Wa,- The Ghana AIDS Commission Technical Support Unit (TSU) in the Upper West Region has inaugurated the Municipal and District Committees of the Commission in the 11 Municipal and District Assemblies.
The week-long exercise, which was led by Mr Dramani Yakubu, the Upper West Region Technical Coordinator of the GAC, included orientation sessions for members of the various committees for them to understand their roles.
Mr Yakubu, who was speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Wa, said the successful execution of the exercise was in fulfilment of the provisions in the GAC Act, 2016 (Act 938), which provided for the establishment of nine-member committees across the Districts to be chaired by the Municipal and District Chief Executives (MDCEs).
He said the Regional Committee of the GAC was inaugurated in 2018 with the same number of membership and institutional representation but chaired by the Regional Minister.
He said the aim was to improve the capacities of members of the Municipal and District Committees for them to appreciate their mandate and perform their duties effectively.
“It’s also to strengthen the decentralized response, which is geared towards realizing the country’s agenda of ending AIDS as a public health threat by the year 2030,” the Technical Coordinator noted.
He said both the Regional and District level Committees had institutional representation from the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Ghana Education Service (GES), Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC), and a representative from Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) into HIV and AIDS work.
“The rest are Network of Persons Living with HIV (NAP ), Regional House of Chiefs and a representative each from Moslem and Christian sections of the public,” Mr Yakubu said.
He noted that the committee members were taken through their roles and mandate and the guidelines for utilising the HIV component of the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF).
The others are the key structures through which the GAC lead and coordinate the national response to the HIV and AIDS pandemic and the national HIV and AIDs situation as provided for in the national estimates and projections.
Source: Ghana News Agency