Kumasi, Feb. 12, GNA- Available statistics show high prevalence of mother-to-child transmission of the HIV/AIDS in the Ashanti region. The region has a prevalence rate of 4.2 percent as against the national rate of 3.4 percent.

Mr Micheal Boamey, Regional HIV/AIDS and other Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) Co-ordinator, said to help reduce the incidence of children getting infected by their mothers, six health institutions had been designated to give drugs to expectant mothers who test positive to the disease.

These are the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), Kumasi South Hospital, Suntreso Hospital, Saint Patrick's Hospital at Offinso, Obuasi Government Hospital and the Obuasi AGC Hospital.

Mr Boamey was addressing a day's stakeholders meeting on a new HIV/AIDS Project for Ashanti and the Western regions under a programme christened: "Wash Project" in Kumasi on Wednesday.

In attendance were participants from Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), Christian and Muslim groups, the National Youth Council (NYC), Ghana Health Service (GHS) and the Ghana Education Service (GES). Funded by the United States Department for Agriculture, the Project is being implemented by Care International, an NGO, together with 10 selected partner organisations in the two regions for a three-year period.

Mr Boamey said as part of an aggressive push to control the spread of the disease in the region, all the 18 districts have been supplied with the relevant equipment to start voluntary counselling and testing. He announced that provisional figures reveal a decline in the number of newly reported cases of the disease in the region last year. The figures, which are yet to be validated, show that there were a total of 2,816 new cases in 2003 as against 3,261 in 2002.

Mr Boamey was, however, quick to point out that the figure did not necessarily mean that the infection rate was going down as other indicators like blood donations saw an upsurge in the rate of infection. He said 2.5 percent of blood donation in the region was found to contain the virus in the year 2000. This dropped to 1.4 percent in 2001, went up to 2.5 percent the following year and again rose to 3.6 percent in 2003.

Mr Boamey told NGOs engaged in the fight against the spread of the disease to ensure that they incorporate home-based care into their activities.

He said there was the need to focus more on care and support for people living with the HIV/AIDS if the country was to succeed in keeping down the rate of the spread.

Miss Joyce Sepenoo, the Wash Project Manager, said their aim was to promote behavioural change towards abstinence, condom use and reduction of sexual partners.

They have as their target, long distance commercial drivers, miners, commercial sex workers and the youth.