Kadjebi (V/R), June 22, GNA - The Kadjebi District Assembly in collaboration with a number of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) including Pillar of Change, is assisting 43 persons living with AIDS in the district with food and drugs.

Mr Setsoafia Kenu, Kadjebi District HIV/AIDS Focal Person, announced this at the opening of a weeklong workshop organised by Pillar of Change, a Kadjebi based NGO for 20 Peer Educators drawn from selected communities in the district on Monday.

He expressed concern over the increasing rate of the disease in the area and called for behavioural change, adding that some cultural practices including female circumcision should be looked into to prevent the spread of the disease.

Mrs Christine Boima, Executive Director of Pillar of Change said her organisation was helping to educate the youth in the area on the need for them to abstain from pre-marital sex and other anti-social activities.

She said participants would be taken through "the mode of transmission of the disease", "preventive measures", "counselling" and "factors that hinder behavioural change".

Mrs Boima expressed the hope that the participants after the workshop would return to their communities and educate the people on how to prevent the spread of the disease.

Mr Clemence Kpegah, Kadjebi District Director of CHRAJ who chaired the function attributed the spread of the disease within the youth to peer influence.

He called on traditional authorities and churches to consider the banning of wake-keeping and video show for school children.