Ada-East records 54 HIV cases for the first quarter

The Ada East District has recorded a total of 54 new HIV cases in the first quarter of 2022.

Mr. Adator Anani Junior, District HIV Coordinator said “this is a drastic decline from the 80 new infections recorded for the same period in 2021.”

Mr. Anani Junior who was speaking to the Ghana News Agency in an interview in Ada gave the gender distribution of the affected as 22 males, while 32 were females.

He mentioned that 16 pregnant women out of 526 who were tested for HIV at their first antenatal visit, tested positive saying that out of the 16 positive women, 15 were currently on Antiretroviral drugs.

He indicated that the prevalence rate was 2.1 percent and the disease was predominant among males who were 45-49 years old and females between the ages of 35-39 years.

The District HIV Coordinator explained that currently, 76 percent of people living with HIV were on treatment.

He said the District HIV unit was encouraging all people living in and around Ada to avail themselves of free HIV testing at all health facilities in Ada East District.

He said there was enough support system for anyone who test positive adding that “from Free Family Counselling, testing, labs, diagnosis, and treatment are all packages made accessible to any client testing positive”.

He cautioned the youth especially teenagers to delay sex since abstinence remained the surest way of protection.

He said people in a casual relationship should consistently and correctly wear condoms before having sex and encouraged would-be couples to take HIV and other STI tests to know their statuses before settling down.

Source: GNA