TIGblogs TIG | TIGblogs GROUP TIGBLOGS LOGIN SIGNUP
The Power of the Rising Development Generation Africa
The Power of the Rising Development Generation Africa
Africa Needs to Prevent HIV/Aids Despite Its Origin
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have been given thumps up by the Director General of the Ghana AIDS Commission, Prof. Sekyi Awuku Amoa for contributing immensely to reducing HIV/AIDS infection in the country. Prof. Amoa said the role of the CSO in supporting efforts of his outfit in particular cannot be overemphasized. "The Ghana AIDS Commission- led multi-sectoral national response for instance is based largely on a participatory process, strong networking and partnership with key stakeholders, especially CSOs for HIV/AIDS intervention," he stated. Prof. Amoa said this at the 1st International African HIV/AIDS Conference, which was organised under the auspices of the Ministry of Health and Woyome Foundation for Africa under the theme "Strengthening interventions towards the Elimination of HIV/AIDS in Africa". Prof. Amoa explained that actively engaging the CSOs is key if the grassroots are to be reached. "We have engaged CSOs at all levels of our national response in our efforts towards achieving Universal 2010 to which Ghana is fully committed in the UNGASS Declaration, Brazzaville Commitment and the Abuja Declaration as well as Abuja +5," the Director General said.



Prof. Amoa acknowledged that CSOs have the potential of keeping Africa policymakers on their toes towards Universal Access. "I must however state that despite the contributions being made many CSOs do not actually realize the power they have to influence decisions and in prioritizing national strategies. Many CSOs lack the capacity for offering their services and are not even aware of the Declaration of Commitments," he observed. He stated that Africa cannot realize its Universal Access goals when the rights of Peale living with HIV and also marginalized groups are not protected. The Board Chairman of the Woyome Foundation for Africa, Mr. Alfred Agbesi Woyome said the announcement by the UNAIDS that HIV/AIDS figures had been exaggerated must not lead Africans to rest on their oars. "The threat posed by HIV to generations of young people is not an exaggeration and has certainly not reduced because of this announcement," he mentioned. "As far as Africans are concerned, whether it was created in a laboratory, whether it came out of monkeys or not, or it originated from the gay community is not the relevant questions at the moment but the questions Africa should ask themselves is how they can stop the virus from spreading,"



According to him, people should leave their national, political and religious differences out and think about Africa and the millions of people whose lives depend on the outcome of the conference. "There would be no future for Africa if our hard-working people are allowed to be wasted away by HIV/AIDS. HIV can be likened to a new form of slavery and a new form of colonialism which threatens the very existence of our people," He called on Africa governments particularly the Ghanaian government to demonstrate true leadership by showing examples of voluntary testing in order for people to know their HIV status. "I was impressed when Women Caucus in Parliament underwent voluntary screening for Breast Cancer. How wonderful it would be if the entire parliament were to declare a day for a similar exercise in HIV testing," the Board Chairman urged.



Mr. Woyome suggested that if people do not want to disclose their status, the traditional leaders, political leaders and religious leaders should be brave and openly go for the testing in order to encourage the people to do it. "Leaders in Africa should show responsible leadership in order to motivate and inspire people to get counseling and testing to know their status." The Deputy Minister of Health, Mr. Abraham Odoom explained that stopping HIV/AIDS is the top priority of governments on the African continent because HIV/AIDS has the potential to erode all social and economic gains Africa have made over the years. Mr.Odoom mentioned that a few years ago the only tool Africa had against the pandemic was the message of prevention but as the infection rates increase in the developing world, it was clear that "prevention measures" were not stemming the spread of the disease. According to him, African governments are painfully aware that people would not be able to provide treatment to all of those in need on the continent and that is why Africa needs them to support in their efforts at finding alternate sources for funding. "It is critical that a long-term, sustainable solution to the crisis of lack of access to medicines be developed. Not one that relies solely on the good will of pharmaceutical companies to voluntarily offer discounts on certain medicines," he stressed.


December 4, 2007 | 1:29 PM Comments  0 comments

You must be logged in to add tags.


Henry Ekwuruke's Profile

Henry Ekwuruke's Friends


Latest Posts
New Private Equity...
CSO Observers Sought...
The Seven point Agenda...
Nigeria’s sustained...
President Umaru Musa...

Monthly Archive
March 2004
April 2004
May 2004
June 2004
July 2004
August 2004
September 2004
October 2004
November 2004
December 2004
January 2005
February 2005
March 2005
April 2005
May 2005
June 2005
July 2005
September 2005
October 2005
November 2005
December 2005
January 2006
February 2006
March 2006
April 2006
May 2006
June 2006
July 2006
August 2006
September 2006
October 2006
November 2006
December 2006
January 2007
March 2007
April 2007
May 2007
June 2007
July 2007
August 2007
September 2007
October 2007
November 2007
December 2007
January 2008
February 2008
March 2008
April 2008
May 2008
June 2008
July 2008
August 2008
October 2008
November 2008
December 2008
January 2009
February 2009
April 2009
June 2009

Change Language


Tags Archive
7pointagenda abiastate act africa africaawake cherrieland communitydevelopmentnetwork fdi fiscalresponsibilitybill generationafricaprogram life nigerdelta nigeria nigeriainaction umuahia voicesfromthevillage zimbabwe

Filter By Type
Events
News
Travel
Topics

Friends
angel
Arundhaty Parida
Atta ur Rehman Qureashi
Ayodeji Thomas Adewunmi
Ayoola, Abayomi Olawale
Beary Special
Brian
bridgett
C. Gudz
Carlos
Comdr. Little
Drbadr
Esther Agbarakwe
Francis
Franziska Seel
Frederick Bernas
Gerald Derome
hj
Hugh Switzer
Jason Haber
JC
Jennifer Corriero
Josephine Simmons
joyce
Katherine
LauraK
LLOYDLUNA.com
Marek Wosinski
Odo Phil Nkeiru
ody
onyinye
Ricardo Baruch
Sebastian St.Troy
seriousspy
Sessi
Shiyana Hunter
Sivakumar Rajendran
The Editor
yandagi

Links
UNICEF
Youth at UN


340007 views
Important Disclaimer