Ghana AIDS Treatment Access Group (GATAG)

In partnership with other civil society organisations, GATAG is seeking to tackle HIV/AIDS, firstly by containing the spread of the virus through education and awareness creation, and secondly by being in contact with members of society who have already contracted the virus, caring for them, and helping them to seek treatment.

The coalition seeks to reach its objectives through the following activities:

• supporting each other socially and psychologically (through support group meetings);
• advocating for the human rights of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs);
• advocating for access and availability of antiretroviral treatment and diagnostics;
• discouraging stigmatisation and isolation of PLWHAs;
• curbing the spread of HIV infection by offering education on preventive behaviour and instilling a sense of responsibility to avoid infection and re-infection;
• working with civil society support organisations in the fight against HIV/AIDS and stigmatisation; and
• developing contacts and sharing experiences with national and international AIDS organisations through networking.

HIV/AIDS

According to GATAG, in 2006, more than 2 million people died of HIV/AIDS in Africa and without treatment; millions of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs) in Africa will continue to die predictable and avoidable deaths over the next decade.

GATAG points out that the AIDS epidemic has exposed many of the problems facing Africa, including poverty, socio-economic and gender inequality, inadequate health-care infrastructures, and poor governance. The organisation insists that access to anti-retroviral (ARV) therapy is not only an ethical imperative, but will also strengthen prevention efforts, increase uptake of voluntary counselling and testing, reduce the incidence of opportunistic infections, and reduce the burden of HIV/AIDS, including the number of orphans on families, communities, and economies.