Bush Fires, leading destroyer in Brong Ahafo

BUSH Fires, top the list of types of fire outbreaks that are mostly recorded in the Brong-Ahafo Region.

The Brong-Ahafo Regional Fire Department says that between January and April this year, the Brong Ahafo Region recorded as many as 115 cases of bush fires, 41 domestic and electrical fires, 17 vehicular fires, 10 industrial and 2 commercial fire outbreaks in the Region.

The Brong-Ahafo Regional Fire Investigation Officer, Mr. Kwaku Manu Afful who spoke to SPACE- FM in Sunyani, gave the estimated value of property destroyed through fire, over the last two years as over two billion cedis (2,362,011,520).

He gave the break down as more than One Point two billion cedis (1,208,239,000) worth of property destroyed by fire in 2001 and One point One Billion cedis (1,153,772,520) worth of property lost through fires in 2002.

He mentioned carelessness, ignorance, accidents and arson as the other causes of fires in the region and noted that fire out breaks continue to have telling effects on the economic development of the region.

He said cash-crops such as Cocoa, and cashew as well as food crops, forests, cash and personal belongings are all lost to bush and domestic fires leading to poverty, and hunger and eventually serving as a disincentive to investors.

Reported AIDS Cases In Brong Ahafo On The Rise

The number of AIDS cases reported at the various health Institutions in the Brong-Ahafo Region has increased over the last year.

Statistics obtained from the Health Statistics unit of the Regional Health Directorate puts that the cumulative number of AIDS cases reported in the Region as at the end of March this year, at seven thousand five hundred and eighty one (7,581).

Comparatively, a total of One thousand six hundred and twenty nine (1,629) AIDS cases were recorded over the same period last year, with females being the most affected.

The Brong-Ahafo Regional Director of Health Services, Dr Mohammed Bin Ibrahim who made these known, to SPACE-FM, said Out of 870 suspected patients screened between January and March this year, 390 representing 45%, were declared HIV-Positive.

During the same period, 86 people were diagnosed HIV-Positive out of two thousand seven hundred and nine (2,709) blood donors ! in the region screened.

Giving the break down, the Regional Director said Six Hundred and one males, representing 37% and One thousand and twenty eight (1,028) females representing 63%, are on record to have contracted the disease.

He said the age-peak of the affected females was 25-29 and 30-34 years for males.

Dr. Mohammed Bin Ibrahim attributed the increasing trend of AIDS cases to the improved reporting system of the disease as well as the increase in transmission due to discrimination against individuals with HIV/AIDS, which hampers patients from learning about their HIV status

Some people, even though they know there is a disease called AIDS, still believe that they are not at risk of getting it. Such people are most likely not to change their behaviour.

The Brong Ahafo Regional Director of Health Services,Alhaj made these known to Space fm at Sunyani.

He noted that the HIV/AIDS pandemic affects the most productive segment of the Region’s population, which leads to reduction in labour for farming, less food production-which brings about malnutrition, decline in savings and capital accumulation because of the high cost of treatment of AIDS.

He was of the view that the prevailing HIV prevalence statistics if not checked could well