28% of deaths in BAK caused by AIDS, anaemia

Piase (Ash), Sept. 23, GNA - About 28 percent of deaths recorded in health institutions in the Bosomtwe-Atwima-Kwanwoma District of Ashanti are attributable to AIDS and anaemia.

Mr Reuben Bedzrah, Acting District Director of Health Services, who announced this said as at the end of July this year, 45 cases of AIDS had been recorded.

Speaking at an AIDS awareness creation durbar organised by the Kuntanase sub-district of the Ghana Health Service at Piase on Tuesday, he said last year the district recorded 115 cases of AIDS and 127 cases in 2002.

Mr Bedzrah said septicaemia ranked third accounting for nine per cent of deaths in the district and followed by Gastroenteritis, which accounts for six per cent of deaths ranking fifth among the top 10 diseases in the district.

He cautioned women against inserting herbs and other preparations into their private parts and said this had been identified as the major causes of infection in their private parts and therefore made them prone to Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) including HIV/AIDS.

In a speech read on his behalf, Mr Bright Addai-Mununkum, District Chief Executive, challenged all politicians to include AIDS messages in their campaigns and talk about it when they mount campaign platforms. He said this would make a lot of impact since the campaigns attracted a lot of people and could easily be used to send the message across, especially the youth who were involved more in sexual activities.

Mr Addai-Mununkum called for change in sexual habits advising the people not to allow themselves to be fooled by people who claim to have a cure for the disease, saying that these so-called herbalists were throwing dust into their eyes and collecting their money.