According to the Regional HIV Coordinator, Bolgatanga Municipality in the Upper East Region remains a hotshot for HIV infection in the Region.
Sulemana Majeed, Regional HIV Coordinator, who disclosed this at a media briefing, said, “Bolgatanga has always been above the national figure, which calls for an increase sensitization and education.”
The media engagement was part of a series of activities by the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and the Ghana AIDS Commission to solicit the support of journalists to increase public awareness on HIV and help prevent, control and manage the spread of the virus among the public.
Majeed said the Regional figure for HIV infection was 1.9% and noted that the disease was gradually becoming more urbanised with lots of population influx with activities, including commercial sex activities at certain areas within the Bolgatanga township.
He emphasised that the HIV hotspot was not static and peculiar to certain areas in the Region but had over the years swung among the Districts, adding that Navrongo in the Kassena-Nankana Municipality used to be a hotspot.
“It moved to Sandema in the Builsa North Municipality for about five years and to the Bolgatanga Municipality. So if you go by the HIV Sentinel Survey (HSS) data, Bolgatanga will be considered as our hotspot,” the HIV coordinator said.
He said per the HSS sites of HIV prevalence, the Bolgatanga Municipality recorded increases from 2.8% in 2018 to 3.6% in 2019, and indicated that though there was a decrease to 2.6% in 2020, the prevalence rate was still high in the Bolgatanga Municipality.
He said Navrongo recorded a constant figure of 1.6% in 2017 and 2018 respectively, with increases to 2.0% in 2019, and 2.2% in 2020, while the Builsa North Municipality saw a consistent increase from 1.0% in 2017 to 1.1% in 2018 and from 1.2% in 2019 to 1.3% in 2020.
The situation, he noted, was not different in the Bawku Municipality as it equally recorded increases from 0.4% in 2017, to 0.6% in 2018, 1.2% in 2019 and 1.3% in 2020.
On the number of positive HIV cases per population, Majeed said the first five hotspot Districts were Nabdam, Bolgatanga East, Builsa North, Bongo and Bolgatanga Municipality.
Nabdam District, he said recorded 214 HIV cases per population, “So per every 100,000 population in Nabdam, 214 of them would be HIV positive, Bolgatanga East is 175, Builsa North is 152, Bongo 149 and Bolgatanga Municipality is 112 per 100,000 population.”
Dr Josephat Nyuzaghl, the deputy regional director of the GHS in charge of Public Health, called on journalists, especially broadcast journalists at various radio stations across the Region, to support the Health Directorate to educate and increase awareness of HIV among members of the public to curtail the spread.
