Twenty-three of 128 donors test HIV positive in Fanteakwa

Begoro, Aug. 16, GNA - The Fanteakwa District Director of Health Services, Dr Frederick Kwame Ofosu, has disclosed that 23 out of 128 blood donors representing 17.6 per cent tested HIV positive between January and June, this year, at the Begoro District Hospital.

He said out of 37 patients suspected to have the disease that reported at the Hospital within the period, 27 of them tested positive. Dr Ofosu gave the figures at a seminar on HIV/AIDS for 200 virgins from the Presbyterian Church at Begoro on Thursday.

The seminar was organized by the "Foundation for the Needy Child" (FONEC), a Community-Based Organisation (CBO) at Begoro, on Saturday to sensitise them on the hazards of HIV/AIDS to refrain from pre-mature sex, which could expose them to the disease.

Dr Ofosu expressed concern about the alarming rate the disease was spreading in the district in spite of efforts to curb it. He called for concerted efforts to protect virgins from falling prey to the disease.

The Project Officer of FONEC, Mr Osei Bosompem, advised them to c abstain from pre-mature sex despite pressure from their peers to do so. Mr Bosompem said FONEC would ensure that virgins in the district under went periodic medical check up to assess their virginity status. He asked them to report any sexual advance by men to their parents for the necessary action by the Police.

The Begoro District Pastor of the Church, Reverend A. K. Asamoah, advised the public to desist from stigmatising and marginalizing people living with HIV/AIDS.

He appealed to the public and stakeholders in the anti HIV/AIDS crusade to focus their attention on virgins.