Do not legalise prostitution - Rev. Deegbe

Accra, April 4, GNA - The legalisation of prostitution in Ghana would not have any significant impact on the reduction of the spread of HIV/AIDS, the Reverend Fred Deegbe, Senior Pastor of the Calvary Baptist Church; has said. Expressing his views on whether prostitution should be legalised as proposed by the Director-General of the Ghana AIDS Commission, Prof Awuku Sekyi Amoah, Rev Deegbe said legalising the trade would rather have a negative effect on the country.

"I am not very comfortable at all with that proposals on legalizing prostitution because I am not sure that would help curb the spread of the disease," he noted the Ghana News Agency in an interview on Sunday. Rev Deegbe, who is also the General-Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana; contended that there were not enough structures to support that legalisation process including having enough doctors to examine commercial sex workers to know whether they were free from HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections.

He also expressed doubts whether there would be a proper monitoring mechanism to ensure that those, who engaged in prostitution, were truly certified. He also expressed fears that it could also lead to human trafficking and increase in drug use.

According to Rev Deegbe most countries, which had legalised prostitution, had only done that for financial benefits - to gain more revenue, and not to check the spread of HIV/AIDS.

He, therefore, called for thorough discussions to find better alternatives to address challenges posed by both HIV/AIDS and prostitution.