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Ghana AIDS Commission Technical Support Unit (TSU) for the UWR Build Capacity of Staff of Ministry of Food and Agriculture on HIV and AIDS

Ghana AIDS Commission Technical Support Unit (TSU) for the UWR Build Capacity of Staff of Ministry of Food and Agriculture on HIV and AIDS


The Ghana AIDS Commission’s Technical Support Unit for the Upper West Region has built the capacity of the staff of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) Wa on HIV and AIDS.

The meeting was a follow-up on a relationship that built during the 2019 World AIDS Day (WAD) Commemoration in the region. The session sensitized and trained Regional Officers of MoFA on the HIV and AIDS, shared some outcomes of the study on the‘Assessment of Food Security and Vulnerability of HIV-Affected Households in Selected Regions of Ghana’  and explored possible areas of partnership between GAC and MoFA  in the region.

Present at the meeting were, the Regional Director of Agriculture, Mr. Emmanuel Yeboah and twenty-five Senior and Junior Officers of the Ministry. After exchanging pleasantries and self-introduction of all present, the presentation was next.

The MoFA staff were taken through the mandate of GAC, basic facts on HIV and AIDS, modes of transmission, preventive measures and treatment. The current HIV and AIDS situation in the region using the 2018 National Estimates and Projections data as well as the current regional response efforts were also touched on. This section of the presentation ended with a demonstration on the proper way to wear and dispose of condoms (male and female).

In the second part of the presentation, some findings of a study entitled ‘Assessment of Food Security and Vulnerability of HIV-affected Households in Selected Regions of Ghana’ were shared. It was to point to the MoFA staff, the intersections of their work and that of the GAC, draw their attention to the need to work hand-in-hand with GAC in promoting the wellbeing of the vulnerable in the society which includes PLHIV. It was also for the MoFA staff to identify the peculiar needs of vulnerable PLHIV families to enable them design tailor-made interventions that respond to their specific needs. For instance, it was stressed that MoFA could take steps to;

a)    Integrate HIV programmes into MoFA work plan.
b)    Consider PLHIV households for government intervention such as Planting, and Rearing for Food and Jobs Programmes.
c)    Integrate sensitization of rural folks on HIV and AIDS by Extension Officers and other field staff in the execution of their work.
d)    Advocate for women entitlement to arable lands especially PLHIV women led households.
e)    Advocate on stigma reduction against PLHIV among rural community members.
f)    Building Extension and other field Officers capacity on HIV and AIDS.

In his closing remarks, the MoFA Regional Director pledged to explore the possibility of another training for all their district officers by the end of the year to build their capacity on HIV and AIDS. According to him, building the District Officers capacities on HIV and AIDS will have a multiplying effect in the communities they work. He also encouraged the TSU to honour its part by providing them with the needed technical support and logistics anytime needed.

The M&E Officer Mr Kenneth S, Baga who did the presentation on behalf of the Regional Technical Coordinator (TC) Mr Dramani Yakubu assured the director and his staff of GAC’s readiness to partner the MoFA outfit in whatever intervention that they seek to implement in the region. He stressed that, with the able leadership of the Regional Technical Coordinator, GAC will support any intervention aimed at reducing new HIV infections, reduce stigma and improve the quality of life of Persons Living with HIV (PLHIV) among others by providing; technical and logistical support anytime they are called upon to do so.

 

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The Ghana AIDS Commission is a supra-ministerial and multi-sectoral body established under the Chairmanship of H. E. the President of the Republic of Ghana by Act 2016, Act 938 of Parliament. The objective of the Commission is to formulate policy on the HIV and AIDS epidemic and...

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