Apam Catholic Hospital HIV/AIDS Control and Support Team was founded to contribute to a process of restoring hope and improving the quality of life of persons and communities affected by HIV/AIDS infection and other STIs. The team also believes in the sanctity of life and the dignity of the human person thus it seeks to promote the physical, spiritual and social welfare of the HIV/AIDS orphans and their families.

At present the team provides food, drugs and support to People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). Through the support of the hospital, the Chaplain provides a counselling service to PLWHA and offers pre and post test counseling to any patients who are undergoing a HIV/AIDS test or who suspect they may have contracted the virus.  The team also visits the clients twice a month but re-visits those who are weak and those whose condition has changed, upon notification from relatives. The team also nurses some of the weaker ones at the hospital. The clients visit the hospital once a month for their club meeting in the clinic.

 
The numbers of expected beneficiaries are:

1.Forty eight HIV/AIDS clients both in the community and in the Hospital.

2. Fifty orphans and other vulnerable children in the community.

The team’s objectives are:

1. To offer counseling to people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA’s) and their families.
2. To complement the available medical service for those infected.
3. To build and support community based efforts to respond to the AIDS epidemic.
4. To minimize the social ills and stigmatization associated with HIV infection.
5. To promote positive attitudes towards PLWHA’s and the affected families.

The provision of all food, drugs and support activities depend solely on donations. The provision of this service would therefore not be possible without benefactors, which the team is in a constant struggle to attract and maintain, to fund this essential service to the community.

In the previous quarter, April – June 2005, there had been a scarcity of funds for the purchase of some food items and provisions for the PLWHA as we had been purchasing previously. There were also no incentives for the team members, therefore, some of the members have withdrawn from the care and support activities. Assistance received was not enough, making the team unable to fulfill its programmes. There are limited funds to help the orphans and the needy of the PLWHA.

For this reason the Team is appealing to you to come to our aid in order to help our unfortunate brothers and sisters and family members especially the orphans affected and those infected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the Gomoa District of the Central Region of the Republic of Ghana.

2005 PROJECTED BUDGET

All budgetary figures are in euros (€)