People's Empowerment (SCOPE), Tamale Metro Assembly (TMA), Ghana HIV/AIDS Network (GHANET), Positive Steps Ghana and PLWHA all in Northern Region.
He revealed that global examples of access to drugs, treatment and care had shown that countries like Swaziland, China and Cambodia have been able improve tremendously by 40%, 27% and 91% respectively.
He therefore expressed the hope that government would ensure that Ghana overtakes all these countries in terms of treatment.
Mr. Anaba maintained that, "unless our leaders back their rhetoric with real action and resources to promote and fulfill women's sexual and reproductive rights, we run the risk of losing the fight against HIV/ AIDS. Women and girls are the fastest growing group of people living with HIV/AIDS and the young women constitute 76% of all new cases in sub-Saharan Africa".
He asserted that there could be no effective treatment, care and support for people living with HIV/AIDS, without well resourced, comprehensive and strengthened primary healthcare services that reached the poor in society.
He therefore reminded African governments of a promise they made in 2001 to invest 15% of their annual expenditure on public health systems, which almost all of them had failed to do, apart from Botswana.
Meanwhile, only one out of every ten HIV/AIDS victims has access to drugs and treatment.
Mr. A. Ibrahim Afa-zie of the Ghana HIV/AIDS Network (GHANET), said the Global Week of Action on HIV/AIDS had been instituted to draw attention of the World to the devastating nature of the AIDS pandemic and to canvass world support in terms of financial and human resources to fight the disease.
He greatly expressed worry about the HIV/AIDS pandemic, which he noted was affecting both social and economic fortunes of Africa.
Mr. Afa-zie was of the view that if care was not taken, Ghana and for that matter Africa would be ruled by HIV/AIDS Presidents, Ministers of States, Members of Parliament, District Chief Executives and Assembly persons.
Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/200706111212.html
WITH LESS than three years for all HIV/AIDS prone countries across the globe to fulfill the pledge to achieve universal access to HIV prevention, treatment and care by 2010, Action Aid International Ghana has expressed fears that Ghana, unlike some other African countries, was in danger of missing the target which was fashioned to give hope to the over 40 million people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide.
According to the Northern Regional Senior Programme Officer of Action Aid Ghana, Mr. Anaba Nabila Kumsonyare, Ghana as a nation had failed to recognise that one of the easiest ways of preventing the virus from spreading was providing drugs to HIV positive pregnant women to curtail mother to child transmission, which is currently one of the leading causes of HIV/AIDS.
Speaking at the Global Week of Action on HIV/AIDS celebration here in Tamale, the Action Aid official passionately called on the ruling government to urgently attach seriousness to the implementation of the pledge to achieve universal access to HIV prevention, treatment and care by 2010. The Programme which was sponsored by Action Aid International Ghana was jointly organised by Northern Sector Action on Awareness Centre (NORSAAC), Social Centre for People's Empowerment (SCOPE), Tamale Metro Assembly (TMA), Ghana HIV/AIDS Network (GHANET), Positive Steps Ghana and PLWHA all in Northern Region.
He revealed that global examples of access to drugs, treatment and care had shown that countries like Swaziland, China and Cambodia have been able improve tremendously by 40%, 27% and 91% respectively.
He therefore expressed the hope that government would ensure that Ghana overtakes all these countries in terms of treatment.
Mr. Anaba maintained that, "unless our leaders back their rhetoric with real action and resources to promote and fulfill women's sexual and reproductive rights, we run the risk of losing the fight against HIV/ AIDS. Women and girls are the fastest growing group of people living with HIV/AIDS and the young women constitute 76% of all new cases in sub-Saharan Africa".
He asserted that there could be no effective treatment, care and support for people living with HIV/AIDS, without well resourced, comprehensive and strengthened primary healthcare services that reached the poor in society.
He therefore reminded African governments of a promise they made in 2001 to invest 15% of their annual expenditure on public health systems, which almost all of them had failed to do, apart from Botswana.
Meanwhile, only one out of every ten HIV/AIDS victims has access to drugs and treatment.
Mr. A. Ibrahim Afa-zie of the Ghana HIV/AIDS Network (GHANET), said the Global Week of Action on HIV/AIDS had been instituted to draw attention of the World to the devastating nature of the AIDS pandemic and to canvass world support in terms of financial and human resources to fight the disease.
He greatly expressed worry about the HIV/AIDS pandemic, which he noted was affecting both social and economic fortunes of Africa.
Mr. Afa-zie was of the view that if care was not taken, Ghana and for that matter Africa would be ruled by HIV/AIDS Presidents, Ministers of States, Members of Parliament, District Chief Executives and Assembly persons.
Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/200706111212.html
posted by AIDS-Care-Watch at 10:04 am
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