Accra, Oct. 15, GNA - Dr Sylvia Anie-Akwetey, formerly of the Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC), has been appointed the Director of Social Transformation Programme Division (STPD) of the Commonwealth Secretariat.

An official statement from the Office of the Vice President said her appointment was made by Mr Kamalesh Sharma, Secretary-General of the Commonwealth.

The statement said as the Director of the STPD at the Commonwealth Secretariat, Dr Anie-Kwetey, who is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, UK, and Chartered Scientist with the Royal Society of Chemistry, UK, would be responsible for the Gender, Education and Health across 54 Commonwealth countries.

It added that she would also be responsible for organizing the Commonwealth Ministers of Education, Women's Affairs and Health meetings.

Prior to joining the Commonwealth Secretariat, Dr Anie-Akwetey worked at the GAC, which is under the Office of the President of Ghana from 2001 to 2010.

It said the GAC, as the highest policy making body on HIV and AIDS, "provides leadership in the coordination of programmes and activities of stakeholders in the response against HIV and AIDS through advocacy, joint planning, monitoring and evaluation and resource mobilization". The statement said Dr Anie-Akwetey, who served as the Director of Policy and Planning of the GAC, worked towards formulating comprehensive national policies and strategies and established programme priorities relating to HIV and AIDS and provided High Level Advocacy for the prevention and control of the disease.

She holds the patent for an invention carried out at the Medical School, University of Manchester, on Magnetic Resonance Imaging. The statement described her appointment as an honour to Ghana and expressed government's appreciation to her for her significant contribution to the national response to HIV and AIDS. 15 Oct. 10