The Ghana AIDS Commission says it has not received confirmation that any applicant was wrongfully rejected by the security services solely on the basis of their HIV status during the recent recruitment exercise.

The Commission has therefore urged the public to avoid drawing conclusions until investigations into the matter are completed.

According to the Commission, it is currently engaging the security agencies involved to establish whether any applicants were denied employment because they tested positive for HIV.

"As you can see, we have not confirmed from the security agencies that their refusal to employ these people was based solely on their HIV status alone," the Commission stated.

The clarification follows reports suggesting that some applicants may have been disqualified from the recruitment process after undergoing medical examinations.

The Commission said preliminary information available indicates that more than 100,000 applicants went through various medical assessments, during which about 1,300 people tested positive during the initial HIV screening process.

"The initial information we have is that a series of tests were conducted on these recruits, over 100,000, and it was identified that 1,300 were found to be HIV positive," it noted.

However, the Ghana AIDS Commission explained that an initial HIV screening result does not automatically confirm a person's HIV status.

It stressed that both national and international testing procedures require further confirmatory testing before a final diagnosis can be made.

"In our scientific practice, the first test is a screening test. The protocols in Ghana and across many parts of the continent require that a complementary confirmatory test be conducted after the initial screening before a diagnosis can be confirmed," the Commission explained.

The Commission said it will continue its engagement with the relevant security agencies to ascertain the full facts surrounding the recruitment process and ensure that established protocols are followed.