International football stars, Michael Essien of Chelsea FC and Black Stars skipper John Mensah of Rennes, France, will this afternoon visit and interact with children diagnosed of HIV in Accra.
Essien and Mensah will be visiting the children under the auspices of the Woyome Foundation for Africa (WOFA), an HIV/AIDS Charity Organisation which has been supporting the cause of HIV infected persons in Ghana and Africa.
A statement issued by the Foundation explained that Michael Essien and John Mensah are ambassadors of the Foundation working to support the One-for-One campaign which aims at assisting with the provision of antiretroviral drugs, boosters, nutritional support and care to especially infected children.
The two football stars who late last year supported an art exhibition to raise funds for the campaign will be visiting one of the beneficiary centres, the Ridge Hospital to interact with the children and the nurses.
A statement by the Woyome Foundation said it has released funds for the supply of antiretroviral drugs to over one hundred and eighty HIV infected children over one year. “The campaign has brought hope to hundreds of infected children who can now walk into any of the beneficiary treatment centres and receive their supply of drugs and boosters.”
According to WOFA, this has been possible through the support of Ambassadors Michael Essien, John Mensah, the staff of Shell Ghana and many other supportive institutions.
“If we are going to adequately respond to the HIV and AIDS crisis, it is critical that we focus greater attention on the children who are being left behind by the pandemic” the statement explained.
Gloomy statistics
According to the National AIDS Control Programme, 2,333 children under-15 died of AIDS-related diseases in 2007. Also in 2007, over 5,000 children were estimated to be in need of antiretroviral therapy but only 597 received treatment. Currently, there are over 17,000 children estimated to be living with HIV.
The WOFA one-for-one campaign which is ensuring the supply of antiretroviral drugs is thus a timely occurrence, and this afternoon, Michael Essien and John Mensah will visit the Ridge Hospital to find out how the children are doing.
Treatment centres that have so far benefited from the one-for-one campaign include the Ridge Hospital, Ketu District Hospital, Ada Government Hospital, Cape Coast Hospital and the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.
