In Sierra Leone, 1.7% of people are currently living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), a physician for Infectious Disease, Dr. Sulaiman Lakoh said on Tuesday.
He made this statement during an outdoor visit by Premier News at his Connaught Hospital office in Commemoration of World AIDS Day on December 1, 2020, in Freetown.
HIV is a virus that attacks cells that help the body fight infections, making a person more vulnerable to other infections and diseases. It is spread by contact with certain bodily fluids of a person with HIV, most commonly during unprotected sex (sex without a condom or HIV medicine to prevent or treat HIV), or through sharing of needles used by addicts to inject themselves with drugs. Individuals cannot become infected through ordinary day-to-day contact such as kissing, hugging, shaking hands, or sharing personal objects, food or water.
According to Dr. Lakoh, those that are mostly infected by the various range between the ages of 18-24, adding that it is because younger people are mostly involved in unprotected sexual intercourse and women mostly became infectious with HIV (with 1.25 % prevalence rate among women) than men with an estimate prevalence rate of 0.6 %.
He noted that due to social stigma (not wanting to be seen) some persons infected with HIV/AIDS do not come for their medical supplies, noting that they have taken upon themselves to educate infected people on the risk of staying at home without medication.
“It is important for HIV/AIDS to be detected at an early stage because early detection calls for early treatment which minimizes the dominance of the disease in the human body before it graduates to acute syndrome. The government has also made it mandatory and free for everybody to be tested when soliciting medical care at any facility across the country,” Dr. Lakoh said.
He also highlighted the fact that healthcare giver are having challenges with funds for clinical care; have limited human resource; lack of continuity of treatment by patient with HIV/AIDS; and they are also understaffed with shortage of testing kits.
By Theressa Taylor and Yeanoh Sesay
4/12/2020. ISSUE NO: 7962