Sensitizing hospital staff results in more clients seeking voluntary testing for HIV/AIDS

Remarkable changes are happening in the care and treatment of people living with HIV (PLHIV) at Juaboso Government Hospital in Ghana’s Western Region.  USAID has implemented an onsite HIV/AIDS stigma and discrimination project, which has vastly improved the attitudes and behaviors of healthcare staff.

Staff, ranging from physicians to intake staff, participated in a workshop that challenged their beliefs about people living with HIV/AIDS.  The workshop was particularly timely given widespread and growing discrimination in Ghana even among health workers.  The continuum of care is particularly important surrounding referrals.  Data, taken before and after training, shows a significant improvement in the uptake of Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) services, which has increased significantly. In the four month period after the training, use of the VCT center increased by 80% to 115 persons.