Sunyani (B/A) July 15. GNA - Mr Yaw Adjei-Duffour, Deputy Brong-Ahafo Regional Minister on Tuesday noted that the HIV/AIDS pandemic would threaten the viability of the National Health Insurance Programme if nothing serious were done to check its current spread. Speaking at the launch of an HIV/AIDS Project of the Mid-West Ghana Conference of the Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA) Church in Sunyani, the Deputy Regional Minister referred to a statement from Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital that it cost about 45 million cedis to sustain an infected HIV/AIDS patient to live for about a year more.

He noted that cumulative AIDS cases recorded between January and March in Brong-Ahafo stood at 7,581 and cautioned people to do their best to avoid casual sex and any other practices that could make them to contract the disease.

Mr Adjei-Duffour expressed satisfaction that the Mid-West Ghana Conference of the SDA had joined the fight against the pandemic, saying "the church is a very good place where souls can be won and changed so the launch of this HIV/AIDS outreach programme is a step in the right direction".

He said the Government in efforts to ensure that the pandemic did not spread wider to affect the national economy had contracted a loan of 25 million dollars to assist in its prevention and reduction. The Deputy Regional Minister said the Government was sponsoring community-based organizations and non-governmental organizations through the Ghana AIDS Commission to join in the educational campaign and urged people in the Region to co-operate and embrace the educational programmes.

Pastor James Kwaku Badu, President of the Mid-West Ghana Conference of SDA, announced that the church had received 200 million cedis from the Ghana AIDS Commission for the programme.

He said the Conference had initially trained 24 peer educators from six out of the 23 districts under its administration for the exercise and expressed optimism that the team would perform to expectation. The Conference comprises SDA churches in Brong-Ahafo and some parts of the Western Region and the six districts for the HIV/AIDS education are Asutifi, Sunyani, Tano, Wenchi, Jaman and Kintampo.

Pastor Badu said the church was already engaged in HIV/AIDS educational campaign through a five million cedis offer from the Adventist Development Relief Agency (ADRA), a wing of the SDA church, which is also organizing HIV/AIDS education among church members.