The Ellembelle District Director of Health Services, Mrs. Elizabeth Corney has urged peer educators on HIV/AIDS to intensify public education against the stigmatisation of People Living With HIV/AIDS in order to prolong their life span.
Mrs. Corney gave the advice at the opening of a-two-day intensive education programme on HIV/AIDS for Assembly members and opinion leaders, from 13 selected communities at Esiama in the District.
It was jointly organised by Random Foundation International, a US-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) and the Network for Community Planning and Development, an Accra-based NGO and sponsored by the Ghana Aids Commission.
The workshop equipped the participants on how to be actively involved in HIV/AIDS prevention programmes in their communities.
Mrs. Corney bemoaned the alarming rate at which the pandemic was spreading in the district and called for a concerted approach to abate the scourge.
A Teaching Assistant at the community Health Nursing Training School at Esiama, Ms. Portia Hagan, who was the resource person, took participants through topics such as Behavioural Change Communication, Sexually Transmitted Infections and Information and the Effect of Stigmatisation.
The District Focal person on HIV/AIDS in charge of monitoring and evaluation, Alhaji Abudulai Sophiano advised participants to take the training seriously and make good impact in their communities to prevent new infections.