SOCIAL DEV'T NEWS

Free condom distribution reduced HIV/AIDS rate – MP

The Member of Parliament for Salaga and Ranking Member on the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Ibrahim Dey Abubakari, has defended government’s decision to spend over GHc1 million to supply free male condoms to some Ghanaians.

He argues that the free condom distribution was a wise decision because it has contributed to a decline in Ghana’s HIV/AIDS prevalence rate.

“Prevention is better than cure. Don’t you see that the percentage of infection of AIDS has reduced in the country; don’t you see that the supply of condoms has contributed to this? So if you tell me that the supply of condoms is for pleasure, I beg to differ; because it has succeeded in preventing a lot of venereal diseases that the government would have spent money to cure in the hospital,” he explained.

The PAC on Monday grilled officials from the Ministry of Health for spending the colossal amount to distribute free condoms in a bid to curb HIV/AIDS in the country.

The Chairman of the PAC, Kwaku Agyemang, expressed surprise at the expenditure saying, “I want to be educated because I wonder why a huge sum of GHc1, 450,000 will be spent on male condoms as if we are sponsoring people’s pleasures…why should such an expenditure be part of your budget?”

It turned out that the amount was funded by donor partners but some Ghanaians including the MP for the Abuakwa South constituency, Atta Kyea described the expenditure as “irresponsible.”

But speaking on Eyewitness News, Ibrahim Dey Abukabakar reiterated that the condoms were funded by donor partners and not by the Ghanaian tax payer, adding that government only requested for the package.

“We didn’t buy the condoms, it was provided by donor partners, all that we needed to do was to request for it. In the first place, government didn’t spend a penny on the condoms…so I don’t know the reason why we shouldn’t accept it.”

“If you say that it was not used judiciously, or the mode of supplying the condoms was not good that one we can take it; but if you say that they were not necessary and productive, I beg to differ,” he argued.

Ibrahim Abubakar insisted that the move was good because it safeguarded the tax payers’ wallet because the amount of money that would have been spent on importing more anti-retroviral drugs to treat AIDS patients, was used in developing other sectors of the economy.

Deputy Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, John Alexander Ackon, announced last year that Ghana’s HIV/AIDS prevalence rate continues to decline and currently stands at 1.37 percent, while the number of women living with HIV/AIDS is 57 percent compared to 43 percent for men.

According to him, the rate of maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in Ghana, has also steadily reduced since 2000 to just over half the number; from 740 deaths per 100,000 live births to 350 in 2014.

Source: citifmonline.com

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button
Close