Bekwai Hospital recorded 181 AIDS cases last year

Bekwai (Ash), July 26, GNA- Available statistics showed that AIDS cases recorded at the Asante-Bekwai Government Hospital rose from 83 in 2001 to 181 in 2002. Mr Roger Kuntanaah, HIV/AIDS Co-ordinator at the Hospital, who said this could not however give the figure for the first quarter of this year, but described the situation as "worrying".

Speaking at an AIDS awareness programme, organised by the Amansie East Queenmothers Association at Bekwai on Friday, Mr Kuntanaah spoke on the mode of transmission of the disease. He mentioned sexual intercourse, pregnant mothers passing on the disease to their unborn babies and the use of sharp infected implements.

Mrs Margaret Akuamoah Boateng, a midwife at the hospital, noted that the trend of infection had shifted from the actively vulnerable group of between 15 to 45 years to the older people. She, therefore, advised the elderly to be faithful to their partners, pointing out that the carriers of the HIV virus were the most dangerous in the society.

Mr Eric Anarfi of the Amansie East District Assembly who stood in for the District Chief Executive, appealed to the people not to shun and neglect AIDS victims but should rather have sympathy for them. He said the assembly in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO) will soon embark on a training programme for AIDS victims to acquire skills while alive and asked all Community-Based Organisations (CBOs) in the district to intensify their awareness programmes.