INTRODUCTION
Teachers and their unions have a herculean task in the HIV/AIDS Prevention campaign that is going on worldwide. HIV/AIDS which was first detected twenty years ago now has claimed more than 40 million lives and more than 60 million are infected worldwide. About 70% of the total infections occur in Sub Saharan Africa and about two-thirds of these are women. The disease afflicts the most important socio- economic group thereby depleting the human resource base and crippling development.

THE EFFECTS OF HIV/AIDS ON THE EDUCATION SECTOR
Education is the pivot of development and good quality education brings about sustainable development but HIV/AIDS has not spared the education sector either. HIV has affected the demand and supply of education. About 1,000 teachers die of AIDS each year in South Africa and about 8 teachers die every week in Cote d’ Ivoire. Enrolment rates have reduced in many countries as a result of deaths, illness, financial constraints, demand for home care of the sick and other family social circumstances. On the demand side, the cost of training academic and support staff, employee benefits during illness or after death divert funds from projects that would help improve education and training services. The disease has impacted on the quality of education. Teaching students who are sick, depressed, unmotivated or demoralised has impact on structural outcomes. Taking time off to nurse or seek medical care and attending funerals has adversely affected learning outcomes.

HIV/AIDS CAMPAIGN BY TEACHERS AND THEIR UNIONS
The HIV/AIDS virus has defied every vaccine and medication. So far drugs are just able to reduce the viral loads thereby catering for the opportunistic diseases to prolong the lives of patients. The most effective vaccine now available is EDUCATION. Teachers as professionally trained persons endowed and equipped with the expertise to impart knowledge, have a major role to play in the AIDS campaign. It is in this light that the World Teachers Organization, Education International (EI) has called on teachers and their unions to wake up and take the task of vigorous educational campaign to minimise and control the spread of HIV/AIDS infection in their countries.

HIV/AIDS SITUATION IN GHANA
The number of persons infected with HIV/AIDS in Ghana has risen steadily since the start of the pandemic in 1986. By 1994, an estimated 118,000 Ghanaians were living with HIV or AIDS and the number tripled to more than 404,000 in 2004 (Ghana AIDS Commission Report 2005).
The HIV Prevalence rate in Ghana
2003- 3,6%
2004 3.3%
2005 2.7%
Source (NACP 2006)

The National Response to the HIV/AIDS Pandemic
* The earliest national response was the establishment of the National Advisory Commission on HIV/AIDS (NACA) in 1986 to advise government on HIV/AIDS issues;
* The National STD/AIDS/STI Control Programme (NACP) was established in 1987 under the Ministry of Health’s Disease Control Unit to be responsible for issues relating to HIV/AIDS;
* National HIV/AIDS and STI Policy and Framework were developed. The Ghana AIDS Commission was established in Ghana under the office of the Vice Presiden;.
* A number of Non- Governmental (NGOS) and Community Based Organisations (CBOS) have been working in partnership with donors to bring HIV/AIDS Under control.

The Education Sector and the HIV AIDS Pandemic in Ghana
In 2002, the Ministry of Education and Sports established an HIV/AIDS Secretariat, which was the sector HIV/AIDS coordination body. The specific responsibilities of the secretariat are:
* Identify, develop and submit funding proposal to the GAC and Development Partners to implement the Education HIV/AIDS Strategic Work plan
* Coordinate the realisation and implementation of all HIV/AIDS related activities in the education sector;
* Create awareness about rising prevalence of HIV/AIDs related activities in the Education;
* Establish mechanisms for care and support;
* Develop and implement a framework for the collaboration, coordination and reporting of NGO involved in HIV/AIDS activity in the education Sector.
* Establish collaboration with the other institutions (including the private sector involved in the implementation of HIV/AIDS activities in Ghana)


Activities by Ministry of Education
• Drafted a sector wide HIV/AIDS policy for the education sector
• Produced HIV/AIDS Teaching Manuals (24,000 copies)
• Conducted a Baseline Survey in some districts
• Training of Trainers Workshops for four Regions from 57 districts

