THE Education Ministry says it is on board with National Week of Testing(NWT) and is hoping to have some 1000 employees and members of the public tested by weekend.
On Monday, a one day testing exercise commenced at the ministry’s 26 Brickdam compound in the city, and this will continue throughout the week at various locations across Region 4, including the Carnegie School of Home Economics and the Government Technical Institute, among others. These activities are being conducted in collaboration with the National Aids Programme Secretariat (NAPS), and are designed to raise awareness in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Participants at Monday’s exercise also had their blood pressure and glucose level tested, all free of charge.
According to HIV/AIDS coordinator in the ministry, Janelle Sweatnam, the objective of these exercises is to create behavioural change among participants, by building awareness of the virus and its consequences.
She said that the aim is to also build and increase the knowledge of how persons can benefit from a healthy lifestyle.
“We want to increase the knowledge of people of ways they can enjoy a healthy lifestyle and how they can avoid contracting the virus,” Sweatnam said.
She made an appeal to persons to get tested so that they can know their status early, and take the necessary action.
Meanwhile, the HIV/AIDS Prevention and School Health Unit in the ministry has also conducted several awareness sessions with second and third year pre-service and in-service trainee teachers at the Cyril Potter College of Education.
These interactions were geared to enlighten the teachers on ways to respond to students infected and affected by the virus.
The findings of a recent study on HIV-related stigma and discrimination, and learning outcomes of children infected and affected by HIV and AIDS in Guyana found that although there is an indication of stigma and discrimination against these children, it did not determine how well they will perform in school.
This study was carried out by the Caribbean Child Development Centre (CCDC), the University of the West Indies (UWI) Open Campus, and the UNESCO Kingston Cluster Office, in collaboration with the Education Ministry and the UWI- HIV & AIDS Response Programme.
Sweatnam pointed out that the National Testing Week exercises are a prelude to the ministry’s activities to mark World AIDS Day on December 1, 2011.
World AIDS Day 2011 will be held under the theme, “Getting to Zero – Zero New HIV Infections. Zero Discrimination and Zero AIDS Related Deaths”.
The occasion is dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection. According to UNAIDS estimates, there are now 33.4 million people living with HIV, including 2.1 million children. During 2008, some 2.7 million people became newly infected with the virus, and an estimated two million people died from AIDS.
Around half of all people who become infected with HIV do so before they are 25 and are killed by AIDS before they are 35.