AIDS on the increase in Eastern Region

Koforidua (Eatern Region), 22nd June 99 ?

The Eastern Region recorded 93 new AIDS cases between January and March this year, out of which 32 were recorded in the New Juaben Municipality.

Dr. Sampson B. Ofori, Eastern regional co-ordinator of HIV/AIDS said this at a one-day seminar and quiz competition organised for students from selected second cycle schools in the Municipality on Sunday.

The programme, organised by the Eastern Regional Secretariat of the Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG), was sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

It was under the theme, "Preventing HIV/AIDS, the role of the youth''.

The programme was aimed at sensitising the participants on their reproductive health and passing such knowledge on to their peers to help reduce the spread of the deadly disease.

The regional co-ordinator said the problem confronting the world at the moment is not where the HIV virus or the AIDS disease originated from, but how to reduce it from affecting more people since now no cure has been found.

Mr. Emmanuel Nuworzah, project officer of PPAG said the essence of providing the students with the information on their reproductive health was to empower them to protect them against contracting sexually transmitted diseases.

He said the reproductive health of the youth forms part of their right to health-care and urged them to seek medical attention any time they have reproductive health problems.

Mr Nuworsah explained that under the laws of the country, no worker in any hospital in the country can deny any youth medical service simply because he or she has not attained a particular age.

New Juaben secondary commercial school won the quiz competition organised as part of the seminar with 43 points. Moses school of Accountancy came second with 40 points, while Oyoko Methodist senior secondary school placed third with 24 points.

In all six second, cycle schools took part in the seminar and the quiz competition.