The Ghana News Agency (GNA), on Monday, published a heart-rending story, which painted a very gloomy picture of the situation in which persons with HIV/AIDS (PLWAs) are living in the capital city of the Eastern Region, Koforidua.
Under the caption; “HIV/AIDS patients hit by lack of anti-retroviral drugs”, the story said regular supply of the anti-retroviral drugs from the Koforidua Regional Hospital and Agormanya Hospital, meant for members of Mathew 25 House, an HIV and AIDS Care Centre in Koforidua, had been delayed for the past three months.
The story continued that the situation had resulted in a relapse of their health and other serious complications, because they needed a daily dose of the drugs to maintain their condition, since there is no cure for the virus as yet.
This came to light at the monthly welfare meeting with the Founder and Director of the House, Monsignor Bobby Benson, when some of the PLWAs explained that instead of the antiretroviral drugs they know and have used for years, they were being given other alternatives or Septrin.
The PLWAs lamented that so far, only two weeks supply, instead of the usual three months, had been provided, and even that, those supplies were different from the ones they have been using over the last 10 years, hence the complications.
They, therefore, appealed to the government to intervene to ensure that they are provided with anti-retroviral drugs to save them from the complications of the infection, because shortage of the drugs meant a death warrant, as the anti-retroviral was their lifeline.
It is the belief of The Chronicle that government ought not to be told of its responsibilities towards these PLWAs, as the epidemic is so serious that it will have a profound impact on the social and economic development of the country, well into the future.
Information available to The Chronicle indicates that by 1999, AIDS deaths was 48,500 per year, and increased to 118,900 per year in 2009, and 131,000 per year in 2014.
Many more people are infected with HIV, but have not yet developed AIDS. However, almost all of them will develop AIDS and die within the next 15 years or so. There is no available cure for AIDS, according to the information. AIDS deaths increase the number of orphans, which stood at 126,000 in 2014.
There will be tremendous strain on social systems to cope with a large number of orphans and provide them with the needed care and supervision.
The epidemic will increase the death rate of almost all ages. The impact will be especially severe among adults in their prime working ages.
The incubation period is about eight years, between the time a person becomes HIV infected, and when it develops into the disease. Most persons in Ghana who are infected with HIV don’t even know it. They, therefore, are likely to infect others.
According to the Ghana Social Marketing Foundation, 60 million people have been infected with the HIV/AIDS virus worldwide, and 22 million people have already died.
40 million people are living with a virus that will eventually kill them, while 13 million children have already lost one or both parents to AIDS, and 600,000 infants are infected yearly, worldwide.
It is against this backdrop that The Chronicle is appealing to the government to intervene to help address the problems facing members of the Mathew 25 House in Koforidua, which has become a safe haven for PLWAs in the Eastern Region.
On November 18, 2015, Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur assured the Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC) of the government’s commitment to eliminate HIV and AIDS in the country by 2030, in line with the UN target.
Mr. Amissah-Arthur also pledged government’s support for the next phase of the National HIV Response programme, adding, “The GAC has come to the end of implementing the National HIV and AIDS Strategic Plan 2011-2015.
“It is expected that findings and evaluations of the previous plan would help guide the development and operationalisation of a new HIV and AIDS Strategic Plan 2016-2020.
As per the assurance of the Vice President, we, at The Chronicle think the time has come for the government to redeem its pledge to our brothers and sisters living with the virus, and ensure that they receive regular supplies of the anti-retroviral drugs.
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