Former President Jerry Rawlings left Accra on Friday for Bonn, Germany to begin meetings with officials of the UN Volunteer Service and UN AIDS Programme in his capacity as UN Eminent Person for Volunteers.

A statement from the office of the former president in Accra said he would discuss proposals to encourage voluntarism and community action to roll back malaria and check the spread of HIV on the continent.

Former President Rawlings who took up the appointment last December, will be in Bonn from March 26 to 28.

Prior to the visit the ex-President and Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings will travel to Switzerland where Nana Konadu will undergo a surgical operation. The statement denied reports that the former president has been admitted at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, saying," the story is wholly untrue." It said the former President and Nana Konadu only visited a close relative who was on admission at the surgical block on Saturday March 11. The statement assured all well-wishers that former President Rawlings "is in excellent health and there is no cause for alarm."