Esther, a 57 year old resident of
Agbogbloshie, has attended the screening for four consecutive years. She notes that being cash strapped, the
screening is her only way of knowing and tracking the state of her health. Filled with gratitude, Esther invokes divine
blessings upon ABL
‘Whenever I hear that ABL is
organising this programme, I brave the
odds to participate as my absence and its resulting consequences on my health
is not an option I want to toy with,’ Esther says.
Esther is not the only one; other
beneficiaries share similar sentiments towards ABL and its annual health
outreach at Agbogbloshie on World AIDS Day.
Thirty-nine year old Timothy,
also a resident of Agbogbloshie, says ‘ABL’s programme helps us. It helps us know the state of our
health. When I heard they were coming, I
gave up on going to work. I thank ABL
for this event, and pray they continue supporting the community’.
Perhaps most profound was
Victoria’s story. Victoria, a trader,
resides at Accra New Town, but found her way to the programme when she heard
about it. She says, ‘the programme helps
us a lot because we are unable to find time for ourselves and our health
because of our work. However, programmes
like this motivate us. Some people have
not stepped inside a hospital for years so this (the programme) can help them
improve their lives’.
ABL’s Strive for a Healthier
World: Through the Looking Glass
World AIDS Day, first
commemorated in 1988, is intended to unite different backgrounds in the fight
against HIV and AIDS.
Overtime, December 1, the United
Nations’ designated date for observing ‘World AIDS Day’, has handed stakeholders
an opportunity to reflect on the strides, strains and patterns in HIV and AIDS
education and prevention.
ABL joined the fight against
HIV/AIDS in 2007. But in the course of a
decade, the Day has become much more than a fight against HIV and AIDS. Although we have consistently demonstrated an
unwavering commitment to the fight, we have expanded the concept to encompass
attention to the most pressing health need of the residents in our target
communities at the time.
Beside, the annual ritual of
using World AIDS Day to screen and educate people about the virus, our
people-centred approach to dealing with the health needs of our stakeholders
has become a staple in the communities we reach, and indispensable to the
people who benefit from it.
This is our legacy; one rooted in
our Dream of bringing people together for a better world and evidenced by our
investment in creating a Healthier World.
To achieve this, we assess and fashion out health outreach programmes
around the prevailing health risk of the time.
For instance, at the peak of the dreadful Ebola outbreak in the
sub-region in 2014, we used the occasion of World AIDS Day to educate patrons
on the virus. Consistent with this
responsive approach, and in marking the 2015 World AIDS Day event, we screened
participants for Malaria and Hepatitis B, diseases which had become topical and
pressing at the time.
This responsive approach to
dealing with our stakeholders’ health needs has also found expression in our
annual health screening exercise in Adabraka, organised in collaboration with
the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL), and our Alcohol and Pregnancy
programmes, run in partnership with major hospitals across the country to fight
Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, health defects that adversely impairs the
development of the growing foetus.
Conclusion
Millions die from various
diseases every year. While Hepatitis B claims over hundreds of thousands of
lives annually, HIV/AIDS, diarrhoeal diseases such as Cholera and Ebola, and
Malaria rank consistently as causes of most of this country’s death toll.
For us at ABL, World AIDS Day
reminds us of our onus as a corporate entity whose reason-for-being is
validated by the community it serves, to go beyond the call of duty.
We have sensitised an appreciable
number of people on the phenomenon of HIV/AIDS and in the process, demystified
and razed down the strongholds of stigma that petrify people into learning
their HIV status.
But we have also done more than
is rudimentarily required by offering free health care for the marginalised on
various afflictions, to the point where our health programmes have become
viable alternatives for the hard-up.
We make a real difference in the
communities we serve; this is our legacy!
GNA
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