MPs must ensure anti-LGBTQ+ bill addresses spread of HIV – AIDS Commission

The Director General of the Ghana AIDS Commission, Dr. Kyeremeh Atuahene, is anticipating that the anti-LGBTQ+ bill, if passed will help to address the spread of HIV.

He raised concerns about homosexuality and indicated that HIV prevalence among homosexuals is higher than other general diseases.

The Director General of the Ghana AIDS Commission described homosexuality as a major problem emphasizing the need for a holistic approach to addressing it.

“I want all Ghanaians to also agree with us that the issue of men having sex with men and even women also having anal sex with women is a major problem. Because many men who have sex with men have female partners and HIV prevalence in that group is about 22%, which is even higher than the general MSM prevalence. And so there is potential for their partners who have partners within the general population to spread the virus. Our strategy is to reduce new infections, and therefore we all have to ensure that this bill helps us to address the spread of HIV in the country,” Dr. Atuahene told Selorm, hots of the Big Issue on Citi TV.

 

He expressed fear that service providers who offer health services to homosexuals will go underground when the bill is passed.

“I don’t really know if it will not drive them underground. When the bill was proposed earlier, some media men announced men having sex with men and mentioned names of service providers and their locations. So service providers who were attacked went underground, and I do not believe that this situation is not going to arise.”

“We know that drug use has huge public ramifications and so that made it difficult for people who needed help in terms of health service were not able to access and even when they mustered the courage to go to health facilities. They didn’t have adequate support they needed and that is exactly what I anticipate could occur under this law,” he expressed fear.

Dr. Attuahene said his outfit will work with the parliamentary committee on health to ensure that public health concerns are addressed in the bill.

“I’m happy that some public health provision clauses have been put in there. But I don’t know the details, and so we are going to work with the committee and members of the house to really ensure that we have adequate provisions to address all the public health concerns we have. We all know that the bill will be passed, but it’s for Ghanaians. And we need to have not just crime control approach, but we should also have public health approach to it and ensure that people will be removed from harm’s way,” the Director General of the Ghana AIDS Commission said.