Suhum (Eastern Region), 27 Oct.

The AIDS disease is reported to be on the increase in the Suhum/Kraboa/Coaltar district in the Eastern Region despite intensive educational campaigns. Miss Margaret Boakye Nkansah, district co-ordinator in charge of the AIDS programme in the district, announced this when she addressed members of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EP), Ghana, as part of the AIDS educational awareness programme at Suhum. She said between January last year and September this year, the Suhum government hospital had recorded 242 cases, out of which 60 had already died. She said most of the infected people were women between 12-45 years of age living in the Suhum township and the surrounding villages. Miss Nkansah advised women to avoid indiscriminate sex, saying the youth should abstain from sex before marriage. She urged the church to set up AIDS committees to give technical assistance to its members. The principal nursing officer in charge of maternal and child health, Mrs. Margaret Ofosu-Appiah, appealed to benevolent societies, NGO's and prominent citizens of the area to provide funds to support AIDS programme in the district.