A Programme Officer in the Clinical Care Unit of National AIDS Control Programme, Dr Raphael Adu-Gyamfi, has said there is a rise of HIV in the Western Region due to the Oil & Gas discovery.

The region, he said, is leading the whole country with a 3.1 per cent prevalence rate, followed by the Greater Accra Region.

Speaking on Accra FM, Dr Adu-Gyamfi explained that the buoyant commercial nature of these two regions attracts a potpourri of people from different backgrounds and spheres.

As more people, some of whom are careers of the disease troop to these areas, they spread it among the indigenes of these two regions.

He further stated that apart from the Eastern and Northern regions that have low rates, the remaining ones have high rates.

“Among the regions, the Western Region is leading with 3.1 per cent, followed by the Greater Accra region. HIV moves with commerce or business and, so, as businesses grow in these regions, careers are more likely to send the disease to those areas.”

“We need to scale up education on this matter,” he added.

He further revealed that 334,000 people are living with HIV in Ghana while there were 19,931 new infections recorded last year. Also, 14,181 HIV/AIDS-related deaths were recorded within that period.