Community Perception Of Voluntary Counselling And Testing (VCT) In Dodowa Sub-District, Dangme West District, Greater Accra Region

ABSTRACT

Introduction According to UNAIDS/WHO (2007) every day, over 6800 persons become infected with HIV and over 5700 persons die from AIDS globally, mostly because of inadequate access to HIV prevention and treatment services. In Ghana, compared with other African countries the HIV prevalence is low (2.7%), knowledge about the disease is high, and in 2007 the HIV and AIDS infected population was estimated at 312,030. The Ghana National AIDS/STI Control Programme provides treatment, care and support services as well as vital surveillance data. Dodowa as the district capital of the Dangme West District has no hospital nor HIV/AIDS facility but a long history of referring suspected AIDS patients to other district hospitals near by. Since the new facility was established early in 2008, patronage had been very poor and factors affecting this problem have not been fully investigated.