Kumasi, Sept. 11, GNA - The Department of Women of the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs (MoWAC) on Friday organized a day's sensitization workshop on HIV/AIDS for female porters (kayayei) in the Kumasi Metropolis.

It was designed to educate them on the dangers of the pandemic to enable them make informed decisions on their sexual lifestyles. Mrs. Augustina Gyamfi, Regional Director of the Department, noted that porters by the nature of their job were most vulnerable to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

It was for this reason that the Department sought the assistance of the Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC) to organize the workshop to create the needed awareness among them. The over 200 porters present were taken through the causes, symptoms and prevention of the disease. Mrs. Gyamfi said the nation could not afford to lose its human resources to the deadly HIV-AIDS and therefore urged opinion leaders, churches and benevolent organizations to join in the campaign to slow down the spread.

The youth, she said, must be discouraged from sexual promiscuity, the main cause of spread. "Those who cannot control themselves should also be impressed upon to use condoms", she said. Mr. Baffour Owusu-Afriyie, Executive Director of Street Children Development Foundation (SCDF), a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), advised Ghanaian couples to plan their families to enable them take better care of their children.

He also advised parents not to engage their wards in trading and hazardous work since it affected their health, education and physical development. 10 Sept.09