Takyikrom (Ash), Nov 25, GNA - Children's Rights International, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) committed to the promotion of children's rights and welfare, has rolled out a programme to insulate children from the harsh effects of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Fifteen communities in the Asante-Akim South District would benefit from the programme which is being co-sponsored by the Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC) and the District Assembly.

Under the programme, orphans who lost their parents as a result of the disease would be assisted in their education, whereas the communities would also be sensitized to the dangers of the disease. Miss Christiana Aidoo, the District Director of Health Services, at one of such sensitization programmes at Takyikrom near Kyempo at the weekend, urged the people to refrain from engaging multiple sexual partners to help minimize the spread of the disease. She said the effects of HIV/AIDS was very devastating not only to the individual but the entire family as well as the nation, and called for behavioural change, especially among the youth, whom she described as sexually active.

Miss Aidoo also reminded them of the recent outbreak of Cerebro-spinal Meningitis (CSM) at nearby Yaw Bronya and entreated them to report any sign of the disease to the nearest health facility. Mrs Agnes Buaben, a midwife at the Juaso District Hospital, who ran a voluntary testing on 40 residents including the chief, Nana Akuamoah Sackey, stressed the need for people to know their status of the disease. She said drugs for the management of the disease had been subsidized by government to make it accessible to patients to prolong their life span.