Mrs Olivia Opoku Adoma, Western Regional Monitoring and Evaluation on HIV/AIDS, said the misappropriation of funds by some non-governmental and community based organisations (NGO/CBO) was affecting the programme to curb the spread of the virus. She said under the GARFUND activities, many NGOs/CBOs were granted funds for education and sensitisation but many of them failed to adhere strictly to the guidelines. Mrs Adoma said these at a press briefing in Takoradi as part of activities to launch this year's World AIDS Day. It was on the theme "Leadership Reducing Stigma and Discrimination". She said out of the 50 NGOs in the region, 25 benefited from the first phase of the MSHARP programme. Mrs Adoma said the poor reporting by district focal persons to the regional focal person, poor road network and telecommunications hindered the effective monitoring of activities in highly inaccessible areas. She said low capacity of some NGOs and CBOs made it difficult for them to carry out HIV/AIDS education. "Some do not have the personnel with the technical know how to effectively carry out the activities planned for their areas of intervention," Mrs Adoma added. Mrs Adoma advised the NGOs/CBOs to reduce their dependence on the Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC) for financial support and become self-financing and this would make their projects sustainable with or without GAC financial support. Source: GNA