Ho, Dec. 07, GNA - Mr. Sallas Mensah, Executive Secretary of the Revenue Agencies Governing Board at the weekend said Ghana's commitment to tackling HIV/AIDS had paid off as there was a decline in the national prevalence rate from 5.2 per cent percent in 2000 to 1.9 per cent in 2008. "This remarkable achievement is an indication that with our collective efforts the war against the disease can easily be won," he said. Mr Mensah expressed said this m at the Revenue Agencies World AIDS Day Celebration in Ho under the theme; "Revenue Maximization in HIV/TB Free Environment".

He said the revenue collection agencies in partnership with the German Development Co-operation (GTZ) and GCNet had introduced and implemented HIV and Tuberculosis Workplace Project as a preventive measure. Mr. Mensah said the Workplace Project would from next year be turned into an Employee Wellness Programme to ensure that employees, their core families as well as immediate communities had improved access to health, social protection and financial counseling services.

He said through the partnership 5,012 out of a staff of 7,500 from the revenue collection agencies have been tested and received their HIV results. 1,000 of their spouses and children were also tested with their HIV status made known to them.

Mr Mensah said resources which could have been used on productive sectors of the economy were being channeled to take care of persons infected and affected by the virus. Mr Joseph Z. Amenorwode, Volta Regional Minister said the Ghana Health Service had established 117 HIV/AIDS treatment centres and 524 prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV spots in all the 10 regions to make access to diagnosis and treatment easier. He said the government could not commit much of the limited resources to tackling HIV and therefore needed total commitment of resources by other stakeholders to be able to hold the disease in check. Mr Amenorwode appealed to those with the disease to take their medications religiously.

As part of the celebration, the staff of the three revenue collection institutions; Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Customs Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) and the Value Added Tax (VAT), undertook a health walk through some of the principal streets of Ho to re-emphasise the need for public commitment to fighting the disease. awareness. 07 Dec. 09