Focal person urges traditional leaders to check Valentine's Day immorality

Saltpond (C/R), Feb. 10, GNA - The Mfantseman District HIV/AIDS Focal Person, Mr Jonathan Benefo, has appealed to traditional authorities to monitor Valentine's Day activities in their communities with the view to checking the immorality that a section of the youth has associated with it in recent times.

He said this was necessary so as not to derail both national and individual efforts being made to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS in the country.

Mr Benefo made the appeal at a workshop on HIV/AIDS organised by the District AIDS Committee for public and civil servants at Saltpond on Wednesday.

The Focal Person said celebration of Valentine's Day had been misconstrued as a day for lovemaking, a situation, which was hampering the campaign against the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Mr Benefo said the District AIDS Committee had set aside 98 million cedis to assist people living with the disease to go into income-generating ventures to make them self-supporting. Miss Christine Antoh, a Principal community Health Nurse, and Mr Reemans Osei-Bonsu, Mfantseman District School Health Education Programme (SHEP) Co-ordinator, took the participants through the mode of infection, symptoms, and how to care for people living with it. Miss Antoh appealed to parents to encourage their children to undergo voluntary counselling and testing before marriage. Nana Baah IV, Nyimfahene of Nkusukum Traditional Area, urged the participants to form work place AIDS committees to handle issues on the disease.