Telling the HIV story of Hope

Koforidua, May 16, GNA - The challenges and threats posed by HIV to our society has been told several times, but needed to be retold as it keeps generating interesting narratives.

The story needs to be told to others in similar situations and thereby give hope, encouragement and solace to them.

A strong looking middle age woman who was a resource person at an HIV and AIDS workshop for Catholic Priests in Koforidua a few years ago, narrated her experience of how she became blind and crippled for some 10 years, before she was diagnosed as HIV positive person and placed on the Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART).

She said few months later, she regained her sight and her ability to walk, thanks to the treatment she received at the St. Martins Hospital at Agomenya.

To many the story though true would seem more like a biblical story of the time of the great prophets, where miracles were given to the disadvantaged in the society. But now in many hospitals in Ghana, such transformations from debilitating forms are occurring where ART is being administered and HIV positive patients who are brought in with wheel chairs, leave the hospitals walking on their feet healthy and strong.

Indeed in many cases, People Living With HIV(PLWH) who are taken to hospitals weak and had to be supported leave the wards looking like “beauty queens and kings”, thanks to ART.

Now it is possible for couples living with HIV to deliver babies who are HIV negative if they sought medical attention at medical facilities.

In 2011, records available at the New Juaben Municipality, shows that out of 453 pregnant women who were diagnosed as HIV positive.

After they were put on treatment, the more than 400 babies that were delivered, only 33 were HIV positive.

The health authorities in the Municipality suspects that with those whose babies tested positive, a vast majority of them were those who did not take the drugs as expected.

Currently, under the National HIV and AIDS Strategic Plan 2011- 2015, the country wants to achieve zero, mother to child transmission of HIV and zero new HIV infections.

Research shows that, in Ghana, about 68 per cent of married persons whose partners tested HIV positive are HIV negative.

Some medical officers are of the opinion that such couples could continue their marriage till the end of time without one infecting the other if they would keep to medical advice given them.

Despite all the interventions to save the lives of PLWHs and many more, the Ghana AIDS Commission estimates that 9, 847 people above 15 years and about 1,790 people below 15 years in Ghana would die from AIDS this year.

Such a disaster could occur because experts argue that, many of such people do not see HIV and AIDS as issues to be handled at the hospital and would prefer to seek treatment at shrines, healing camps and at herbal centres where they would not be given the correct medical attention.

Medical experts were also of the opinion that, many of those likely to die from AIDS this year could be saved if they voluntarily go to test to know their HIV status so that those who are HIV positive seek early treatment.

This is so because there are many people living with the virus for years unaware and such people could break down all of a sudden and deteriorate so fast that, they could not be saved.

There are also people who refuse to go to hospital and often resort to self medication. They either buy drugs over the counter or resort to herbal treatment. Some even take to some alcoholic beverages when they are sick because they believe that with some few shots of akpeteshie (local gin), they could just muster the necessary energy to forge on.

People who fall into these categories are those who would be gradually eaten up by the virus and when they break down, it would become difficult for them to recover.

Despite all the efforts being done to raise awareness for people to be informed about the virus, AIDS and what one has to do to save oneself, there could be people who by their circumstance would never get the information through the ordinary channels of communication.

Therefore there was the need for a continuous campaign to reach such people to save them.

Policy makers in their wisdom therefore, decided to cede a portion of the District Assembly's Common Fund for local activities at the community level to reach out to such people.

Unfortunately, there are some District Chief Executives and their Coordinating Directors who sometimes feel that the allocation for the HIV and AIDS programmes could be used for “more pressing developmental projects” rather than HIV and AIDS.

What they fail to realise is that, the projects that they wish to provide are for the benefit of the people and thus lives are needed to be saved to utilise such facilities.

Therefore if the HIV and the AIDS programmes are postponed, the people who are supposed to enjoy the facilities they are struggling to provide, would be killed and hence there would be no need for such facilities.

The ability of PLWH on ART to infect others or be infected is reduced by over 96 per cent, therefore the drug is one of the surest ways of reducing HIV and AIDS related deaths.

More and more people need to be encouraged to undergo voluntary testing and counseling to know their HIV status and those who need treatment should start early.

It is important that people take measures to protect themselves against infection by constant use of condom or being faithful to their partners.

It is also a must that people change their opinion on PLWHs, stop the stigmatisation and rather encourage them to seek treatment at public health institutions.

GNA feature By Edmund Quaynor