Port users has been availed another opportunity of knowing their Human Immuno Virus (HIV) status, free of charge courtesy of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), in collaboration with the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Organisation (ALCO).
Determined to combat the menace of HIV and the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) among port users, NPA in joined forces with ALCO organised a three-day mass sensitization rally on the dangers of the dreaded virus and how to fight it; and also conducted free HIV screening tests for port users.
At the rally held at Tin-Can Island Port in Lagos, the NPA HIV/AIDS Enlightenment/Sensitisation Standing Committee also gave out contraceptives and carried out free voluntarily counselling.
Chairman of the Committee, Dr. Comfort Datong, said that the campaign initiative was aimed at reaching out to truck operators who she said are prone to contracting the virus.
“The truck drivers and their assistants embark on long trips away from home, away from their partners. They end up sleeping around and most times without protection and they end up falling victims to the virus,” she said.
She said that the NPA management through the campaign initiative is making appreciable effort to ensure the well-being of truck operators and other ports users.
Recently, the committee had embarked on training peer educators, which comprised of truck operators and other artisans operating within the ports community, on how to educate other ports users on the principles of “Abstinence, Being faithful, and the use of Condom (ABC)”, as ways of fighting the virus, as well as how to give voluntary counselling to those infected by the virus.
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