Ghana Health Service introduces plan to reduce HIV/AIDS transmission

The Ghana Health Service is introducing a new service delivery called Differentiated Module of Care where service delivery will be broken down to the various levels particularly at CHPS centres. 

This initiative will give CHPS centres the ability to manage HIV cases as well as refer cases that are beyond them to a higher facility. 

The Northern Regional HIV/TB Coordinator, Dr. Patrick Bampoe, who disclosed this at an interactive workshop with the media in Tamale, said this intervention by Ghana Health Service is to improve universal access to HIV care services especially at the peripheries. 

The workshop, organized by the Ghana AIDS Commission in collaboration with the Ghana Journalist Association brought together senior editors and health reporters from the Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions. 

The aim was to get firsthand information from media practitioners about their understanding of HIV and challenges they encounter in reporting on related issues. 

Dr. Bampoe said the initiative was necessitated because of challenges persons living with HIV go through in accessing care. 

He said so far only fifty four health facilities are offering ART services in the Northern region, a situation, he lamented, was not good. 

He also mentioned poor road networks, distance from community to health centres and access to timely medications as some other challenges. 

Dr Bampoe was optimistic the Differentiated Module of Care Intervention will go further to reduce HIV prevalence in the region significantly. 

He said currently, GHS and GAC is targeting at reducing transmission of HIV infection from infected persons to those who are not infected so that the next generation will have HIV free generation. 

Dr Bampoe said his outfit will intensify HIV Testing Services, intensify stigma reduction strategies and ensure pregnant women living with HIV consistently take their medication to reduce the risk of passing on the infection to their unborn babies. 

He urged the media to give the public the right information, use their medium to fight to reduce stigma and disseminate all other HIV related services that GAC and GHS are rendering to the people to reduce the prevalence.

Story by Joyce Kantam Kolamong.
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