Dr. Kyereme Atuahene, Executive Director of the Ghana AIDS Commission, expressed deep concern about the prevalence of stigma against people living with HIV.
According to the latest report by the Ghana Statistics Service (GSS), 78 per cent of women and 72 per cent of men who have heard of HIV or AIDS hold discriminatory attitudes towards people living with HIV. I found out that there is.
According to the report, respondents who have discriminatory attitudes toward people with HIV are those who say they would not buy fresh vegetables from a store owner or vendor if they knew the person was infected with HIV; These are people who say infected children should not be allowed to buy vegetables. Attend school with children who are not infected with HIV.
He described the new GSS report on HIV as “alarming and sad” and denounced misconceptions that fueled high levels of discrimination.
“It is both shocking and deeply saddening that over 78% of Ghanaians have to discriminate against people with HIV simply based on misconceptions about the disease. People Living with HIV You may wonder if people who are stigmatized by HIV really know their HIV status. Some people may even be infected. Misconceptions are actually causing this high level of prejudice and discrimination,” the Executive Director of the Ghana AIDS Commission lamented in an interview with Umar Sanda Amadu. eyewitness news upon City FM.
Dr. Atuahene clarified that eating food contaminated with the blood or body fluids of someone living with HIV will not cause you to become infected with HIV.
He said the virus cannot survive outside the body and called for the cooperation of stakeholders to correct misconceptions surrounding people living with HIV.
“If someone sells vegetables and fruit and thinks that people living with HIV can contaminate the fruit or vegetables, we all need to work together to correct these misconceptions. Therefore, by purchasing from such a person, you could be infected with HIV. This is inaccurate because it is impossible for this person’s blood or body fluids to get into your food. Even if you do get in, there’s no way you can get infected with HIV just by eating contaminated food. That’s impossible,” he said.
He also said it was “false” that people could contract HIV through mosquito bites.
“People still believe that they can be infected through mosquito bites, but this is also a misconception and false belief. Studies prove that mosquitoes can transmit HIV There is no,” he said.