Two hundred and sixty-one persons within the Tema Metropolis tested positive for HIV last year.

The figure represented 2.1 per cent of the total number of 12,146 persons who underwent the voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) during the period.

Mr Harvey Akafu, Information Officer of the Tema Metro Health Directorate who disclosed this to the Ghana News Agency in an interview said out of a total of 13,760 persons who took the HIV test in 2010, 391 of them tested positive for the virus.

He indicated that the metropolis also recorded 39 HIV and AIDS deaths in 2010 with the figure increasing to 43 last year, adding that last year as many as 404 patients were put on anti-retroviral drugs as compared to 488 patients in 2010.

Mr Akafu advised residents in the metropolis to voluntarily undergo the HIV test to enable them know their status.

He also appealed to the public not to stigmatise people living with HIV and AIDS, adding that such people rather needed love and