HIV/AIDS positive teachers attend workshop in Kumasi

More than 150,000 teachers have so far been trained and prepared by the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports (MOESS) to effectively teach HIV/AIDS prevention which have been integrated in the school curriculum.

Mrs Hilda Eghan, Co-ordinator of HIV/AIDS Secretariat at the MOESS, said the School Health Education Programme (SHEP) has also been adequately empowered to pursue HIV/AIDS preventive education at basic and senior high schools as well as colleges to mitigate the impact of the disease on the education sector.

She was speaking at a three-day capacity building workshop for HIV/AIDS positive teachers and other educational workers in Kumasi on Saturday.

The workshop was organised by the MOESS and was attended by more than 100 participants drawn from all the regions. It also coincided with the inauguration of the National Association of HIV/AIDS Positive Teachers and Educational Workers.

Mrs Eghan said MOESS had drawn up a two-year strategic plan to mitigate the impact of stigma and discrimination among teachers living with HIV/AIDS, adding that the workshop would afford participants to make meaningful inputs into the plan.

Dr Sampson Ofori, member of the National HIV/AIDS Control Programme, noted that people living with HIV/AIDS were overcoming the stigma and discrimination associated with the disease.