A five-day workshop on HIV/AIDS reporting opened in Accra yesterday.The workshop which is non-residential is being organized for 30 journalists selected from the public and private media.

It is being sponsored by the Public Affairs Section of the United States Embassy and was held at the Africa Institute of Journalism and Communication (AIJC). This is to equip media personnel with the knowledge, tools and skills that will enable them to report effectively on HIV/AIDS epidemic.

In a keynote address, Professor Sakyi A. Amoah, Director General of the Ghana AIDS Commission, said, the HIV/AIDS epidemic, which started 20 years ago, has shown much resilience in its devastation of mankind, especially developing countries, particularly in Africa.

He revealed that about 29.4 million people infected with the disease live in the sub-region (UNAIDS, 2002). Approximately 3.5 million are infected daily, with ten million aged between 15&24 and almost 3 million Children and Adults 15 million are currently living with the disease.

In a welcome remarks, Mr. Kojo Yankah, President of AIJC said HIV/AIDS has become a national concern, which if not checked will subvert all national efforts at economic development.

The estimation is for media to focus more on issues that affect economic development and HIV/AIDS should certainly be considered one of the priority issues.

The Deputy Chief of Mission of the U.S. Embassy, Mr. Gary Pergh said it is difficult to think about and discuss HIV/AIDS, since people want to push HIV/AIDS away and out of their minds, when they hear the alarming statistics.

He told journalists to help the public face the disease by educating people on the transmission, prevention, treatment, by portraying people living with the disease.