The Obuasi East Health Directorate has collaborated with Obuasi East District Assembly, Rotary club of Obuasi, GCB, Addapath Wellness, an NGO based in Obuasi to donate food items worth over 20, 000 Ghana cedis to children living with HIV/AIDS in Obuasi.

These food items included bags of rice, boxes of milo crates of milk, boxes of tin fish as well as boxes of tin tomatoes, drinks and biscuits.

The move was to bring smiles to the faces of children living with HIV/AIDS and to discard stigmatization against such children.

Kwame Annor, the Secretary of the Obuasi Rotary club said they decided to support the donation as a means of showing love to the poor and the needy, especially during Christmas.

He was of the view that the donation will encourage people living with HIV to openly declare their status without any form of stigmatization.

The Obuasi branch manager of GCB Bank, Kwadwo SAMPENE Agyei said the bank needed to step in as a way of showing support and care to children living with the virus.

“We decided among the Staff of the bank to voluntarily contribute to support this worthy cause. We came in, particularly because we took inspiration from the fact that it could also happen to us.”

Administrative Manager of Addapath Wellness, Felix Danso Kwening said the NGO has over the years championed the cause of the vulnerable and the needy in the society who solicit their support on grounds of health and fitness.

He said the NGO in 2019, teamed up with the Obuasi Rotary club to embark on similar donations.

He said the group has come to the realization that children living with HIV/AIDS struggle to get the needed nutrition to supplement the medication given them since most of the have lost their parents.

He however bemoaned the level of discrimination and stigmatization against people living with HIV which he believes constitutes a major challenge in the fight against HIV.

Speaking on behalf of the beneficiary hospitals, madam Peace Bansah of the ART and TB unit of the AGA Health foundation expressed gratitude to the donors for what she described as putting a balanced diet on the table of the children.

She added that antiretroviral therapy or drugs alone do not help the children but rather the nutritional value also contributes significantly to boosting their immune system.

She also spoke against the stigmatization of people living with HIV/AIDS and advised guardians of children with HIV/AIDS to help them take their prescribed drugs.