Addapath Wellness, anNon-Governmental Organisation (NGO) in Obuasi has provided various food items worth GH¢17,000 for the upkeep of over 80 children living with HIV and AIDS in Obuasi and its environs.
The food items included; bags of rice, milo, cooking oil, canned fish, tin tomatoes, soya beans and eggs.
Speaking at the presentation ceremony, the Executive Director of Addapath Wellness, Mr. Okwan John K. Addae, said some of the parents of the said children have died, leaving them in the care of their grandparents who are unable to adequately provide food for them.
Mr. Addae said children living with HIV and AIDS hardly live beyond five years, for the mere fact that they do not get the right type of food to eat and as a result his organisation has since 2019 given food donation to them, with the help of its partners.
Touching on the mode of distribution of the food to the children, the Executive Director said on each drug refill visit, each child living with HIV and AIDS will be given some quantity of food items at the Anti-Retroviral Treatment (ART) Clinic.
The Obuasi East District Director of Health, Dr. Enyonam Kwawukume, who received the food on behalf of the four health facilities that dispense Anti-Retroviral drugs to the children, encouraged people living with HIV and AIDS to go to any health facility in Obuasi for Antiretroviral drugs.
She also urged pregnant women to attend ante-natal clinics so that those tested HIV positive could be given treatment that will prevent their unborn babies from getting the disease.
The Board Secretary of Addapath Wellness, Mr. Richard Opoku pledged the NGO’s preparedness to go to the aid of the vulnerable in the society and called on corporate bodies and individuals to partner the NGO to meet its objective.
From Frederick Danso Abeam, Obuasi
