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The World Bank has commended the Northern Regional office of the Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC) and its social partners for the successful implementation of the Multi-Sectoral HIV/AIDS Programme (MSHAP) in the region. The MSHAP is a five-year funded World Bank programme aimed at bringing social partners to collaborate in the fight against the HIV and AIDS through building their capacities and adopting other interventions that can help reduce HIV and AIDS in the country. Through measures adopted by the Regional AIDS Commission, CSOs and NGOs in the Northern region, the region had over the years witnessed a consistent reduction of HIV and AIDS and now has a prevalent rate of 0.7 percent, the lowest in the country. The national HIV and AIDS rate 02% with the Eastern Region recording 3.2 percent, the highest in the country. These came to light when officials of the World Bank and the GAC visited the region on Tuesday. The visit was to evaluate the progress of the MSHAP after five years of its implementation. The visit is to also enable the team find out the experiences of the CSOs working on HIV and AIDS and how they have been using the funds provided by the World Bank and to draw up a new strategy for 2011-2015 after the closure of MSHAP one. Mr Edward Bos, a lead population specialist of the World Bank, urged CSOs not to rely solely on foreign funding to carry out their activities in the fight against the HIV and AIDS.