AIDS programmes must target rural areas

Ho, Dec. 24, GNA- Miss Peace Bansah, Co-ordinator of Helping Hands Foundation (HHF), a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), on Tuesday said much ground needed to be covered in AIDS education programmes in rural areas where about 75 per cent of the population are inadequately informed about the disease.

Miss Bansah was speaking at the end of a three-day training workshop organised by the Foundation for 73 barbers and hairdressers from seven communities in the Ho District on the theme "Aids is everywhere including the saloon".

She attributed the slow pace of AIDS education in the rural areas to lack of incentives to boost the morale of peer educators.

Miss Bansah, therefore, called on the Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC) to provide incentives to motivate peer educators to enhance their efficiency and help bridge the knowledge and information gap between the urban and rural areas about the disease.

Mr Cephas Ofori, Ho District HIV Focal Person urged the participants to share the information they have acquired with their colleagues and clients.

He also advised them to use gloves and correct chemicals to ensure their own safety and that of their clients.