Covid silenced HIV/AIDS awareness campaign

Juliet Selassie, the Focal Person for the Ashaiman Assembly (ASHMA) has observed that the increment in HIV cases across the country is a result of the little attention the country paid to the virus, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Though the two viruses are deadly, Madam Juliet said the country’s strong campaign against COVID-19 left HIV/AIDS deserted and the consequence, she observed, is the increasing number of HIV figures across the country.

Holding a one-day free HIV health screening programme for the residents of Ashaiman at the area’s Divisional Command last Friday, Juliet Selassie told The Chronicle that the Ashaiman Health Directorate, with support from the Ghana Health Service (GHS), would let the community lead in the fight against HIV.

“We will carry the campaign to schools, the markets and lorry stations, where we will get the numbers to sensitise. As they get the information, they will propagate it in their communities. That way, we think we can drastically slow down the spread of HIV/AIDS,” she noted.

Before the outreach at the Ashaiman Divisional Command, Juliet Selassie’s team had visited the Ashaiman Main Transport Terminal, where over five hundred drivers and their mates, as well as some passengers and traders, including women at the terminal, were freely screened for HIV.

Condoms were distributed to both sexes who checked their HIV status, for protection against any form of STDs and avert unplanned pregnancies.

“Yes, so we are doing the same thing here for the community and this won’t be the last. We can’t wipe the virus out completely; we can only work hard as a country to reduce its spread. And we can achieve this when we carry the community along to lead in the campaign,” Juliet Selassie explained.

She educated the residents to shun sharing sharp objects, stop having unprotected sex if they can’t abstain and advised barbers to ensure that their machines are always sterilised.

“Let us all be vigilant when we go to the hair-dressing or barbering salons, where sharp objects are used,” she added.

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