Denu, Feb. 11, GNA - A Public Health School for HIV/AIDS and Drug Abuse Prevention Studies, the first of its kind in Africa, would be established at Denu in the Ketu District, in March this year. The school, which would be expected to cater for Togo, Benin, Nigeria and Ghana, would train specialists in the management and prevention of HIV/AIDS and drug abuse.

It would run courses in Group and Individual Psycho-therapy for HIV/AIDS patients and Drug Abuse Prevention, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Specialist Management, Mental Health Specialist Programme, Demography, Epidemiology, Law and Ethics.

Mr Ernest Duru, former Regional Staff Council of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Mitrovica, Kosovo, who is Founder and Director of the school, disclosed this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on Tuesday at Denu.

He said the threat of the two cankers on reproductive health required a further step in mobilising specialists to champion the fight in Africa.

He said qualified entrants to the school would include teachers, nursing officers, health educators and social workers. Mr Duru said the three-month specialist diploma programme would require extensive fieldwork within and outside the West African sub-region. "There is the need for ethical standards in the HIV/AIDS and drug abuse prevention programmes on the continent," he reiterated. Mr Duru said the internalisation of moral and sound bio-research oriented and academic programmes, stood to be one of the most tactful methods of preventing widespread global scourges.

"Challenging HIV/AIDS and drug abuse as subjects in schools rather than perceiving them with morbid fears as a disease condition will provide more durable and sustainable prevention strategies to mankind," he held.

Mr Duru said the school, which is currently located at the Saint Paul's Secondary School compound at Denu, would soon be linked up to international organisations like UNESCO.