CBOs urged to base HIV/AIDS education on local setting

Gomoa Ankamu (C/R), Sept. 1, GNA - The Gomoa District HIV/AIDS Focal Person, Mr Eric Akobeng on Sunday urged community based organisations (CBOs) engaged in the fight against the spread of the disease to base their education campaign on conditions prevailing in the communities.

Mr Akobeng said CBOs are best suited to accomplish the task because they are familiar with conditions that promote sexual promiscuity in their communities.

"If, for instance, it is funeral wake keepings that are encouraging the spread of the disease, find ways of getting the opinion leaders to do something about it," he advised.

He gave the advice at a workshop organised by the Progressive Club, a Gomoa Ankamu based CBO for church leaders and hairdressers at Gomoa Ankamu with sponsorship from the Ghana AIDS Response Fund (GARFund). Mr Akobeng urged church leaders to use part of their time to sensitise their congregation on the HIV/AIDS pandemic noting that, "If sex accounts for 80 per cent of HIV/AIDS infections and Ghana is predominantly a Christian country then they would have failed in their preaching against immorality."

Alhaji Osman Moro Fukuyama, a member of the Gomoa District AIDS Committee who took the participants through the mode of infection prevention and management of the disease said the lifespan of people living with the virus decreases as they engage more in sex. Mr Kingsley Halm, a National Service Personnel exhorted parents to ensure that their children are asleep before they themselves retire to bed.

Mr John Kobina Yamoah, chairman of the CBO urged religious leaders to get more actively involved in the campaign through sermons and other retreats.