Afrigather Accra, Ghana ‒ Samuel Kofi*, 19, from Takoradi in Ghana’s western area found he was HIV constructive in November 2022. A scenario that left him in shock and in full denial as he thought dying was staring him within the face.
“I didn’t suspect I had HIV once I went to do the check that Wednesday,” Kofi recounts the day he knew his standing. “However when it got here out constructive, even after a affirmation check, I concluded that was the tip of life for me.”
The considered residing with HIV for the remainder of his life amongst household and pals was additionally a critical fear for Kofi as he is aware of too effectively the stigma that also exists in opposition to folks with HIV. However all his fears have been dissuaded following intensive counselling by well being service suppliers on the Kwesimitsin Municipal Hospital, the place he was additionally instantly placed on HIV remedy.
In Ghana, there are at the moment 354 927 folks residing with HIV, with an estimated 16 574 new HIV infections in 2022.
Through the years, the Authorities of Ghana, via the Ghana AIDS Fee and the Nationwide AIDS Management Programme, with assist from World Well being Group (WHO) and different companions has made important efforts in direction of robust HIV response.
The efforts have led to HIV testing and remedy providers in Ghana being free in all authorities well being amenities and a few chosen personal well being amenities.
As well as, healthcare staff have been educated and supported to offer HIV care and prevention providers with out stigma and discrimination. The nation can also be leveraging revolutionary approaches within the combat in opposition to HIV, together with HIV self-testing and pre-exposure prophylaxis have been made accessible freed from cost. These efforts over time have resulted in a 38% discount in new HIV infections since 2010.
“Our response to HIV has been very sturdy. However we proceed to discover with our companions methods that handle prevention and remedy choices in Ghana,” says Dr Fred Nana Poku, the Director for Technical Companies, Ghana AIDS Fee.
WHO has remained a key accomplice main and coordinating important technical assist and steering to the nation for the difference, implementation, and analysis of evidence-based insurance policies for the HIV response. This consists of facilitating steady nationwide dialogue of various stakeholders together with civil society organizations, authorities and donors to allow synergy of efforts. WHO has been instrumental in supporting the nation to mobilize over US$ 100 million from the World Fund to Struggle AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the US President’s Emergency Fund for AIDS Aid to assist the HIV response in Ghana.
“At WHO, we imagine {that a} multi-pronged strategy is vital to accelerating progress in direction of the 2030 world HIV/AIDS targets,” say WHO Consultant to Ghana, Prof Francis Kasolo. “Due to this fact, our ongoing interventions are searching for to enrich and bolster Ghana’s HIV response”.
Moreover, in July 2023, WHO, US Facilities for Illness Prevention and Management and the United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS(UNAIDS) launched into a joint implementation assist mission with the Ghana AIDS Fee and the Nationwide AIDS Management Programme to plenty of HIV hotspots in Ghana. The mission engaged stakeholders and communities on strengthening HIV response in Ghana. It additionally underscored the necessity to put communities on the centre of HIV response.
“We acknowledge the vital function of communities within the combat in opposition to HIV. Due to this fact, a few of our interventions are searching for to place communities on the centre of efforts to offer a conducive surroundings and antiretroviral remedy for folks already with HIV,” says Dr Frank Lule, the Workforce Lead for Communicable and Noncommunicable Illnesses at WHO Ghana.
Folks like Kofi are already being impacted by the more and more stronger HIV response. Greater than a 12 months after understanding his standing and getting all of the assist from the well being service suppliers, Kofi is making ready to enrol at a college to pursue his dream of changing into an accountant.
“I’m very pleased with my life proper now as a result of the drugs are preserving me wholesome,” he says. “All my desires are on observe and so I encourage everybody to check repeatedly for HIV. If you’re constructive, there are drugs to maintain you wholesome and in case you are adverse you possibly can proceed with all of the preventive measures to guard your self.”
*Identify modified to guard identification
