Wa Central Market women organise to fight HIV/AIDS

Wa, June 9, GNA - The Wa Central Market Traders Association has initiated an educational programme to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS among market women in the Wa Municipality.

Activities lined up under the programme include, sensitisation seminars among their peers, training of peer educators on condom use, distribution of condoms to the market women and radio discussions on the pandemic.

The programme is being sponsored by the Ghana AIDS Commission through the Wa Municipal Assembly.

At one of the seminars at the Central Market at Wa on Tuesday, Ms. Alice Yendaw, a Senior Public Health Nurse of the Municipal Directorate of the Ghana Health Service took participants through HIV/AIDS prevalence and control, causes, effects and prevention of the disease. Medical records indicate that the town has a prevalence rate of six per cent, majority of whom are women.

Mrs Yendaw called on mothers to educate their children against pre-marital sex for fear of contracting the disease since the youth of any community constituted a very crucial potential human resource and the therefore a vital group which needed protection from the pandemic. Mr Saaka Malibunaa, an official of the Wa Municipal Directorate of the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) asked the women to form Virgin Clubs for their daughters in their communities and institute award schemes for the members.

He suggested to the market women to go for voluntary testing and counselling to enable them to know their HIV status and live responsibly and positively if any of them should test positive. He also advised them to provide care support and home-based care delivery to individuals and families infected and affected by the disease.