Attitudinal change towards sex should start from the home

Nsawam (E/R), April 30, GNA- Mr Rex Baah-Antiri, Eastern Regional Guidance and Counselling Officer, has observed that for the country to overcome the menace of HIV/AIDS, there was the need to for strict sexual behavioural change among Ghanaians beginning from the home.

He said parents ought to understand the physiological changes that bring sexual desire in their adolescent children to help them to manage the pressures to the advantage of society.

Mr Baah-Antiri was speaking at an educational forum on "Behavioural change and the HIV/AIDS menace", organized for chiefs from Nsawam, Adoagyiri and Sakyikrom on Friday at Adoagyiri, by the Youth Assistance Mission (YAM), a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) based at Nsawam. He appealed to traditional authorities to use their festivals and various meetings to discuss the need for attitudinal change towards sex to help in bringing down the rate of HIV/AIDS infection in the country. The Executive Chairman of YAM, Mr Adjei Addoquaye, told the chiefs that a research conducted by his NGO last year indicated that there was a high school dropout among pupils in Nsawam, Adoagyiri and Sakyikrom. He said it came out that many of the pupils dropped out of school because of poverty, poor parenting and the desire of the youth to get rich quick.

Mr Addoquaye appealed to the traditional authorities to use the various forums in their areas to educate the youth on the need to complete their education.

He also appealed to parents in the area to exercise greater parental control and to provide the necessary support for their children to help them to appreciate the need to complete their education. 01 May 05