“Stop stigmatizing people with HIV” – WAPCAS Director
27th June 2019
Madam Comfort Asamoah
The Executive Director of the West Africa Programme to Combat AIDS and STIs (WAPCAS), Madam Comfort Asamoah Adu has said that if Ghana would be able to do away with issues of HIV by the year 2030, then all efforts must be made to get rid of stigmatization.
According to her, the issue of stigma and discrimination keep eroding success that Ghana was making in the fight against HIV, especially among the key population.
She made this assertion when addressing journalists after a workshop held in Koforidua, the Eastern Regional capital over the weekend.
Madam Comfort affirmed that there are people in the country who as of now does not know their HIV status as she believes there is a big chunk of young people in the system.
But having done their centenary survey they have come to realize that the young people are getting HIV.
She indicated that, since the support is not enough they have found it difficult to get rid of HIV, saying the capital is not there to help them embark on their activities.
“Nowadays, we have the opportunities to test the HIV status in our babies but one major challenge confronting us is issues of stigmatization where HIV positive are neglected".
She added that "Even if you are HIV positive you may find it difficult to get a house to rent. Despite having the medicine for AIDS with the help of global found our people are not able to access the drugs because of stigma".
In furtherance, she indicated that HIV positives at times find it difficult to go to the ward thinking that people may know their status and the conditions they are going through.
She added that self-stigma as one of the problems as she believes affected people do find it difficult to reveal issue at hand and for that matter, making more defaulters in the country.