Nation sitting on an AIDS time bomb

The National AIDS Control Programme (NACP) in Accra says it expects that by 2014 AIDS will account for 35 percent of all deaths, PANA reported on Monday. The report, released at the weekend ahead of a national crusade to be launched on Thursday, said: "The epidemic is so pervasive and so devastating that it requires a multisectoral response from all segments of the Ghanaian society." In 1994 AIDS accounted for an estimated 3.5 percent of all deaths, the report said. The report, which looked at the annual AIDS expenditure and its effects on the economy, estimated that the annual cost to manage infections such as tuberculosis in an AIDS patient was between 190,000 cedis and 545,000 cedis (between US $54 and US $154). The number of new cases of HIV continues to rise significantly. Currently over 200 people get infected each day, though many do not know that they are carrying the disease, the report said. It added that from 1994 to 2004 there would be a 500 percent increase in the number of new HIV cases if nothing is done about the situation. HIV/AIDS affects the development of all sectors including health, education, the labour force, economy, transport and agriculture. The report said with estimated HIV prevalence of between 4 percent and 5 percent nationwide, Ghana was "sitting on a time bomb".