Government will this year introduce anti HIV drugs to control new HIV infections among the youth.
Pre exposure prophylaxis is a course of HIV pills taken by HIV negative persons to reduce their risk of infections.
The decision follows statistics which show that new HIV infections across the country are increasing with 20 thousand new cases recorded in Ghana every year.
This means 54 new cases of HIV are recorded every day, mostly among the youth between the ages of 25 to 39.
These were announced at the 13th annual INTEREST conference which was graced by the first lady Mrs. Rebecca Akufo Addo.
Over the years figures had indicated that cases if HIV infections in Ghana were decreasing however, new research has shown that it is rather increasing, particularly among the youth.
The latest report indicates an alarming increase of 70 percent in just one year, a situation that has been consistent in the last five years.
The increase has mainly been attributed to the lack of funds to implement HIV awareness campaigns that used to be effective in the late 90’s and early 2000’s.
The fear is that if nothing is done cases of HIV will double in the next ten years.
The Director General of the Ghana AIDS Commission Kyeremeh Atuahene said to control new infections, pre exposure prophylaxis will be introduced this year.
The First Lady Mrs. Rebecca Akufo-Addo urged government to ensure that children living with HIV in Ghana are put on treatment by 2020.
The four day Conference has brought together 750 participants from 45 countries to share and discuss research and State-Of-The-Art reviews on HIV and related topics.
