A total of 143 out of 255 patients screened at the St. Theresa's Hospital at Nkoranza last year tested HIV/AIDS positive. The Nkoranza District HIV/AIDS Monitoring and Evaluation Focal Person, Mr Hayford Kyere, disclosed this when he addressed about 200 hairdressers at a workshop at Nkoranza. The function was meant to create awareness among the people to guard against getting infected. He said 15 out of the infected died before the end of the year. Mr Kyere emphasised that the pandemic was real adding that, people should therefore not deceive themselves that "HIV/AIDS is associated with evil and satanic issues." Mr Kyere said persons between 45 and 49 years old had a prevalent rate of about five per cent, while it was about 3.6 for between 25 and 29 years old. The rate for those between 15 and 24 years old was 1.9 per cent and between 15-19 years old, bout 0.8 per cent. Mr Kyere advised the people to be faithful to their sexual partners while the unmarried youth should abstain from sex or use condom to protect themselves. The Nkoranza District Public Health Nurse, Mrs. Eva Saku, urged the people to undertake Voluntary/Counselling and Testing (VCT) to determine their status and pointed out that HIV/AIDS was mostly contracted through sexual intercourse, which accounted for about 80 per cent of infection. Mother to child infection was 15 per cent while other causes such as the use and exchange of common razors was five per cent. Mrs. Elizabeth Dekyi, a Public Health Nurse, expressed concern about how some parents used one toothbrush for all their children and advised them to desist from such unhygienic practice to avoid contracting the pandemic or other communicable diseases. Mr. Haruna Babbs and Madam Theresa Bossman, executive members of the Nkoranza District Beauticians Association, commended the District HIV/AIDS committee for organizing the workshop to sensitise the youth. The participants were provided with female and male condoms to promote their usage. Source: GNA