Stigma against Persons Living with HIV (PLHIV) remains disturbingly high in Tema Newtown, where some residents deliberately visit the Anti-Retroviral Treatment (ART) Centre at the Manhean Polyclinic, to identify clients and publicise their health status.
Ms Annalina Heighty, the Officer-in-Charge of the ART Centre at the Manhean Polyclinic, revealed this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) as part of activities marking World AIDS Day.
She said some individuals—whether genuinely seeking care or simply acting out of curiosity, stray into the ART unit to observe and later disclose patients’ identities within the community, fueling harmful gossip and discrimination.
“This happens because of the Centre’s location, which allows people to intrude easily,” she explained, adding that a lack of shade and privacy further exposes clients to public scrutiny.
“When it rains or the sun is high, patients have nowhere to sit, so they become more visible,” she noted.
As a result, some patients refuse to visit the Centre altogether, opting to rely on nurses and models of hope (HIV peer educators) to deliver their medication to them.
However, this practice denies them access to critical medical reviews and treatment for comorbidities such as hypertension, tuberculosis, and infections.
She therefore appealed to institutions and individuals to assist the Manhean Polyclinic to put up a new structure that can protect the identity of HIV patients visiting the hospital for treatment.
Giving data on the HIV situation in Tema Manhean, she revealed that there were currently 600 active reactive patients on treatment, with 150 mothers on treatment under the preventive mother-to-child transmission.
GNA
