Mr Paul Evans Aidoo, Western Regional Minister, on Thursday suggested the need for Ghana to put in more efforts to attain Millennium Development Goal of halting and reversing the spread of HIV by 2015.

He therefore called for collaborative efforts to facilitate the substantial reduction of the pandemic.

Mr Aidoo made the suggestion in a speech read on his behalf in Sekondi at the opening of a two-day training programme on HIV stigma and discrimination for journalists in the region at Sekondi.

The Regional Coordinating Council is organising the programme in collaboration with the Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC) and the United States Agency for International Development.

Mr Aidoo said the information gap on HIV and AIDS is still wide, explaining that more than 60 per cent of young women have never heard of the virus or have one major misconception of how the disease spreads.

He said the media have enormous influence in educating and empowering individuals to avoid contracting HIV.

Dr Richard Amenyah, Director of Technical Services of GAC, said this year’s HIV Sentinel Surveillance Report would be launched in Accra next week.

He said the Global Fund has run out of financial resources for new proposals on HIV and AIDS.

He said, the GAC is working to set up an AIDS Fund due to the reduction of external sources.

He said condom use among sex workers in the country is about 90 per cent.

Dr Amenyah said voluntary counseling and testing is low in the country, saying it is four per cent among men and eight per cent women.

Dr Roland Sowa, Regional HIV and AIDS Coordinator, said the prevalence rate of Hepatitis B is higher than that of HIV and AIDS.

He said pregnant women are being tested for the disease to check mother to child transmission.

Dr. Sowa said the region has second highest syphilis prevalence rate after the Central Region.**