Boat Operators Urged to Know HIV Status
Chairperson for the Boat Operators, Chiyembekezo Forty hailed FACE and Aids Healthcare Foundation (AHF) for coming to the dock for the interface meeting.
NSANJE, Malawi-Boat operators at Mtayamoyo dock in Nsanje have been urged to go for voluntary HIV testing for them to know their status, a move which will help them make informed decisions, writes Cornelius Lupenga.
Project Officer for Foundation for Active Civic Education (FACE) Constantine Nkhani made the call on Friday during an interface meeting with the boat operators at Mtayamoyo dock.
He said it is vital for boat operators plying their businesses at the harbour to get tested.
Nkhani also said this is part of the follow up to what the fishermen were trained on after noting the increase of the new HIV/AIDS infections in the areas of Traditional Authority Mbenje and Tengani.
The project officer said this follows an orientation for the fishermen who are doing their fishing activities around Chisamba, Bulawayo, Kalenso just to name a few areas.
"Fishermen take an advantage of their businesses (fish) to exchange with sex hence fueling the contraction and spreading of pandemic," he said.
Senior Group Village Headman Nyang'a said the interface meeting has come at the right time when most people are not aware of the drugs such as PEP and PREP.
Said the SVGH, "FACE should extend this project across the area so that traditional leaders too benefit from the messages being passed out."
District AIDS Coordinator for Nsanje, MacKnowledge Tembo disclosed that the two facilities of Kalemba Rural Community Hospital and Phokera Health Centre are on record of the new HIV infections in the district.
"We have registered 17 new HIV infections cases from the said health facilities which is posing threats to the public," said Tembo.
Chairperson for the Boat Operators, Chiyembekezo Forty hailed FACE and Aids Healthcare Foundation (AHF) for coming to the dock for the interface meeting.
"We have learnt a lot about PEP and PREP as the important things which we were not aware of," said Forty.
He said the boat operators like any other person need to be equipped with knowledge of the new HIV infections.
"We have learnt a lot about PEP and PREP as the important things which we were not aware of," Forty said.
The chair added that the operators usually find it difficult to go for testing in order to know their bodies.