Friday, December 21, 2007

TEMA HIV PREVALENT RATE WORRYING (P.33...Published Mon Dec 17, 2007)

Story: Rose Hayford Darko, Tema

The Tema Municipal Chief Executive, Mr David Quaye Annang, has disclosed that the current HIV prevalent rate in the municipality, estimated to be 3.6 per cent, calls for caution because the figure continues to swell.
He stated that in 2005 the prevalence rate in the municipality reduced from 5.8 to 2.2, representing a depreciation of the situation.
Mr Annang made this disclosure at the Greater Accra Regional celebration of the World AIDS Day in Tema.
He called on residents to adopt sexual practices that would lead to healthy lifestyles to avoid the spread of the virus.
Mr Annang noted that though there had been various ways of educating the public, some people had ignored them and continued to lead promiscuous lifestyles.
He appealed to the youth especially to take it serious because they were the future of the world.
Mr Annang also advised against stigmatisation and discrimination against infected people to give them support and comfort.
The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Sheikh I.C. Quaye, was not happy that the prevalenct rate was high among the economically active in society, especially among those aged between 20 and 40 years.
He called on all Ghanaians to make concerted efforts to contribute towards the moral upbringing of the youth to ensure social protection, offer care, job security and rights of both the infected and affected.
Sheik Quaye said the Regional Coordinating Council and all District Assemblies in the region would intensify the educational process of developing work place polices to help limit the spread of the virus.
He noted that the campaign would consider the rapidly changing lifestyle and technological development which had rendered the youth vulnerable to sexual immorality.
Meanwhile, workers of Unilever in Tema walked to raise funds for people living with AIDS (PLWA) and also raise awareness.
They covered a distance of six kilometres through the streets of Tema and later converged at the factory premises to be taken through free testing and counselling.
The Chief Executive Officer of the company, Mr Charles Cofie, in an interview after the walk appealed to Ghanaian workers and the public at large to present themselves for testing to enable them know their status.
Over 200 workers and volunteers went through the testing and counselling after the walk.
Mr Cofie expressed concern about the impact of the disease on the social security system and increasing social expenditure on health care, pensions and sickness benefits.
He said the company would add its contribution to the amount realised during the walk and present it to the PLWAs.

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