Dr Angela El-Adas
This year’s World AIDS Day has been marked, with a call on persons living with HIV (PLHIV) not be swayed by claims of cure for the deadly disease by researchers dabbling in sensationalism.
The Director General of the Ghana AIDS Commission, Dr Angela El-Adas, who made the call, said, “There are many series of tests that substances must be subjected to before a claim of cure can be made.”
In a speech read on her behalf at a commemoration day at Obogu in the Asante-Akyem South District of the Ashanti Region, Dr El-Adas stated that much as the commission and the Ministry of Health would be most proud to support the announcement of any such findings, researchers ought to stay within the ethics of research and be astute until such a time.
“Our responsibility and mandate as persons living with HIV is to stay on the drugs prescribed by our care givers,” she admonished at the event on last Thursday.
According to her, the Ghana AIDs Commission (GAC) would continue to carry on with its heart-to-heart campaign to fight HIV-related stigma until it is eliminated from the Ghanaian society.
“This year, our heart-to-heart ambassadors supported Ghana’s premier HIV ambassador across the regions of the country championing the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV through an integrated approach, male involvement and fighting stigma,” she stated.
The GAC director general said the commission’s ‘Models of Hope’ would continue to support service provisions in the facilities and that they had received training to strengthen community linkages.
Dr El-Adas explained that the heart-to-heart team are people living with HIV who have laid down their lives as positive testimonies to help campaigners drive down stigma and encourage Ghanaians to live positively with the infection.
“I say Ayekoo to NAP+ Ghana, our civil society and faith-based partners for the community service you continue to render in the midst of many challenges,” she praised.
FROM Ernest Kofi Adu, Kumasi