African churches have been called upon to accept their responsibilities in the campaign against HIV/AIDS, which continues to rampage the continent and the world at large.According to the Programme Manager of Christian Council of Ghana, Madam Joyce Stiner much as change in the morality of the individual is crucial, the social institutions that people dwell in must also change.
She condemned the Catholic Church for failing to promote the cause of HIV/AIDS in Africa by disassociating itself from public debate and advocacy on appropriate use of condom for HIV prevention.
Madam Stiner was speaking at a workshop in Accra to enhance the capacity of the media to join in the anti stigma fight against HIV. It was organised by the World Association for Christian Communication, (WACC) Africa Region in collaboration with the Christian Council of Ghana.
She said, "We should not leave the Catholic churches behind for us to fight the disease alone but rather involve them to help push the agenda forward".
She noted that some African countries are now faced with the challenge of what to do in public debate about the disease.
"Negative attitudes towards sex education provided by schools and other institutions have been legion and sadly promoted by many church leaders," she noted.
She admits that abstinence and faithfulness are no doubt effective moral values which must continue to be encouraged, "but when people are confronted with hunger, they may choose to get involved in sex work to raise money for food."
Dr. Bernard Dornoo of the National AIDS / STI (Sexually Transmitted Infections) Control Programme, (NACP) said Ghana has a generalized epidemic of 1% regional prevalent rate for all. He said over 1% prevalence among pregnant women is consistent.
He said HIV/AIDS outlook in Ghana for 2007 shows that 69, 599 people in Ghana will be in need of Antiretroviral Treatment (ARV) and total HIV/AIDS population is estimated at 312,030 and the national prevalence at 2.24%. Also he said there are 26,401 adult new infections and 4,378 annual HIV at birth.
He disclosed that more women than men stand the risk of infection because they are susceptible and have low economic power.
Dr. Dornoo cited interventions to reduce HIV transmission, delivery package of care and support for persons living with the AIDS, (PLWA) and provision of essential technical support to all ministries, departments and agencies and the private sector in the implementation of the programmes as part of the strategic plan for the health sector in Ghana.
"New infections would be reduced through behaviourial change, communication, counseling and testing, promotion of blood safety, prevention of mother to child transmission and condom promotion and distribution."
He said by the end of this year, antiretroviral drugs will be accessible in 50% of all districts in the country and universal access by December 2010.
"I commend the various Catholic hospitals in the country for their dedicated support to home base care and antiretroviral therapy for PLWA. In fact, they are doing well in this area."
James Aryeetey of the Legal and Ethics Committee of the Ghana AIDS Commission, (GAC) noted that what is needed to reduce infection in Ghana is to sustain awareness, identify groups that drive that epidemic, scale up intervention where impact is higher and encourage behaviourial change.
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