HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis patients are more likely to die from stigma than from the diseases itself- CHAG Coordinator.

Mr. Eric Ohene Gyan, the Middle Zone Coordinator for the Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG), the majority of HIV/AIDS patients do not want to take anti-retroviral medications because of stigmatization. 

Speaking at a CHAG event titled HIV/TB community System Strengthening at Adams, a neighborhood of Drobo in the Jaman South Municipality of the Bono region, Mr. Ohene Gyan illustrated how people have been continuously debating the existence of HIV infection in recent years.

He claimed that HIV is real and has been present in the system since it was discovered, highlighting how people have failed to take ART medications, which are meant to treat the infection.

Speaking at an event put on by CHAG at Adams neighborhood of Drobo in the Jaman South Municipality of the Bono region, titled HIV/TB community System Strengthening, Mr. Ohene Gyan illustrated that people have been continuously debating the existence of HIV infection in recent years. He claimed that HIV is real and has been present in the system since it was discovered, highlighting the fact that people have failed to take the ART drugs, which are intended to manage the virus and make it more difficult 

He continued by saying that some people are often forced by stigma to go from their neighborhood clinics to clinics located in distant locations to receive anti-retroviral medications, which is not the best course of action in his opinion. According to Mr. Ohene Gyan, HIV is merely a virus that progresses into an illness called AIDS; thus, proper and regular drug intake will always suppress the viral load and stop HIV from turning into AIDS, indicating that many people stigmatize HIV patients on various occasions, which he claimed kills more people than HIV. 

As the Queen-mother of Adams, Nana Ama Agyapomaa, stated, "HIV came into existence quite a long time ago."

Accordingly, adhering to the sequence of instructions on the virus provided by medical professionals will significantly aid all people living with the virus in maintaining their lives. 

She underlined that HIV patients are equally human, so our families and the larger society must treat them humanely to help them integrate into society peacefully. 

Those who are infected with the virus are advised by Nana Agyarpomaa to cease spreading it on purpose by taking their ART medications as prescribed to enhance their health. 

The HIV condition in the municipality from 2020 to the middle of 2022 was described in detail by Mr. Ampaabeng Harrison, the HIV/AIDS Focal Person in the Jaman South Municipality. 

He said that in 2020, the Jaman South Municipality registered 228 HIV-positive cases, consisting of 64 males, 164 females, and 11 minors; in 2021, 225 cases, consisting of 68 males, 157 females, and 13 minors, were recorded. Out of 1,237 people who were tested between January and June of this year, the municipality recorded 129 positive instances. 41 men, 88 women, and 17 children.