THE PRINCIPAL Nursing Officer and AIDS Counsellor at the Tema General hospital, Madam Josepha Seshie, has expressed concern at the alarming rate at which HIV/AIDS was spreading in the municipality and stated that the Tema General hospital alone recorded 591 cases of HIV/AIDS positive last year.

She gave the breakdown as follows: 294 males and 297 females stating that figures at private clinics are not yet known, but point to an alarming proportion.

Madam Seshie made this known to the congregation of the Community 8 Bethel Methodist Church when speaking on the topic "HIV/AIDS Menace: Dangers to the youth and national development and the way forward," organized by the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) last Sunday.

She told the congregation, especially the youth, that as at 1999 it was estimated that 114,000 people died from HIV/AIDS with affected age group between 15-49 years.

According to her, it was projected to increase to 300,000 by 2004 and 1.1 million by 2014. She told the youth that the only prevention was to refrain from pre-marital sex in order not to contract the virus.

Madam Seshie disclosed that the present rankings of the regions for the period January to September 2000 stood as follows:

Ashanti 1,667 cases; Central 554; Western 483; Volta 373; UER 145; Brong Ahafo 144; Eastern 91; UWR 63 and Northern zero per cent.

She stated that signs and symptoms of AIDS include persistent fever, prolonged diarrhea, persistent cough and chest infection and shingles (Ananse) but does not spread as easily as other diseases.

Mr. Samuel Evans Ashong Narh, Tema Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), stated that the situation has become more worrisome because majority of the infected people fall in the youth group, who constitute the workforce.

He suggested to NCCE to organize HIV/AIDS awareness schools and public fora in the rural areas to educate the people on the dangers of AIDS to society.

Narh also stated the possibility for the establishment of AIDS awareness clubs in the communities to involve opinion leaders and assembly men to consider AIDS programmes to educate the people in their communities.

The MCE intimated that statistics indicate that the number of HIV/AIDS patients was rising fast and that by 2005, 1,200,000 people will be living with the dreaded HIV/AIDS disease in the country.