The Ghana AIDS Commission, in collaboration with Danish International Development Assistance (DANIDA) has released a total of GH¢14,000 to 13 groups of People Living with HIV/AIDS in the Upper West Region.

The money will be used to pay health insurance premiums for at least 500 individuals living with HIV/AIDS in the region for the next two years.

Alhaji Zaid Tamimu, Regional Focal Person on HIV/AIDS, announced this at a two-day HIV/AIDS workshop organized for chiefs and registrars in the Upper West Region by the Department of Women with sponsorship from the Ghana AIDS commission.

Alhaji Tamimu said the money would aid people living with HIV/AIDS to access free medical service in the region.

He appealed to chiefs to encourage the formation of youth clubs that would intensify educational programmes to stem the spread of the disease in their communities.

Mr. Mahmud Khalid, Upper West Regional Minister, appealed for the empowerment of aid agencies to enable them to cater for orphans whose parents died of HIV/AIDS.

He also appealed to the people to desist from widowhood inheritance which was believed to have spread the disease in most communities of the region.

Mrs Kate Bob-Milliar, Regional Director of the Department of Women, said the use of chiefs to educate people against the disease was making an impact on the youth.

“It is not good news to hear that the Upper West Region has a prevalence rate of 3.3 percent far above the national rate of 1.6 percent and the earlier we stepped up our educational programmes, the better for all of us,” she added.

Source: GNA