Teachers, pupils in Jasikan attend HIV/AIDS training workshop

Jasikan, Jan. 28, GNA - Forty teachers and 60 pupils from schools in the Jasikan District have attended a week's peer education training workshop to sensitise them on the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The participants are expected to go back and educate their peer groups on the menace.

The workshop was organised by the Rural Action for the Poor, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) with support from the Ghana AIDS Commission.

Briefing newsmen at Jasikan on Tuesday, Mr Yaw Gyampo, Project Co-ordinator of the NGO, said there was a high incidence of teenage pregnancy in the area.

"If there is teenage pregnancy, then it means that there is a high incidence of unprotected sex among the people through which the HIV/AIDS disease can be spread," he said.

Mr Gyampo noted that there was the need to educate the people especially the youth to avoid teenage sexual practices and concentrate on their studies.

He said the workshop was to dispel rumours about the misconception and misinformation of the disease.

Some of the topics treated were, basic information about HIV/AIDS, how it is acquired and how to prevent it.