Queen mothers in the country have been asked to encourage pregnant women to go for voluntary testing and counseling for HIV/AIDS.

Ms Joyce Dzidor Mensah, a woman Living with HIV (PLHIV), who made the call, explained that hospitals could give anti-retroviral therapy and advice to pregnant women who would test positive to HIV/AIDS, to prevent the transmission of the virus to their babies.

Ms Dzidor Mensah, an HIV Ambassador, who has a child, was speaking at a meeting of the Technical Support Unit of the Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC), and the Eastern Region Queens Association, in Koforidua on Thursday.

The meeting was to solicit the support of traditional authorities in HIV prevention campaign.

Ms Gifty Torkornu, a PLHIV and an HIV Ambassador of the GAC, appealed to Queen mothers to encourage parents to take good care of their children to prevent them from contacting HIV/AIDS.

The Technical Director of the GAC, Dr Richard Amenya, appealed to the Queen mothers to support the campaign against the spread of HIV.

He expressed worry that because of stigmatization and discrimination, many people were not undertaking voluntary testing and counseling to know their status and seek early treatment.

Ms Golda Grace Asante, Technical Coordinator for GAC in-charge of the Eastern Region, appealed to the people to take advantage of Anti-retroviral Therapy Centers and the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission centres to prevent the spread of the disease.

President of the Eastern Regional Queens Association, Nana Dokua of the Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Area, appealed to members of the group to share the knowledge they had acquired with members of their communities.

She called on all women to join the campaign against the spread of the disease.**