Breman Asikuma (C/R), Dec. 12, GNA - Mr Emmanuel Adjei Domson, Asikuma Odoben Brakwa District Chief Executive, has said the youth needed adequate information and support to enable them to stand the challenges of their time. He said the youth were the heritage and future leaders of the country but that could only happen if the nation do not only recognise that, but more so take the necessary steps to support them. Speaking at a durbar to mark the District World AIDS Day at Breman Asikuma, Mr Domson said: "HIV/AIDS has the potential of wiping out our entire generation if behaviours do not change" and advised the youth not to allow themselves to be trapped into thinking that life is rosy and easy.

Humanitarian Foundation, a Non Governmental Organization (NGO) organised the durbar in collaboration with the district assembly under the theme: "Leadership - Reducing Stigma and Discrimination." Mr Domson urged the youth to be assertive and say no to premarital sex and added that they should offer their opinions and innovative ideas in the fight against the HIV/AIDS menace. Mr Dawda Adams, Executive Director of the NGO said indiscriminate or casual sex contributes about 80 per cent of acquiring the HIV, which called for all and sundry to promote healthy sexual lifestyles.

Mr Theophilus Raberio, the District HIV Focal Person appealed to the public to eschew the habit of stigmatisation against people living with the HIV/AIDS. He stated categorically that people in the area should change their sexual behaviours and orientations because the district ranked first with syphilis disease nationwide.

According to Mr Raberio, statistics from the United Nations indicated that the prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS cases in the District had reduced from 2.4 percent in 2004 to 1.8 per cent by the end of 2007. The durbar was preceded with a float through the principal streets of the district that saw scores of school pupils, assembly members and civil society groups aimed at deepening the awareness of the dangers of the disease.