US-Embassy-PEPFAR trains journalists on HIV/AIDS-STIs
HIV/AIDS healthcare delivery in the Western Region is saddled with inadequate human resource due to frequent transfers of trained staff from the unit and untimely provision of antiretroviral to districts.
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Aside that, several of the districts are yet to get centres and the needed key staff to ensure proper designated places for clinical care.
Even though the region has made some progress in terms of prevalence rate, there is still a lot of work to be done according to official at the care center.
Speaking at a media training on HIV/AIDS and STDs training in Takoradi, Dr Roland M. Sowa, the Western Regional HIV/AIDS Coordinator, said there was also the need for staff motivation and increase in the number of data officers.
The training which was sponsored by the United States Embassy in Ghana and the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) globally, which is the largest commitment to the pandemic with the commitment of more than $56billion bilateral HIV/AIDS progammes.
The global fund is focused on the fight against HIV/AIDs, Tuberculosis, malaria and bacterial tuberculosis programme to achieve AIDs-Free generation.
Staffing & bad roads
Dr Sowa explained that with adequate of staffing of the centres, they would be enough to take care of the people on clinic day and others to be assigned some to trace defaulter carriers and related deaths.
He said one of the challenges had to do with the fact that various district identified area had bad roads and were very difficult to access for the needed care.
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Dr Sowa said the Comprehensive Care Centre (CCC) at the Effia-Nkwanta Regional Referral Hospital, currently required additional medical officer and nurses to support. The interesting thing about the caregivers, he said, was that they had to be trained in kind of care to be delivered at the center. He said there was, therefore, the need to ensure sustained training of more caregivers.
With the increasing number of patients and the confidentiality of information about their personal data, there is the need to computerized storing of the data instead of the using the folders.
The media support
The coordinator urged the media to focus on the issues that would not only create the awareness but also help in the reduction in the rate of infection.
“Over the years you have being a worthy partners, and for three years running we have a sustained rate but we cannot rest we have to turn round to zero and no new infection era.”
For his part the special guest, Awulae Amihere Kpenyile III, the Paramount Chief Eastern Nzema Traditional Area and Member of the Western Regional House of Chiefs said the HIV & AIDS still remains a mystery.
“As a cure has still not been found. The HIV AIDS disease burden though still raging seems relegated to the background as other diseases such as Ebola has in recent times taken a Centre stage,” he said.
He said the current progress by the region, without sustained effort, the public, especially the youth might continue to fall into the Most at Risk Population bracket, which could derail the efforts made over the past decade.
According to Awulae Amihere, said as devastating as the pandemic was socially and economically, it was sad that the media had slowed down in HIV sensitization and reporting on sexual and reproductive health.
“Unfortunately, the dominant issues in the country across various media today are no doubt politics, sports and entertainment. Little attention is paid to issues of health especially those that require collaborative effort to sustain public information and behavioral changes.”
He said the training was, therefore, timely and strategic in reechoing the need for the media to shift attention to social issues that affect the lives of the people.
He commended the US Government for sustained efforts across the world to ensure that the pandemic is well managed until a permanent cure is found.
The Editor of the Ghanaian Times newspaper, Mr. David E. Agbenu, took the media through various aspect of social and health reporting.
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He said the HIV/AIDS and other health and socially related issues provided the perfect platform for originality of their works that speak volumes.
“I therefore urged you to continue and file stories that tell the real stories of the people in the areas of health and what affects the lives of our rural folks,” he said.