Accra, Jan. 22, GNA- Mrs Gladys Asmah, Minister of Women and Children's' Affairs on Thursday called for the stepping up of activities to mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS on Children.

She said apart from the hardships that children orphaned by AIDS go through many have been forced to shoulder the responsibilities of their parents by becoming the breadwinners of the family.

"Many children have been forced to leave their childhood behind to assume the duty as heads of the household because their parents are so sick that they cannot care for their needs".

This was contained in a speech read for her at the launch of Ghana's programme on Hope for African Children Initiative in Accra.

The Initiative, was established in June 2000 to address the enormous challenges facing millions of children who have been orphaned by AIDS as well as infected by the disease in the Sub-Region.

It is supported by Care, Plan International, Save the Children Society of Women against AIDS in Africa, World Conference on Religious for Peace and the World Vision International (WVI).

She said statistics available indicated the over 200,000 children under 15 years of age have been orphaned as a result of AIDS and it was suspected that the figure could even be more since there were many HIV/AIDS cases that had not been reported.

Mrs Asmah noted "these figures may just be the tip of the iceberg just as cases of HIV/AIDS are not reported and our surveillance is still not that sharp".

She said the menace was gradually eroding the economic backbone of the country in terms of human resources since the affected and infected age group fell within 15-45 years, being the nation's reproductive age group.

Mrs Asmah commended HACI for the initiative and urged other non-governmental organisations that were in similar programmes to ensure that they did not slip into complacency but to work with renewed vigour and commitment to serve the aims and purpose of the programmes. Mrs Yaa Peprah Agyeman Amekudzi, Country Director of HACI said the initiative was committed to building awareness of the transmission of HIV, facilitating home-based care for sick parents, improving medical responses and to ensure that schools, vocational and counselling services were accessible to young persons who have found themselves heading households.

She urged Ghanaians to put an end to discrimination and stigmatisation against HIV/AIDS victims.