Since HIV showed its face in the sub Saharan African some two decades ago, it has continued to pose a challenge to human and financial resource with disastrous results. Currently sub Saharan Africa shoulders 70% of the world’s HIV and AIDS burden. West Africa and for that matter Ghana has also been hit by the pandemic.

With a national prevalence rate of 2.0%, Ghana stands as the lowest in West Africa. But the fact still remains that there are hot spots in the country with prevalence above the national figure and this leaves no room for complacency. The fact is that HIV continues to be a developmental issue and socio cultural behavioural lifestyle problem, cutting across many of the Millennium Development Goals.

The fact that HIV and AIDS is captured in goal six shows the critical nature of the situation. Women, girls and boys have always remained a vulnerable group to HIV, as they are either infected or affected. The burden of caring for an infected member of the family always remains a responsibility of women who are already over burdened. The situation definitely calls for a fresh resolve by all to address the challenge of HIV and AIDS directly.

HIV and AIDS is one disease that plagues the world and attracts so much stigmatization and discrimination against those who are infected. It presents to all of us serious moral, legal and ethical challenges that need to be addressed. HIV positive people are being ejected from their homes, most of them have lost their jobs, women are being divorced for being infected, women who are positive cannot trade because of discrimination, a number of them have been abandoned by their families and in some cases funerals of victims are boycotted. Even some health professionals avoid giving them care in the health institutions.

Such negative attitudes towards people living with HIV and AIDS generate sorrow and frustration and make them marginalized in society. Who is listening to the cry of HIV and AIDS patients?

The Love Life Caravan intends to listen to this cry by contributing to the reduction of the vulnerability to STI/HIV and AIDS of communities living along the Abidjan-Lagos transport corridor and to help change the bahaviour of people infected and affected by HIV and AIDS along the corridor.

Let us show leadership by working closely with each other and involve people living with HIV and AIDS in our decisions and activities. Let us also emphasis prevention especially among young people and women as the best weapon in the absence of a cure and vaccine.

We need to go beyond the ABC approach and pay attention to family and moral values so that we are able to encourage a community leadership response. It is time to make the difference.