SOCIETY EMPOWERS VULNERABLE GROUPS (PAGE 20)

THE Society for Women and AIDS in Africa (SWAA)-Ghana, is currently working in two districts of the Central Region to empower vulnerable groups such as women and children on child labour and HIV and AIDS.
The beneficiaries are the Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam (AEE) District and the Mfantseman Municipality where the two problems are prevalent.
While the AEE has a high rate of child labour, the Mfantseman municipality has been identified as one of the areas in the region with the highest prevalent cases of HIV and AIDS.
HIV and AIDS cases in the Mfantseman Municipality went up from 80 cases last year to 200, this year, according estimated figures.
At a workshop for volunteers in Saltpond to sensitise them to its programme expected to start in October, this year, the President of SWAA-Ghana, Ms Cecilia Senoo, said SWAA in partnership with the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) had already undertaken the exercise in the AEE District which involved voluntary testing and counselling.
Ms Senoo said during the programme, SWAA established 120 condom outlets in the district.
She said SWAA used interactive theatre method in the district.
 Ms Senoo said the programme in the Mfantseman Municipality, which was expected to start in October, would be undertaken in partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
She called on all stakeholders, especially the assemblies, to support the SWAA in achieving the desired results.
In a related development, the SWAA has undertaken a free, voluntary health screening exercise for the general public at the Jubilee Park (Victoria Park) in Cape Coast in connection with Panafest and Emancipation Day.