Western Region HIV prevalence rate increases

About 1, 554 new HIV infections were recorded in the Western Region in 2012, Mr. Abu Mahama, the Regional Coordinator of the Technical Support Unit (TSU) of the Ghana AIDS Commission, said on Tuesday.

He said the figure was made up of 966 females and 588 males and that about 776 new HIV infections were recorded in the first quarter of this year in the region.

Mr Mahama, who was speaking at the second meeting of the Western Regional  AIDS Committee (WRAC) at Sekondi, said the region’s HIV prevalence rate had gone up from 1.9 in 2011 to 2.4 per cent in 2012.

He said cumulative figure of People Living HIV from 2009 to 2011 was 12,650 including 3,318 pregnant women and 651 children.

Mr Mahama said about 16 out of 407 health facilities in the region were providing HIV services, leaving a service gap of 96 per cent.

He called on stakeholders to support the region’s scale up services for HIV and AIDS “by expansion and increase of the number of health facilities providing HIV services as well as enhanced implementation of HIV interventions”.

Mr Mahama said funding of HIV activities by Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies in the region was low and discouraging.

He said this was causing problems in the implementation of HIV prevention programmes, leading to escalation of HIV prevalence rate in the Region.

Mr. Mahama said only eight out of the 17 Assemblies in the region contributed meaningfully towards HIV activities in 2011 and 2012.

Source: GNA