Accra, Nov 18, GNA - Vice President John Dramani Mahama on Thursday called for closer collaboration between the Ghana AIDS Commission and development partners to eliminate duplication and replication of their activities.

"If you collaborate and coordinate your activities very well, you will end up working effectively in partnership, rather than the current situation where there are duplications laced with mistrust on the ground." Vice President Mahama made the call when he chaired the Commission's National Strategic Planning business meeting with donor partners to streamline areas of support and how their activities could further reduce the incidence of HIV/AIDS disease in the country. He gave the assurance that government was committed to pushing adequate funds into the HIV/AIDS programme and called on Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives and Regional Ministers to prioritize HIVAIDS in their educational programmes.

Vice President Mahama also called on the Commission to decentralize its activities to the regions to facilitate the spread of their educational programmes and create a positive impact throughout its campaign jurisdiction. "Our economy is re-basing and I will like to call on the Ghana AIDS Commission to make judicious use of the available resources, while government continues to look for appropriate measures to redeem your challenges."

The Vice President who is also the chairperson of the Commission called for greater accountability that would encourage donors to continue to support their programmes in subsequent years. Mr. Leopold Zekeng, an official of the United Nations AIDS programme, pledged the support of the donors to continue to work closely with the commission to ensure a total reduction in the pandemic in the country by 2015.

He, however, called for closer consultations among all the donors to streamline the annual duplications in their programmes. "We are always ready to collaborate as it will help us to account properly to our mother organizations and demonstrate our level of cooperation with others.

Dr. Angela El-Adas, Director General of the Ghana AIDS Commission, commended the donors for their continuous support and promised to strengthen the synergies that existed among them to achieve better results in the coming years. 18 Nov.10