A five-year National Strategic Plan to reduce all new HIV infections by half and virtually eliminate mother-to-child transmission of the virus was launched in Takoradi yesterday.
The new strategy, which takes into account the unique challenges that the country faces in addressing the epidemic, is also intended to sustain and scale up treatment for people living with HIV (PLHIV).
The plan, which is also to direct the implementation of national response to HIV and AIDS, was launched at this year’s World HIV/AIDS Day by Vice-President John Dramani Mahama, who expressed the delight that the strategic plan had set ambitious targets aimed at achieving universal access, as well as the targets Four, Five, and Six of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGS).
The Vice-President said he was of the strong conviction that the plan would guide the prioritisation and targeting of key population and regions in the country to ensure that HIV services were extended to areas where they were most needed.
Mr Mahama called on Ghanaians to lead healthy lifestyles and pursue behavioural changes on sustained basis to enhance national effort at fighting against the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
Mr Mahama said a lot of awareness creation had been carried out and what was required now to reduce the rate of infection was for people to change their behaviours.
He challenged the public to be bold and go for the test to know their HIV/AIDS status so that those infected could receive timely medical care.
The Vice President said the fight against the pandemic required a joint action and called on all to join the fight against the spread.
The Western Regional Minister, Mr Paul Evans Aidoo, said the choice of the Western Region was not because of the increase in the prevalence rate in the region but because of the commercial production of oil and its concomitant effect on the behavioural patterns of the people.
Mr Aidoo said the available statistics indicated that the HIV/AIDS situation in the region was worrying and called for appropriate interventions at various workplaces to forestall any possible negative effect on the people.
The Director General of the Ghana AIDS Commission, Dr Angela El-Adas, urged the assembly members, traditional leaders and all stakeholders to work together to fight against the pandemic.
She expressed concern about the stigma and the discrimination against people living with the pandemic, stressing that “these people also have a right to life and responsibility to live and contribute to the nation’s development”.
As part of the celebration, various NGOs mounted stands to provide counselling and testing services to the public.
Earlier, a float was organised through the principal streets of the twin-city of Sekondi/Takoradi to create awareness.
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