Kumasi, March 2, GNA - The Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC) has asked married couples to have the courage to tell their partners and families about their HIV/AIDS status.

Dr Angela El-Adas, acting Director-General of the Commission, said "partner disclosure of one's HIV status" remained a critical barrier to bringing down the prevalence rate of the deadly disease in the country. "As we get to know our status and disclose to our partners and close associates, then we are more likely to take the necessary actions to prevent new infections as well as cross infections", she said. This was contained in a speech read for her at the conference of the National Association of Persons Living with HIV/AIDS at the Lasab Hotel in Kumasi.

The acting Director-General described as unacceptable the situation where about 90 per cent of the Ghanaian population did not know of their status.

She encouraged the Association to lead the national campaign to get people to go in for Voluntary Testing and Counseling saying, this would enable them to lead careful lives.

Dr El-Adas conceded that the national effort at ensuring that those living with the disease had access to treatment, care and support was fraught with challenges citing inadequate treatment centres. She said there was the need to create more treatment centres to make it easier for patients to receive the needed medical care. 2 March 10