The United Party Deputy General Secretary, Nana Yaw Sarpong, has backed a call by the First Deputy Minority Chief Whip and Member of Parliament for Tolon, Habib Iddrisu, for mandatory HIV/AIDS testing as part of recruitment and health screening processes in Ghana.
On December 18, Habib Iddrisu proposed in Parliament that HIV testing should be made compulsory in both public and private institutions.
According to him, such a policy would promote early detection, improve contact tracing, and ensure that persons who test positive receive timely treatment and support.
Speaking on Joy News on December 19, and monitored by NewsDesksGH, Nana Yaw Sarpong said he saw nothing wrong with the proposal, arguing that it could help promote responsible living, especially among young people.
“It would put us on that edge to be cautious in our everyday life. Some of us the young men and women live very careless life,” he said.
According to him, knowing one’s HIV status is beneficial and should not be controversial.
“It is a good call. It is good to know your status.”
He rejected anticipated human rights objections to the proposal, insisting that awareness and preparedness were better than ignorance.
“I don’t see anything wrong with this. The human rights people should not come with this. It’s good for us to know our status and to be able to deal with the situation, than not to know at all.”
Nana Yaw Sarpong further argued that awareness of one’s status could positively influence personal behaviour and reduce the risk of transmission.
“If you know that you’re H.I.V positive, you’ll be more careful how you handle yourself. You’ll be more careful handling your sexual life, you’ll be more careful even when you go to the salon.”
