Rumbek has the highest number of HIV and AIDS cases in all the towns of the four Greater Bahr El Ghazal states.
The finding was disclosed by Michael Banjah, a UNICEF Senior Health Coordinator in Bahr el Ghazal, during the conclusion of a five-day workshop on HIV and AIDS awareness in Rumbek.Mr. Banjah told 40 teachers and church personnel that HIV and AIDS was a reality in Lakes State and last year’s assessment revealed that Rumbek had the highest number of people living with the virus in the whole of Greater Bahr el Ghazal.
He added that it was crucial to sensitize children in school, who would in turn take the message to their families and entire community.
Mr. Banjah said the ministries of health, education, together with the Southern Sudan Aids Commission, and other relevant NGOs should elaborate a strategy of public awareness on HIV AIDS.
Bright Nicolas, a primary school teacher, told Good News Radio that the workshop equipped him with knowledge about the virus.
He described HIV and AIDS as “a very big threat” in Africa in general and Sudan in particular.
Mr. Nicolas encouraged the public to know their status by undertaking HIV tests.
Nicola Limburger, from the Episcopal Church of Sudan, urged the participants to be ambassadors of the knowledge they acquired during the training.
She urged the participants to be role models for their message to be relevant.
Analysts say that if HIV and AIDS issues are not duly addressed in the Sudan, the scourge will claim more lives than the war did.