THE GNAT EXPERIENCE
The frightening figures of HIV/AIDS infection and deaths and its subsequent effect on the education sector jolted GNAT into action to join the HIV/AIDS Prevention Campaign to complement the Ministry of Education’s efforts. In 2003 the GNAT in collaboration with the Ghana AIDS Commission, started to implement an HIV/AIDS project for the Education Sector in five pilot districts in Ghana. The objectives of the project were as stated below:

Identify teachers who are living with HIV/AIDS
Develop a social support for those infected
Provide counselling services for teachers and students and children of infected teachers
Educate and sensitise teachers about the preventive measures to take in other to avert HIV/AIDS infection
Support teachers to disseminate information about HIV/AIDS through planned curricular activities to their students and pupils
Equip teachers, pupils, and community members with requisite life skills for them to co-exist with people living with HIV/AIDS

Activities by GNAT
Baseline Survey
A baseline survey was conducted in 5 Pilot districts with the following results.
• Even though most teachers keep multiple sexual partners, they do not use condoms. Only 1% of teachers interviewed said they use condoms regularly
• 4% of students interviewed who were girls had been raped /defiled by colleague boys or teachers.
• Entertainment in second cycle schools, Sports and Cultural festivals were very fertile grounds for students to meet new sexual partners.
• 85% of teachers were against the introduction of condom use at the basic school level
• Entertainment spots/sites register more customers during school holidays
• 90% of interviewees had attended an HIV/AIDS Educational Session at least once but this had not influenced their sexual behaviour

Training of Trainers Workshops
Training of trainers’ workshops were organised for 57 Regional and District Secretaries and Teachers from the project district in March- 2004. This was replicated in the districts.
Launching the GNAT HIV/AIDS Project
The GNAT HIV/AIDS project was launched at Dormaa Ahenkro on 25th November 2004. It was a massive sensitization as more than two thousand (2,000) students, teachers, GNAT staff and people from all walks of life attended. The campaign was a huge success.

The gender desk followed up to access what was going on in the districts. A very intensive HIV/AIDS campaign was mounted in the pilot districts and Greater Accra region for students, teachers and community members – statistics as below.
Number of Female Male Condoms Distributed
Teachers 698 362 27,708
Students (SSS) 216 205
Pupils (Basic) 675 583
Community members 746 360
VCT 200 169
No. Through VCT 23 8

Total number of people sensitized and trained was 2,558
The GNAT HIV/AIDS project has also trained 103 orphans of teachers from the project area in Screen Printing and Pomade making. This was to give the participants skills so that they would be economically independent. The participants were encouraged to form societies. Thre out of the five societies have been adopted by their District assemblies and one has already been given financial assistance.

Counselling Units
Six counselling units have been opened in the project districts including one at Headquarters. The objective is to counsel teachers and students with diverse problems – alcoholism, financial problems or those affected or infected with HIV/AIDS. Seventeen counsellors were trained. District secretariats are used as counselling centers. At the GNAT headquarters a big center has been furnished and counselling goes on every Wednesday from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. The Counselling unit was officially launched in March 2006

Counselling Surgeries
More than 100 teachers and students have accessed the counselling centre since it was launched. Apart from HIV/AIDS cases which are about 50% of the cases, teachers with marital problems and drug users also come there.
The GNAT has developed an HIV/AIDS Workplace Policy for teachers. This policy when implemented will:

* Give protection from stigmatisation and discrimination in the workplace
* Provide and ensure the availability of care, support and voluntary counselling and testing services to employees and their dependants
Challenges
* After all the education, most teachers still lead very risky lives
* Wrong perception that if condoms are introduced to basic school children it means that they have been licensed to have sex
* The adoption of the HIV/AIDS workplace policy
* No Budget for HIV/AIDS Work ( depend largely on donor support)
* The media promoting promiscuity (Last year, there was condom shortage during Valentine Day)
* Shortage of Anti-Retroviral Drugs

Way Forward
* GNAT to negotiate with the employer to put in place an income continuous fund to cater for the economic needs of PLWHAS
* Reach Out to all regions and districts
* Involve all District and Regional Secretaries in the campaign
* Build the capacity of teachers to fashion BCC interventions for teachers
* Data collection, analysis and interpretation relating to HIV/AIDS in schools and GES offices
* Do a confidential baseline survey to assess the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on GES, teachers and students.
* GNAT To allocate funds in its budget for HIV/AIDS Prevention campaign