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Ghana |
AIDS
Ghana has indicated her preparedness to manufacture AntiRetroViral drugs to alleviate the suffering of its teeming numbers of AIDS patients. This is one of the far-reaching measures the country has set herself to, in the fight against the pandemic
In December 2000, a cumulative figure of 43,587 was officially reported as having AIDS. More than 90,000 people according to the Ministry of Health are said to have already died from the disease. HIV/AIDS has made 126,000 children orphans in the country — these are now being cared for by private individuals, philanthropists and in orphanages.
Since the first AIDS case was reported in March 1986, the rate has kept increasing in this country with a population of about 20 million. Should the trend continue, reports indicate the HIV prevalence rate will increase to 6.4% in 2004, and 9.5% in 2014, with 1.4 million Ghanaians getting infected by 2014, and one million people likely to die from the disease.
The number of new AIDS cases could rise from 51,000 in 2004 to 117,000 in 2014, and the impact of the epidemic would be especially severe among adults in the prime working ages of 15 to 49.
No room for complacency
Although, Ghana’s case is not on the high side as compared to countries in southern Africa or her West African neighbours such as Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria, the government believes there cannot be any room for complacency, especially when faced with the frightening projections. Neighbouring countries such as Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Togo and Côte d’Ivoire have high rates ranging from seven to 10% as against Ghana’s 4.6%.
«Ghana’s numbers may still be on the lower side since some people do not get tested at all or prefer to use herbalists to avoid stigmatisation», explains Adamu Wiah, the National AIDS Commission Programme’s Epidemiological Surveillance Officer.
Far-reaching measures
It is on this note that Ghana’s President, John Agyekum Kufuor, has pledged his personal leadership in the fight against the AIDS pandemic. He has charged the Finance Ministry to commit up to 15% of the country’s budget to support the health sector and AIDS prevention activities.
The directive is also in line with declarations by African heads of state at both the OAU Special Summit in Abuja, Nigeria and the UN Special Summit in New York, in 2001, to commit 15% of their annual budgets to health and HIV/AIDS issues. The President has since urged civil society, the private sector, government ministries and other stakeholders to take a decisive step to deal with the impact of the scourge, by drawing lessons from Senegal and Uganda, which have been able to contain the spread of the disease.
President Kufuor stresses that: «The National AIDS Commission must take a leadership role in breaking the silence surrounding HIV/AIDS, and challenge the harmful practices and traditions that fuel its spread.»
Ghana has contracted 25 million pounds sterling credit from the World Bank to scale up the national response against the disease. But Kufuor believes there is an urgent need to mobilise more resources since the country needs more money to win the war against HIV/AIDS. Support has also been forthcoming from Britain, Canada, and the US. Britain, for instance, has approved 20 million pounds sterling this year to help in AIDS prevention activities in Ghana.
Over and above this, the Ghanaian government has expressed her determination to manufacture AntiRetroViral (ARV) drugs as a means of providing affordable drugs to AIDS patients. The Ministry of Health has therefore started negotiations with the World Health Organisation and the Ministry of Public Health of Thailand, for the project to take off. Currently, the modalities are being worked out and sourcing for funds is being pursued.
«Steps are also being taken to ensure that the health care system is adequately prepared to manage the administration of the ARV drugs when they come onto the market», assures Dr Richard Anane, the Health Minister.
These are some of the far-reaching measures that the government has adopted to stem the ever-increasing nature of the menace.
Behaviourial change
Dr Anane contends that Ghana’s fight against AIDS is on course, claiming that the government has shown by deed, an effort at creating an environment in which victims could be assured of greater interest and care. It is expected that the government would need to spend about 37.4 billion cedis (7000 cedis = US$1) in the next 13 years, to provide health care for AIDS patients.
Ministry of Health (MOH) statistics indicate that the HIV/AIDS awareness level in the country is about 99%, however, the major problem has been how to translate this into the desired behaviourial change.
In September 2001 Ghana’s Vice-President, Aliu Mahama, launched a District Response Initiative (DRI), which is a decentralised approach to the prevention and control of HIV/AIDS. The initiative is aimed at empowering district level organisations to initiate, promote and sustain local-level interventions to respond to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, in a co-ordinated manner.
At the national level, an AIDS policy had been developed and a National Strategic Framework has also been formulated, to provide broad guidelines for the implementation of the policy. The main thrust of the policy is to reduce new infections of HIV by 30% by the year 2005.
In recent times, concern have also been raised about increasing reports of discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS and their families through the loss of jobs, denial of accommodation, and being rejected by friends and family members.
Although these are isolated cases, a recent high profile case was that of a 35 year-old man, Yaw Attah, who was evicted by his landlord on suspicion of having AIDS. The landlord’s ground for eviction was that his tenant had grown leaner than he had known him to be, so he had cause to suspect his tenant was having the «abominable disease» — AIDS.
«This sad situation is the result of one fundamental issue of ignorance about HIV/AIDS», Vice-President Mahama said when he launched the DRI. «The effects of discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS can be very devastating because it denies them access to treatment and other support services.»
The launching of the DRI is in line with the President’s declaration of a «national war» against the deadly disease, HIV/AIDS.
The United Nations Co-ordinator in Ghana, Alfred Sallia Fawundu, believes the government’s initiative must be commended since it has the potential of adopting a better approach to stemming the tide in the country. «The UN», he says, «will assist by proving financial and technical assistance to the government through the Ghana AIDS Commission, in order to expand the response to all the 110 districts in the country.»
Alternative medicine
Dr Anane admits that although there is still no cure for the disease, false claims of cure by some herbalists in the country have impacted negatively on the desired behaviourial change, as people tend to live under illusions and misconceptions.
He deplores the numerous advertisements on herbal products, especially those on HIV/AIDS in the media, and has asked for the legal enforcement of the provisions of the laws governing such illegal adverts.
The government has now put in place a team of scientists, traditional medical practitioners and officials of the Traditional and Alternative Medicines Directorate (TAMD) of the Ministry of Health, to produce a document on guidelines for the marketing of all herbal products for the management of HIV/AIDS in the country.
Some of these claims, which have been advertised, have raised concerns from health officials and regulating bodies, that think they undermine control and preventive measures. The guidelines address areas of concern including intellectual property rights of traditional medical practitioners, funding by government, safety assessment of herbal drug and the selection of patients for the empirical clinical testing of herbal medicines.
There has been collaboration between the herbal practitioners and their counterparts in orthodox medicine. Clinical tests on some HIV/AIDS herbal preparations have been conducted by the health authorities, although the outcome has not yet been made public.
Five herbalists took part in the trials which were sponsored by UNICEF. The research was undertaken in order to establish the scientific formula and other details of their drugs.
Even though no cure is still in sight, the Ministry of Health has admitted that some of these herbal products have been effective in helping infected patients build their immunity, in addition to alleviating symptoms associated with the disease.
At present, 80% of Ghanaians patronise herbal products and as Professor Ivan Addae-Mensah, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, notes, «with the current ratio of one doctor to 20,000 patients and one herbalist to 400 patients, traditional medicine cannot be ignored, since it could ease the burden on the mainstream medical practitioner».
Mrs Bridget Kastriku, Executive Secretary of the Ghana AIDS Commission, is appreciative of the present thrust in the support for the AIDS prevention programme. «This indicates that the government is seriously involved in combating this dreadful disease, which is gradually wiping away the workforce of the nation.»
Alarm bells have been ringing and most Ghanaians cannot gloss over the imminent danger. They are now coming to terms with the reality of the situation, as every opportunity is taken to drum the message home — Ghana’s campaign is very much on course.
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