Mr. Evans Osei-Baah, Kwahu West District HIV/AIDS Co-ordinator, has said that there has been a tremendous increase of the disease in the area in the past two-and-half years. He said records from the Nkawkaw Holy Family Hospital show that 150 people contracted the disease in 2005 while the figure went up to 265 in 2006. Mr. Osei-Baah said as at the end of June 2007, 117 people tested positive for HIV/AIDS in the district. He announced this when he accompanied members of the Integrated Natural Protection and Health Services (INAPROHS), a non-governmental organization (NGO), based in Nkawkaw, to educate members of communities in the district on HIV/AIDS preventive measures. Communities visited included Ekorso, Kwahu Gyegyeti, Kwadwo Nkansah, Oframase and Asubone rails. Mr. Osei-Baah said most of the people who contracted the disease were the youth between 16 years and 45 years, who constituted the cream of the country's labour force. He advised the youth to abstain from pre-marital sex and urged adults to be faithful to their sexual partners and use condoms to avoid contracting the disease. Dr. Kwabena Kyei Asubonteng of Soafa Herbal Center, at Nkawkaw, and chairman of the NGO, reminded the public that there was no known cure for the disease. He said voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) would be done at the Centre to determine the HIV/AIDS status of people who would visit the facility. Mr. Soala Fuseini, the Administrative Secretary of INAPROHS, said the NGO would award scholarships to children who had lost their parents through HIV/AIDS to enable them to complete their education. The Chief of Oframase, Nana Wiafe Akenteng I, thanked the NGO for its efforts at preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS. Source: GNA