Continuously provide antiretroviral therapy to reach 90 90 90 against HIV and AIDS – NGOs

Ms. Cecilia Oduro, executive director of the NGO Life Relief Foundation, said that Ghana's desire to create a generation without HIV and AIDS and to achieve the 90 90 90 goal required an uninterrupted supply antiretroviral therapies and anti-HIV drugs.

She said that the introduction of antiretroviral therapy has significantly improved the survival of people infected with HIV and AIDS.

"The key factor in the effectiveness of antiretroviral therapy is the continuous supply and constant adherence to ATR drugs.

Ms. Oduro said this at a stakeholder review meeting on HIV and AIDS jointly organized by the Sekondi Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly and the Life Relief Foundation to report on visits that the Foundation has performed in regional medical stores and ART sites of Metropolis.

The Executive Director of the Life Relief Foundation noted that adherence to ATR drugs has improved the quality and life expectancy of people living with HIV and has significantly reduced morbidity and mortality among these people.

"It is clear that the continued availability and availability of HIV products at the central level at the regional level and in all antiretroviral treatment centers would go a long way toward eliminating HIV / AIDS in the country."

She added that it was also important to train more doctors to support antiretroviral clinical services and care and to strengthen the pharmaceutical staff to be part of the antiretroviral drug supply and to expand the ARV sites to CHP compounds. access to anti-HIV products.

For his part, Metro's director of health services, Dr. Samuel Aidoo, said that more children born to HIV-positive mothers in the metropolis were HIV-negative and attributed this success to the provision. early antiretroviral therapy for HIV-positive pregnant women.

He added that the high proportion of clients on antiretrovirals was leading to viral depression, adding that "we are no longer seeing AIDS patients through the use of antiretrovirals".

He said that there was a significant decrease in cases of opportunistic infection in the metropolis and called for engagement and discussions with stakeholders on the management of HIV and AIDS, the stigma and the reduction of discrimination.

Dr. Aidoo emphasized the need to strengthen the referral system in the city and called for frequent retraining of health workers to reduce stigma and discrimination.

He also said that HIV and AIDS prevention is a collective responsibility.

Dr. Aidoo expressed concern that new cases of HIV infection and AIDS are becoming high among 15-24 year olds and highlighted the need to revive HIV and AIDS awareness clubs in basic schools to tertiary institutions. young people.

He said stigma and discrimination against HIV and AIDS patients remained a major challenge in the city and called for all hands to be on the dock to deal with the situation.

Dr. Aidoo said his team would work with relevant stakeholders to intensify education about the disease, as the campaign on the subject has significantly decreased.

Mr. Anthonio Francis, Regional Monitoring and Education Officer of the Ghana AIDS Commission, said plans had been made to integrate HIV activities into local festivals to enable the commission to reach many people, especially young people.

He said the lack of funds was a major challenge for the Commission and suggested that the government was working hard to secure sustainable funding for the Commission to begin operations.

Mr. Anthonio said in October that this year, the reconstituted STMA HIV and AIDS Committee will be inaugurated to fulfill its mandate.

Life Relief Foundation is an NGO working to ensure the availability of HIV and AIDS products in the Western Region.

Source: GNA