TRADITIONAL LEADERS URGED TO HELP FIGHT HIV/AIDS (Page 21)

Story: Nana Konadu Agyeman

THE EASTERN Regional Minister, Mr Kwadwo Affram Asiedu, has advocated the active involvement of traditional authorities in the fight against stigmatisation and discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS.
The regional minister, who made the suggestion in a speech read on his behalf at an HIV/AIDS workshop for chiefs and queens in the Kwahu Traditional Area on Saturday, stated “because we see our chiefs, elders and queens as pillars and people of great influence, we need to solicit their assistance to reduce stigma and discrimination against people living with the disease”.
The workshop, on the theme “Reducing Stigmatisation and Discrimination—The Role of Traditional Authorities”, formed part of the Eastern Regional HIV/AIDS Committee’s scale up care and support for persons infected by the disease.
The event, which coincided with the World AIDS Day was sponsored by the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Ghana through the World Bank.
The regional minister said since scientists identified HIV/AIDS, social responses of fear, denial, stigma and discrimination had characterised the epidemic, a situation which he said had fuelled anxiety and prejudice against the groups most affected and those living with the disease, adding that such attitude had resulted in its widespread in society.
He noted that although throughout the world the disease had been able to draw care and compassion for those infected, the painful aspect of it was how the stigma and discrimination associated with it had resulted in rejection of those living with it by their families, loved ones and their communities.
Such a negative attitude, he said, had remained a barrier to the effective response to the pandemic, as fear of discrimination prevented people living with the disease from admitting or disclosing their HIV status and seeking treatment at health facilities.
“In some cases, people with or suspected of having HIV may be turned away from health care services, employment, foreign countries or evicted from home by their families and rejected by their friends and colleagues”.
He, therefore, expressed the hope that traditional authorities who wielded a lot of influence in society, would help address such issues.
“I want to encourage traditional leaders to individually and collectively put your resources together to seriously address this canker which has become a major development issue that can undermine our development efforts”, Mr Affram Asiedu added.
In a presentation to outline the various roles traditional authorities could play in the fight against HIV/AIDS, the Eastern Regional Focal Person for HIV/AIDS, Ms Golda Asante, asked chiefs and queens to spearhead a crusade for awareness and prevention of the disease as well as encourage the people to go for voluntary counselling, testing, treatment and care.
She particularly called on queens to collaborate with the Ghana Health Service to educate the people in the various communities on the pandemic, especially young girls on teenage pregnancy and maternal mortality, adding that they should also help to review social and traditional practices with the view to identifying those that could be harmful or potentially expose girls to HIV infection.
For his part, the Obohene, Nana Yeboah Afari Boateng, who chaired the function, on behalf of his colleagues, gave the assurance that they would help do away with stigma and discrimination against people living with the disease.