Health News of Sunday, 31 March 2019

Source: yen.com.gh

More females getting HIV/AIDS than males in Ghana

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About 65% of Ghana's HIV/AIDS population are females, the Ghana Aids Commission has estimated.

This is according to the 2017 national and sub-national HIV and AIDS estimates and projections report.

The report adds that the country's HIV/AIDS population is currently at 320,992 in 2019.

Giving a further breakdown of the numbers, the report said 212, 169 of Ghana’s HIV/AIDS population are females.

Meanwhile, 108,309 are males, between the ages of 15 and 49. The number of men with new infections stood at 5, 670, while the number is estimated to be 9,731 among females.

Also, annual deaths in 2019 stood at 4,361 for men and 4,419 for women. According to the report, the number of persons living with HIV/AIDS have increased by more than 7,000 since 2017.

Two years ago, the country’s HIV/AIDS population was 313,063, but it has risen to 320,992 in 2019.

Meanwhile, the Greater Accra and Ashanti regions have the highest number of people living with HIV, according to the report.

However, the Upper West and East Regions have the lowest number of people living with the virus.