Tourism Ministry Holds HIV/AIDS Workshop

The Ministry of Tourism has organised an HIV AIDS awareness workshop to educate its staff and stakeholders in the tourism sector.
The objectives of the workshop was to educate its staff and stakeholders on the socio-cultural and economic impact of HIV AIDS, deepen personal risk perception at their work places, to undertake HIV counselling and testing for participant among others.
Taken the participants through the overview of the current situation of the pandemic, the Executive Director for Community Service, Action and Development, Mrs Vera Quaye, said Ghana remained a comparatively low prevalence rate over the years as compared to other countries.
She said according to surveillance report, infection rates has reduce by 13 per cent in the past two years. Giving an overview of adult prevalence rate, Mrs Quaye said, 3.4 was recorded in 2002, 3.6 in 2003, 3.1 in 2004, 2.7 in 2005, 2.3 in 2006, 2.6 in 2007 and 2.2 in 2008.
She said the major infection rate was estimated at 90 per cent and it was within the ages of 15 to 49, and 63 per cent of infected people are women and girls.
Mrs Quaye in her presentation said the reasons why the pandemic was still in existence have been attributed to high number of sexual partners, poverty and malnutrition, low levels of education, unequal power dynamics within relationships and low self-esteem.
She said in addressing HIV AIDS in the country, the government had provided a framework for policy direction strategy to undertake both implementation and co-ordinations, policy formulation, supervision and resource mobilisation.
She said the total HIV population for 2009 was estimated at 240,802, prevalence rate 1.7 per cent and total HIV infection at 23,234.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic on Stigmatisation, Mrs Quaye said persons living with HIV (PLHIV) and affected persons must be treated with much love, if not they would be compelled to stay in their shells and affect others.
She said eating, sleeping and using things with an infected person would not put one at risk, adding that there is a need for more education on stigmatisation and discrimination against (PLHIV).