Ashaiman-Ghana, Nov. 26, GNA – Dream Weaver, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) based in Ashaiman, in collaboration with the Ashaiman Municipal Health Directorate, has intensified the HIV and AIDS awareness campaign by conducting free HIV testing in their operating community.
The event formed part of activities to commemorate the 2023 World AIDS Day, which was on the theme: “Let Communities Lead.”
Mr Jonathan Tetteh Kwao, the Executive Director of Dream Weaver Organisation, stated that HIV and AIDS was fast spreading within communities across the country and Ashaiman could not be taken out.
He said Dream Weaver had taken it upon itself to demonstrate to the residents of Ashaiman the need to patronise the HIV self-test kits, stressing that the health officials would ensure that participants were tested to know their HIV status.
He stated that many lives had succumbed to the virus since it was diagnosed in Ghana some three decades ago, and that there was a lot to be done by the various stakeholders, to ensure that People Living with HIV and AIDS (PLHIV) were given the needed attention as far as medication was concerned.
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency in an interview, Mrs Patience Ama Mamattah, the Ashaiman Municipal Director for Health Services, stated that knowing one’s HIV status was very key to ensuring viral suppression.
She said that new cases of HIV and AIDS had been recorded in some hospitals in Ashaiman daily, stating that the same mode of transmission had not changed and warned residents to ensure maximum protection from the virus by adhering to the existing safety rules of prevention.
She said the virus was fast spreading among the youth and urged stakeholders to sustain their support to help in maintaining previous efforts, gains and investment made towards fighting against the spread of HIV in Ghana.
The Ashaiman Municipal Health Director advised that abstaining from unprotected sex was important, adding that parents must take very good care of their children, to avoid their engagement in unacceptable social behaviours.
Over 300 HIV and AIDS self-test kits were distributed at the Ashaiman Main Loading Terminal amidst intensive sensitization on how to use the test kits to elicit accurate results.
