Lawrence Tetteh: The rate of HIV at University of Ghana is alarming

Rev. Dr. Lawrence Tetteh, the founder and president of World Miracle Outreach, has voiced his profound concern over the rising HIV/AIDS infection rates in the nation. On Thursday, October 24, 2024, he expressed his special concern on the concerning increase in student infections at a panel discussion on GTV.

 He blamed high levels of promiscuity for the virus's proliferation among this group. Dr. Tetteh notably brought up the situation at the University of Ghana (UG), Legon, pointing out that there are an alarmingly high number of students living with HIV there. "The number of boys and girls at Legon who are HIV positive will give you the biggest shock of your life. This is sad, and I’m pleased to bring this issue to light on national television," he stated.

"Some of these young boys and girls already on campus are living promiscuous lives and have already contracted HIV/AIDS. These are people I have prayed for... and I'm not talking about 10 years or 5 years," he said.

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He further stated, "It is sad. If some of them tell you how they got into it, what is happening is that some of these girls go to certain places, and when they come back, they also connect with the boys and girls there.

The alarming numbers of HIV/AIDS diagnoses in Ghana have prompted the Ghana AIDS Commission to issue a warning. According to Ghana's 2023 National HIV Report, an estimated 50 people are infected every day.

Over 218,000 persons living with HIV are not aware of their status, the commission discovered, according to research published by kasapatmonline.com.Currently, 36,000 adult males, 109,000 adult females, and 5,000 children are among the more than 152,000 people undergoing anti-retroviral therapy (ART).

The situation in Accra, the country's capital, is especially concerning because estimates suggest that most new infections occur among economically engaged people between the ages of 15 and 49.

According to estimates, the national adult HIV prevalence for 2023 would be 1.53%, meaning that 334,095 people—316,545 adults (94.7%) and 17,550 children (5.3%)—will be living with HIV. The estimated 0.09% HIV incidence rate among people aged 15 to 49 with 12,480 AIDS-related fatalities and 17,774 new infections this year, 90.4% of which are in adults and 9.6% in children.