The Ghana AIDS Commission has announced that the risk of contracting HIV is 28 times higher among men who engage in anal sex with other men compared to those who do not.
In addition, he stated that, contrary to popular belief that men force women to engage in anal sex against their will, the practice has become the preferred method of sexual activity for a great number of Ghanaian women.
On Monday’s episode of Adom FM’s Burning Issues in Accra, the Director General, Dr. Kyeremeh Atuahene, discussed HIV/AIDS risk factors and revealed this intriguing trend.
Dr. Kyeremeh said, “Anal sex is not happening only between a man and his fellow man but also between a man and a woman. It has become a new trend or fun among some groups of women. Men who have sex with colleague men, their chance or risk of getting HIV is 28 times higher than those who do not have anal sex,” as quoted by adomonline.com.
He stated that 355,000 people worldwide had been infected with the deadly virus by the end of 2022, but he cautioned that injecting illicit drugs and having anal sex are the two activities that increase the risk of contracting HIV/AIDS.
Dr. Atuahene stated that out of this number, 289,718 were adults over the age of 25, 40,497 were teenagers between the ages of 15, and 24,712 were young children under the age of 14.
He also provided regional breakdowns, saying that 2.2% of infections are located in the Eastern and Bono regions, 2% in Greater Accra, 1.9% in the Western North, 1.9% in the Ashanti region, 1.8% in the Bono East, 1.7% in the Ahafo region, 1.6% in the Western Region, 1.5% in the Volta region, 1.2% in the Upper West region, and 0.45% in the North East region.
In an effort to give a more accurate picture of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, Dr. Atuahene has stated that there is at least one HIV/AIDS patient in every social group, including pastors, preachers, chiefs, educators, journalists, and many more.
