Parents urged to discuss AIDS with their children

Koforidua, July 3, GNA - The Deputy Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Gustuv Narh Dometey, has said differences between some husbands and wives and the inter-generational gap between parents and children made communication non-existent in the home. He appealed to parents to understand the factors that created communication barriers to enable them to educate their children on reproductive health and to enhance their proper growth and development into responsible adulthood. "It is imperative to create a very conducive atmosphere at home where parents and children will share their views and sentiments on sex related issues freely.''

The Deputy Minister was speaking at the opening of a four-day training of trainers' workshop on HIV/AIDS for some district assembly members from the Eastern Region. The Families Together Ghana (FTG), a non-governmental organisation, organised the workshop to impart information and communication skills to parents on the disease.

Mr Dometey appealed to the participants to build the capacity of parents and children in their districts to enable them to break the cultural barriers to sex related issues. This, he said, would "help children build their self-confidence and the capacity to withstand negative peer pressures and inimical social influences." The National Chairman for FTG, Mr Ernest Appenteng stressed the need for parents to sensitise their children on the dangers of the disease.