Youth Warned Against Indiscriminate Sex


An HIV/AIDS patient, Ms. Helena Arkoh has advised the youth, particularly school children to avoid having indiscriminate sex in order not to contract the HIV virus.

She said many HIV/AIDS infested people did not disclose their status to people and that made it dangerous for one to engage in any sexual activity with a person one did not know their status.

Ms Arkoh was educating school children on HIV/AIDS during a one day screening and sensitization programme organised by “Menyiwa dawodo”in Elmina in the Central Region.

Menyiwa dawodo, a non-governmental organisation is a humanitarian organisation focused on educating children and also ensuring their participation in the society.

Since its inception in the country, the organisation has organised two juvenile amateur boxing contest in Cape Coast and its environs between 2012 and 2013.

Ms Arkoh expressed worry over the youth who were lured by money in having sex with people.

“Don’t let people use money to lure you to have sex with them. You can have the money, but how about you getting the HIV virus?” she counseled the children.

According to her, lack of education on the HIV/AIDSdiseasewas contributing to many people contracting the disease.

She further admonished the youth to insist on their partners to get tested to enable them to know their status before having an affair with them.

“Make sure your partner get tested before anything else”, Ms Arkoh suggested.

The games dubbed: “Volley against HIV/AIDS” was used to conduct counselling and test on diabetes, blood pressure and HIV/AIDS.

Among the schools that competed in the volley against HIV/AIDS included Catholic Boys and Girls Basic School, Bantuma M/A,St James Anglican School, Mrs Mornica York Preparatory School, Elmina M/A School and Menyiwa Dawodo team from Cape Coast.

Responding to some of the questions raised by the children on HIV/AIDS, Mrs Grace Abekah, a nurse at the Family Planning Department of Central Regional Hospital, advised the children to stay away from unprotected sex.

Mrs Abekah said the HIV/AIDs was becoming prevalent among the youth and therefore cautioned the children not to be influenced by their peers to engage in any unhealthy sexual practices.

The Director of the organisation, Ms Daniela Suhr said the organisation would continue to provide support for children and people living with HIV/AIDS.

Ms Suhr noted that stigmatization was one of the factors hindering many people from getting tested to know their HIV status.

That, she said, was worrying and contributing to the spread of the disease.

She therefore called on all stakeholders to help with the education of the public on the disease to enable people to get tested.

“We need to understand the HIV/AIDS well so that we can protect ourselves from contracting the disease”, she said.

Ms Suhr further commended all the sponsors particularly, Succeed e.v, Germany, Ghana Education Service Directorate of the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem (KEEA) Municipality, Bingo Lottery and all the participatory schools for their contributions.

The Country Director of “Mayiwa Dawodo”, Mr Mawuli Aboagye expressed worry about how the media reported stories on the disease, saying “sometimes the kind of phrases and sentences the media use in their reportage is not encouraging at all”

Mr Aboagye said people should not see HIV/AIDS patients as an outcasts in the society.

He, however, appealed to the Ghana Education Service and Ghana Aids Commission to intensify their education at the basic school level to equip the pupils with the knowledge on the disease.

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