GHANA RECORDS 11,000 HIV/AIDS DEATHS IN 2013 : US GOV'T

Washington, 29 Muharram 1435/3 December 2013 (MINA) -About eleven thousand people in Ghana died from HIV/AIDS this year alone, according to the United States government.

A message posted on the embassy’s social media platform, twitter on Monday, says almost ten thousand adults and over a thousand children have lost their lives this year, Modern Ghana quoted by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

According to the US ambassador to Ghana, Gene Cretz, the death toll is worrying at a time when access to testing, counseling and treatment have been stepped up.

Ambassador Cretz says the US government is committed to supporting Ghana tackle the virus. On stigmatization, he said they are determined to stand firm and eliminate it.

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Ambassador Gene Cretz also revealed a collaboration with the commission on human rights and administratve justice and the Ghana Aids Commission to build systems that ensure that those affected by HIV-related stigma and discrimination have legal recourse in seeking support to protect their rights.

HIV (Human immunodeficiency virus) is a lentivirus, slowly replicating retrovirus, that causes AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome), a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive.

Infection with HIV occurs by the transfer of blood, genitals fluid, pre-ejaculate, or breast milk. Within these bodily fluids, HIV is present as both free virus particles and virus within infected immune cells. (T/P09/P04).

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Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)