HIV prevalence rate drops

Saturday, June 6, 2009 (The Mirror Pg 28)

By Rebecca Kwei
The national HIV prevalence rate dropped from 1.9 per cent in 2007 to 1.7 per cent in 2008.
The national median HIV prevalence also declined to 2.2 per cent in 2008.
This was made known at the dissemination of 2008 HIV Sentinel Survey Report and National HIV and AIDS Prevalence Estimates and Projections in Accra last Tuesday.
The HIV Sentinel Survey is a cross-sectional survey targeting pregnant women attending antenatal clinics in selected antenatal clinics in Ghana.
According to the Programme Manager of the National AIDS Control Programme, Dr Nii Akwei Addo, who presented the results, the consecutive decline of the HIV prevalence was also witnessed in 2004 and 2005.
He said the Eastern Region continued to be the region with the highest prevalence level of 4.2 per cent, while the Northern Region had the lowest prevalence of 1.1 per cent.
However, all the regions, with the exception of the Eastern Region, recorded a decrease in prevalence from 2007. Three regions, namely, the Greater Accra, Ashanti and Eastern, had prevalence rates of three per cent and above.
The Upper West Region recorded the highest decline from 3.3 per cent to 1.6 per cent, while three regions, Volta, Western and Upper East, had also witnessed consistent decline in prevalence since 2006.
According to the report, HIV prevalence in urban areas was higher than in rural areas. The mean HIV prevalence of urban communities is 2.6 per cent, compared to 2.3 per cent in rural areas.
For the age group, the highest prevalence of 3.0 per cent is recorded within the 25-29 year group, while the least of 1.2 per cent is recorded in the 15-19 year group.
The prevalence rate among the 15-24 year group, which is used as a marker for new infections, is 1.9 per cent.
The report indicated that 94.5 per cent of the HIV positive samples were HIV type I, while 3.8 per cent was HIV type II, with dual infection of HIV types I and II being 1.7 per cent.
For syphilis, the median prevalence for 2008 was 3.8 per cent, showing a decrease from 2007 which was 5.1 per cent.
The Central Region remained the region with the highest syphilis prevalence, with an increase in the rate from 18.6 per cent to 20.5 per cent.
The region with the lowest syphilis prevalence was Northern, following a decline in prevalence from 2.1 per cent to 1.7 per cent.
HIV prevalence among sexually transmitted infection (STI) clients almost doubled from 5.7 per cent to 10.5 per cent in 2008.
The Adabraka and Kumasi STI sites recorded a prevalence of 15 per cent and 6.5 per cent, respectively. The prevalence among females (11.8 per cent) is still higher than that of males (7.8 per cent) and high in the 35-39 year group (15.9 per cent).
On estimations and projections of the HIV prevalence, Dr Addo said an estimated 236,151 people, comprising 98,306 males and 137,845 females, live with HIV and AIDS in Ghana.
He said there were 22,541 new infections and 18,082 AIDS deaths, out of which 2,241 were children.
It was projected that while the number of AIDS deaths was expected to decline, the number of people living with HIV was expected to increase gradually with improved access to anti-retroviral therapy (ART), coupled with resulting new infections.
On the challenges, Dr Addo said there was the need to sustain prevention education targeted at the youth and other special groups.
He said the persistence of syphilis in some sites for the past years required further examination to explain its influence on the overall regional HIV prevalence, adding that STI services must be strengthened to ensure that all clients were tested for HIV.
The Minister of Health, Dr George Sipa-Adjah Yankey, said the country must not be complacent due to the decline of the HIV prevalence rate but maximise efforts to attain a further reduction in the HIV disease, adding that “a single case of HIV anywhere is HIV everywhere”.