Kumasi, Dec 4, GNA - Mr Samuel Sarpong, the Kumasi Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE), has challenged groups engaged in the campaign to bring down HIV-AIDS infection in the country to show genuine commitment to achieve results.

He said for Ghana to succeed in halving poverty by the year 2015, it was important to substantially reduce the disease's prevalence rate. He was addressing a seminar to draw support from civil society organizations, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies to fight the debilitating disease, in Ashanti. However, there appears to be a decline in the rate of infection in the region.

Available statistics show that out of 25,576 people tested during the first half of last year, 639 proved positive. However, for the same period this year, 523 out of 30,151 people screened were found to have been infected - signalling a downward trend. Ghana HIV-AIDS Network (GHANET), a coalition of NGOs jointly organized the programme with the KMA to build the capacity of about 40 participants, who attended, to sustain the momentum and check the spread. Mr Sarpong said the nation could not afford to allow the disease to take firm roots and ravage its human and financial resources. There is the need for concerted efforts to halt the spread, he said, and pledged that the KMA would support public education programmes designed to change reckless sexual behaviour.

Mr Sampson Obeng, Disease Control Officer, Kumasi Health Directorate, called for the intensification of counselling of those living with the disease and to encourage voluntary testing to enable people to know their status. HIV-AIDS prevention campaigners should also assist the various health facilities to monitor the progress of patients on anti-retroviral drugs to ensure their proper care. Mr George Ankoma Yeboah, Ashanti Regional Chairman of GHANET, said there was the need for effective public-private partnership to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the set timeline. 04 Dec. 09