Concord Times (Freetown)
Mohamed Massaquoi
28 November 2008
Acting minister of information and communication Thursday questioned the credibility of some medical doctors conducting HIV tests across the country.
Mohamed Koroma made this statement during the weekly press briefing at the ministry information conference hall in Freetown.
He said one of the reasons responsible for the low turnout for voluntary and confidential HIV testing in the country was because some medical officers hardly come out with credible results after the exercise.
"I have never been tested for HIV because I did not trust some of these doctors. Recently I went for a diabetes test; the four doctors that tested me did not come out with any clear result. I am happy that the director of the national AIDS secretariat (NAS) has said that the pandemic was drastically reducing in the country," he said.
Koroma said HIV messages are sometimes scaring especially when they are not handled by professionals.
He called on the public to take the issue of HIV seriously.
Director of NAS Dr. Brima Kargbo said his institution has embarked on a series of sensitization programmes across the country in a bid to spread HIV/AIDS messages.
He said government was treating the issue of the disease seriously.
"We have made a remarkable impact and the pandemic is on the verge of stabilizing because the rate of sensitization is on the increase," he said.
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