Nsawam (E/R), April 30, GNA - The Eastern Regional Guidance and Counselling Officer, Mr Rex Baah-Antiri, has observed that for the country to overcome the menace of HIV/AIDS, it required sexual behavioural change, starting from the home. He said parents ought to understand the physiological changes that bring sexual desire in their adolescent children to help them to manage the pressures to the advantage of society. Mr Baah-Antiri was speaking at an educational forum on "Behavioural Change and the HIV/AIDS Menace", organized for chiefs from Nsawam, Adoagyiri and Sakyikrom on Friday at Adoagyiri, by the Youth Assistance Mission (YAM), an NGO based in Nsawam. He appealed to traditional authorities to use their festivals and various meetings to discuss the need for attitudinal change towards sex to help in bringing down the rate of HIV/AIDS infection in the country. The Executive Chairman of YAM, Mr Adjei Addoquaye, informed the chiefs that a research conducted by his NGO last year indicated that there was high school dropout among pupils in Nsawam, Adoagyiri and Sakyikrom area.

He said it came out that many of the pupils dropped out of school because of poverty, poor parenting and the desire of the youth to get rich quick. Mr Addoquaye appealed to the traditional authorities to use the various forums in their area to educate the youth on the need to complete their education. He also appealed to parents to exercise greater parental control and provide the necessary support for their children to help them appreciate the need to complete their education.