About 72,000 people in the Ashanti Region are estimated to be living with HIV. Out of the number, only about 26,000 are currently on Anti-Retroviral, ARV medication at health facilities, leaving a gap of 46,421 who cannot be accounted for in terms of anti-retroviral uptake.
These are people who either do not know their status or have defaulted ARV treatment.
Deputy Ashanti Regional Focal Person for HIV/AIDS, Dennis Bandoh, who disclosed this to the GNA, said the region also recorded four thousand 618 new cases at the end of the third quarter of 2023, representing 2.1 percent increase over last year.
He said a total of 62,835 pregnant women had been tested under the Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission category with 681 testing positive, while 3,937 people tested positive out of 51,940 screened under the HIV testing services category.
He said some men are of the believe, that once their pregnant wives or partners test negative, then they are automatically negative.
Mr. Bandoh spoke of innovative strategies adopted by the Ghana Health Service to increase testing, including index testing, where people who have tested positive are encouraged to send their close family and sexual partners for testing.
SOURCE: GNA
