National seminar on AIDS for the blind opens

The Women's Wing of the Ghana Association of the Blind on Thursday called for a desk in the new Women's Ministry to enable them to have direct contact with the government in finding solutions to issues affecting them.

"Women who are visually impaired and the blind are always marginalised in almost every national activity and this, we think, infringes on our rights as citizens of the country," Mrs Gertrude Fefoame, Vice-President of the women's wing of the association said.

She was speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency after the opening ceremony of a three-day national seminar on "HIV/AIDS and related health issues" for the women's wing of the association in Accra. The seminar, organised by Sight Savers International, has 40 participants from all the regions.

Participants will be taken through topics like Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs), family planning methods and benefits, breast and cervical cancers, first aid tips and the rights of the blind. Mrs Emma Asante-Krobea of the National AIDS Control Programme, Mamprobi Polyclinic, urged the participants to ensure personal hygiene, stick to one partner and report to the nearest clinic for any unusual discharge for prompt attention.