The Minister for Aviation, Mrs Cecilia Abena Dapaah has urged the public to muster courage and test for their HIV status.
The test, she noted is necessary to ensure everyone in the country gets to know their status.
Speaking to this reporter during the World AIDS DAY celebration which incidentally fell on the farmer’s day, Mrs Dapaah parried off the misconception that testing for one’s status is scary.
According to her, testing for HIV is like testing for any other infection or illness, adding there is nothing strange or scary about it.
ENCOURAGEMENT:
The Aviation Minister encouraged the public to voluntarily go for the HIV test so as to get to know their status.
She noted that testing either negative or positive is a non-issue since there are drugs available to deal with the disease when one has it.
Those who test negative, she stressed only have the opportunity to continue to live responsible lives.
Mrs Dapaah, the President’s Representative on the Board of the Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC) in a rare show of bravado tested for her status in the full glare of cameras displaying the outcome to the media who were present at the GAC stand that had been mounted at the Heroes Park in Kumasi.
DIRECTOR GENERAL:
On her part, Dr Mokowa Blay Adu-Gyamfi, Director-General-Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC) implored the public to take advantage of the opportunity the GAC continues to provide to test for their status.
Knowing one’s status, she explained is important so as to enable one plan how to live his or her life going forward.
HIV, she said is not as scary as people without knowledge of the disease have consistently portrayed.
She stressed there are anti-retroviral drugs available at hospitals for persons who might have contracted the disease to be treated with.
