Oil discovery cited for increase in HIV cases in Western Region

• Posted on June 25, 2019
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

The HIV/AIDS Coordinator for Western region has blamed the oil find in the region as part of the reasons for the increasing cases of the disease in the region.

Speaking on the OMANBAPA morning show on Connect FM in Takoradi on Monday June 24, Dr Samuel Aidoo explained the oil find has attracted many commercial sex workers to Sekondi/Takoradi resulting in the spread of the disease in the metropolis and the region at larg.

Statistics recently released by the Ghana AIDS Commission put the western and greater Accra regions as those with the highest prevalence rate of 3.1% as at 2018. According to Dr Aidoo, that of the western region is even more alarming as compared to the Greater Accra because as he puts it ” The Greater Accra region dropped from 3.2% in 2017 to 3.1% in 2018 representing a decrease of 3% while the cases in the Western Region rose from 2.4% in 2017 to 3.1% in 2018 representing about 29% increase.

He also enumerated some factors such as Lack of Education, Stigmatisation, high default rate by patients who are supposed to go for the anti retroviral drugs and promiscuous life as part of the reasons for the spread of the disease. Dr Aidoo has therefore appealed to the media to help in awareness creation to help reduce the spread of the disease. He has also admonished the general public to go for voluntary testing which would help them know their status for the needed attention to be given if need be.

” The test is free at any health facility that you would visit so go for the test because that is safer than not knowing your status” he advised

Story: Nhyiraba Paa Kwesi Simpson