The low condom use among the youth, especially adolescent girls and young women, is posing a serious challenge to efforts to reduce HIV infections in the Volta Region, the Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC) has said.

There are currently 19,078 people living with HIV (PLHIV) in the Volta Region, representing 5.7 per cent of the total national population of PLHIV of 334,721.

They include 4,999 males above the age of 15 and 12,881 females above 15, in addition to 1,198 children.

The Volta Regional Technical Coordinator of GAC, Mary Naa Asheley Anyomi, disclosed this last Monday during the inauguration of the reconstituted Regional Committee of the Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC) in Ho.

She said the general population prevalence rate in the region stood at 2.1 per cent, while the rate was 4.3 per cent among female sex workers (FSW) and 28.1 per cent among men who have sex with men (MSM).

Mrs Anyomi said there were now 809 fresh cases of HIV in the region, including 221 males above 15 years and 519 females above 15, in addition to 69 children.

She said the anti-retroviral coverage in all 18 districts ranged between 38.4 per cent and 61.5 per cent.

Source: Graphic Online