Winneba, Dec. 4, GNA - The Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs is to intensify its nationwide awareness campaign on the deadly disease, HIV/AIDS as from next year.

The move is to stop the pandemic from eroding the many gains made by the government through various health interventions it had initiated against it and the six childhood killer diseases which had, over the years, affected the effective development and growth of children. Mr Peter F. K. Eduful, Executive Secretary, Department of Children, Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs, announced this at s national forum on "Lesson for Life" educational programme as part of this year's World AIDS Day celebrations at Winneba.

The theme for the celebration was: "Stop AIDS, Keep The Promise: The Time Is Now".

A number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) including, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Global Movement for Children (GMC), Plan Ghana (PG) and World Vision International (WVI), jointly organized the forum.

Selected children from programme areas where Plan Ghana, World Vision and GMC operated, as well as representatives of various community based HIV/AIDS sensitization groups, heads of departments, corporations and institutions from the host district, participated. Chiefs and queen-mothers from t three traditional areas in the Awutu-Effutu-Senya District, led by the paramount chief of the Effutu Traditional Area, Neenyi Ghartey VII, also graced the occasion. Mr Eduful who stood in for the Minister for Women and Children's Affairs, Hajia Alima Mahama, said the Ministry attached great value to the forum due to the high premium it attached to the general well-being of women and children as far as the HIV/AIDS was concerned. He reiterated that children were the window of hope for the country's future and as such, everything humanly possible must be made to protect them against the destructive disease which had no cure. Mr Eduful said issues concerning HIV/AIDS were matters of life and death, adding that it was for this reason that government was calling on adults and children to pay the greatest attention to matters concerning this dreaded disease.

He maintained that government had taken every necessary step to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS in the country, saying that the establishment of the Ghana AIDS Commission was a glaring testimony to this effect.

Mr Eduful said the Ministry of Health had made many gains in improving the health of children, especially against the six childhood killer diseases in recent years, yet these gains were being eroded by the devastating effect of HIV/AIDS nationwide. As a result, the Executive Secretary noted, HIV/AIDS Education and prevention had become more important and urgent now than ever before. Children must therefore be taught to know more about HIV/AIDS, stressing that if children gained adequate knowledge about the pandemic, it would enable them to say "NO TO SEX" in their formative years. He said children must have all the information necessary on HIV/AIDS, adding that is was the collective responsibility of adults to achieve this goal.

Society, Mr Eduful said had an obligation to take positive steps to ensure that children survived to enable them to contribute their quota towards nation building. 5 Dec. 06