Out of the number, 12,119, representing 66 percent, were women, with 4,365 being men.
ADVERTISEMENT
18,127 people in Central Region living with HIV — AIDS Commission
18,127 persons living with HIV in the Central Region as of December 2021, the Ghana AIDS Commission has said.
HIV
Recommended articles
Children aged from zero to 14 with HIV were 1,443.
The region also had 863 new infections in the same year, representing 5.1 percent of the national figure, with 726 being adults and 138 children, and 67 percent living with the infections are on antiretroviral drugs.
This was made known by the Central Regional Technical Coordinator for the Ghana AIDS Commission, William Kwaku Yeboah.
ADVERTISEMENT
He said the Upper Denkyira East Municipality led in the infections, followed by the Komenda Edina Eguafo Abirem (KEEA) Municipality.
He called on Ghanaians to fight stigmatization against a person living with the virus adding that the fight was to remove the stigma and get 95 percent of infected persons tested and put on antiretroviral drugs.
Earlier, the Ghana AIDS Commission disclosed that illegal mining popularly known as galamsey is a major factor in the increase of HIV/AIDS infections in the country.
According to the commission, the galamsey menace has compelled the citizens to engage in indiscriminate and unprotected sex.
Dr. Kyeremeh Atuahene, the Director-General of the AIDS Commission said "The galamsey menace can substantially contribute to the new infections and further undermine progress towards achieving the elimination agenda. A recent study that assessed the impact of national resource extraction projects on HIV transmission risks in local communities in sub-Saharan countries, including Ghana, reports that mine openings increase the odds of HIV infections almost two folds."
ADVERTISEMENT
Speaking at a ceremony to mark World AIDS day in Accra, he noted that "It also found that new mine openings were associated with increased risky sexual behaviours such as multiple partners, high-risk sexual partners, and unprotected sex with high-risk partners."
Statistics from the National STIs and HIV/AIDS Control Programme indicated that a total of 23,495 people tested positive for HIV in the first half of 2022.
The figure is two percent of the 948,094 people who undertook HIV testing from January to June 2022, the Programme Manager of the National STIs and HIV/AIDS Control Programme, Dr. Stephen Ayisi Addo has said.
He said most of the 23,495 people who tested positive had since been put on HIV treatment.
JOIN OUR PULSE COMMUNITY!
ADVERTISEMENT
Eyewitness? Submit your stories now via social or:
Email: eyewitness@pulse.com.gh
Recommended articles
PURC fines ECG board members GH¢5.8m over failure to release dumsor timetable
NPP's Mike Ocquaye washes pants, clothes for Dome Kwabenya constituents to secure vote
Ministry of Transport asks police to arrest drivers who charge illegal lorry fares
High Court orders arrest of Ghana Police CID Director General and Legal Unit Head
5 EC officials interdicted over missing BVDs
41-year-old man, Kwame Chelsea arrested for having sex with pregnant goat
16-year-old beaten by mob in Dansoman as man accuses him of penis disappearance
Nana Addo has crossed many red lines in our democratic practice — Mahama
