Monsignor Bobby Benson, Founder and Director of Mathew 25 House, an HIV and AIDS care center, has appealed to the Ministry of health to ensure Persons Living With HIV and AIDS (PLWHAs) get adequate supplies of the ART drugs to enhance their health.
Monsignor Benson, a Catholic priest who supports over hundreds of HIV patients and their children and Orphans and the Vulnerable (OVCs) whose parents had died from the disease said the ART drug was a lifeline for the PLWHAs and everything must be done to address the inadequate ARTs in the system.
Making the appeal at an annual Christmas party organized for clients of the Mathew 25 House and their families in Koforidua, Monsignor Benson noted that lately, when the PLWHAs visited health facilities, some were given two weeks or a month’s supplies instead of the usual three months.
He explained that most of the PLWHAs were faced with financial challenges so when they had to visit the facilities frequently for the drugs it became a challenge for them, leading to default in taking the drugs.
The Mathew 25 house, established 15 years ago by Monsignor Benson, provides shelter, medical care, food, and clothing for People Living with HIV and AIDS and their children and over the years had seen scores of orphans of HIV patients through education to the tertiary levels.