The Minister of Health Mr. Kwaku Agyemang Manu, presented the HIV self-test kit to support the country’s efforts to increase HIV testing and connect people with antiretroviral treatment. This initiative aims to achieve the UNAIDS 95-95-95 target by the end of 2025.
In a keynote address at the National Launch of the HIV Self-Testing in Accra, Hon. Agyemang Manu said the availability of the kit is a step forward in the effort to create a healthier nation. The health minister observed that by adopting the self-testing kit, the health sector is bridging the gap in testing coverage among hard-to-reach populations. He added that HIV self-testing is one of the newest innovations in a range of strategies aimed at encouraging people to know their status and help address the challenge of delayed treatment for people living with HIV due to lack of knowledge.
Mr. Agyemang Manu advised that self-testing should not be seen as an end, but rather as an opportunity to create a society that supports and cares for HIV positive people. He pledged to support the ministry in engaging key stakeholders to ensure the availability of supplies, medicines and logistics in their effort to fight HIV/AIDS. He urged Ghanaians to take advantage of the innovation to get tested to know their status to protect themselves and their loved ones.
In a speech read on behalf of the General Director of the Service, Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, the Director of the Department of Public Health, Dr. Franklin Aseidu- Bekoe noted that self-testing has been proven worldwide to improve uptake of HIV testing and its eventual treatment. The Director argued that about 28% of people living with HIV should be linked to antiretroviral treatment and other free screening services. He implored everyone to embrace innovation to help bring healthcare services closer together.
Dr. Stephen Ayisi Addo, Program Director for the National AIDS/STD Control Program noted that the self-test is a screening test to complement the routine test by the trained service provider. He added that because of the stigma attached to the disease, a reactive or positive result after self-testing must be confirmed by the routine algorithm using three different tests in a row before someone can be declared HIV-positive. Dr. Ayisi Addo stated that HIV screening is the first step to treatment, so separate HIV testing is a critical intervention expected to improve access to HIV screening services. He also said that permanent operational telecounseling services have been established with two counselors providing services to both positive and negative clients. The Program Officer disclosed that due to the need to expand opportunities, other HIV self-test kits will be introduced that will involve the use of blood to obtain the necessary results. He called on everyone to embrace the initiative to achieve the 95-95-95 goals of UNAIDS.
The 95-95-95 target is the target set by UNAIDS in 2020, which calls for 95% of all people living with HIV to know their status, 95% of all people with diagnosed HIV infection to receive prolonged antiretroviral therapy and 95% of all people on antiretroviral therapy will have viral suppression by 2025.
SOURCE: PR Unit, GHS