HIV/AIDS is not contracted through witchcraft

Takoradi, Dec 1, GNA- Madam Sophia Horner-Sam, Deputy Western Regional Minister said HIV/AIDS could not be caused by witchcraft as it is being rumoured.

She said it was dangerous for people to think that eating; living and showing concern for people with the disease could affect them. Madam Horner-Sam said this when she received the Joint Regional Abidjan-Lagos Transport Corridor Project on HIV/AIDS at the Takoradi PWD Park on Tuesday.

The project with the theme " Taming HIV/AIDS on West African Roads" was targeted at over 30 million people living within Cote D'Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria.

She said the project, being sponsored by the Coca Cola Company, took off in Nigeria on November 10, 2004 and would end on December 8. Madam Horner-Sam appealed to long distance drivers to stop casual sexual relationships along their routes since such behaviour accounted for 10 percent of HIV/AIDS in the sub-region.

Dr. Justin Koffi, Chief Executive of the Project said migration increases the opportunities for multiple sexual partners.

He said the project aims at migrants, drivers and local communities living within the corridor to change their sexual behaviours. Dr. Koffi said the joint declaration between the five states was signed on April 30, 2002.