Pubdate: Mon, 01 Dec 2003 Source: Accra Daily Mail, The (Ghana) Copyright: 2003sAccra Daily Mail Contact: http://www.accra-mail.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2869 HIV/AIDS CAMPAIGNERS URGED TO FOCUS ON POOR, DRUG ADDICTS Mr Mahama B. Mumuni, Deputy Coordinating Director for the Tolon Kumbungu District on Thursday appealed to groups and individuals who were engaged in the campaign to curb the HIV/AIDS pandemic to focus on the poor and drug addicts as a means of reducing the scourge. Mr Mumuni, who is also the District Focal Person on HIV/AIDS made the appeal when he addressed the chiefs and people of Tolon in the Tolon/Kumbungu District during the formal launch of Life Care Foundation (LCF), an NGO operating in Tamale in conjunction with the GARFUND to give education on the dangers of HIV/AIDS. He said due to the poverty level in most communities sick persons often relied on quack traditional practitioners who infect them with various diseases. Mr Mumuni urged the Ghana AIDS Commission to channel funds towards reducing poverty particularly in the rural areas to reduce the spread of the disease. Mr Sulemana Baba Mohamed, Executive Director of LCF in a welcoming address stressed the importance of chiefs and opinion leaders in the influencing of the people to avoid immoral activities. He said the founding of LCF was to complement the efforts of the Tamale Municipal Assembly and the other 12 districts in the region to educate the people on the need for the youth to stay away from premarital sex. He said the LCF would among other things embark on capacity building through talks, seminars and workshops to enable the rural people to understand their poor living standards and to initiate steps to reduce the poverty situation. Mr Alhassan Abubakari Baako, Tolon/Kumbungu District Chief Executive (DCE) commended the Ghana AIDS Commission for funding NGOs to work in the district with the view to reducing the spread of the pandemic. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin