MAKE ANTI-RETROVIRAL DRUGS AFFORDABLE — PLWHAs in Tamale appeal (PAGE 29)

PERSONS Living With HIV/AIDS(PLWHAs) in the Tamale Metropolis have entreated the government and other stakeholders in the health sector to ensure that the anti-retroviral drugs (ARD) were made more accessible and affordable to their counterparts in the rural communities as a matter of urgency.
They equally noted that the anti -retroviral therapy (ART) should be decentralised as a way of reducing the prevalence rate of the disease at the local level.
The PLWHAs made the appeal during a campaign walk on the ART in Tamale. The walk was aimed at increasing the awareness of PLWHAs regarding where and how to access the ART as well as sensitising stakeholders to the need to intensify their campaigns against the disease.
It was organised by the Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC), a non-governmental organisation.
One of the PLWHAs, a woman who claimed she had been living with the disease for the past five years, said that although the government had significantly subsidised the ARD, most of her colleagues in the remote parts of the Northern Region could not afford them.
She revealed that she had a child who, after delivery, tested HIV-negative, saying the problem with us was stigmatisation which always killed people in similar conditions like hers before their time was due.
Another victim of the disease told the youth to take their time in life because the disease was not far from them. According to him, people should learn to tolerate and live with HIV/AIDS patients.
The Regional Focal Person on HIV/AIDS, Mr Emmanuel Kungi, stated that the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate was 1.7 per cent last year but on the avergae, it was currently 1.1 per cent.
He attributed the reduction in the prevalence rate to the intensive educational campaigns by civil society groups and NGOs.
Mr Kungi, therefore, thanked the ISODEC for joining in the crusade against the disease.
According to him, emotional support for victims of the disease was more effective in healing the PLWHAs than the use of drugs.
The Focal Person observed that the manner in which the PLWHAs were handled was very critical to reducing the prevalence of the disease.
He announced that the ART was now available in 14 out of the 20 districts in the region.
He expressed regret that most PLWHAs could not even afford GH¢5 to purchase the ARD due to poverty, and stressed the need for policy makers to ensure that the right policies were put in place to improve on the living conditions of the rural poor.
The Northern Ghana Programmes Coordinator of ISODEC, Madam Grace Bowu, emphasised the need for the ART to be made more accessible to PLWHAs to save them the trouble of travelling long distances just to access the facility.
The Director of Programmes of ISODEC, Dr Yakubu Zakaria, said a study carried out in 2008 showed that the ART was only accessible to the PLWHAs in the regional capitals, particularly Accra and Kumasi.
The Senior Programmes Officer of SIMAVI, an NGO, Mr Erik Van de Giessen, urged the youth to behave responsibly and to avoid immoral acts.