Students organise HIV/AIDS education for Salamba Community

Tamale, Aug. 26, GNA - The prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS in the Northern Region has increased from 1.4 percent in 2000 to 2.4 percent between 2001 and 2003.

Madam Adisheta Issahaku, Assistant Project Officer of the Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG) announced this at anti HIV/AIDS education campaign for the youth at Salamba,a suburb of Tamale on Monday.

The campaign was organised by the Association of Students in the community to educate the youth on HIV/AIDS prevention and how to handle persons living with the disease.

Madam Issahaku attributed the increase in the prevalence rate to "Kayayei" returnees who travel to the cities and urban centres to engage in immoral activities, as well as long vehicle drivers plying between Ghana and Burkina Faso.

"We in the Northern sector used to have lower infection rate as compared to the Southern Sector but today, while the rate of infection in the Southern sector is decreasing that of the Northern sector is increasing".

The PPAG Assistant Project Officer, who spoke on: "HIV/AIDS - The role of the students", said the disease was a serious health problem because about 90 percent of AIDS patients were between the ages of 15 and 49.

She said since the percentage was within the range that constituted the most economic productive segment of the population, illness and deaths in that age bracket constituted an important economic burden. Madam Issahaku advised the students to research into prevailing health problems in their communities especially those infected with HIV/AIDS and promote proper nutrition for them in their proposals for support.

Mr Taharu Mahama, Headmaster of the Islamic Secondary School in Tamale, called on the youth to be united and promote peace to develop the area.

Mr Mahama asked parents to invest in the education of their children to enable them to contribute meaningfully to national development. He, however, advised them against condemning their children who fail in their examinations, saying, "such practice demoralise children from excelling in life".

"Let us always encourage them to re-sit their examinations and also motivate them to go back to school when they fail", he added. 26 Aug. 03