Over 800 fishing communities on the coast of the Indian Ocean in Dar es Salaam have been trained by China Harbour Engineering Co. (CHEC) Ltd on best practices to prevent new HIV infections and other related sexually transmitted diseases.
The public awareness campaign has also motivated voluntary testing, whereby 450 people were screened to know their health status, and those who tested positive were advised to start the medication to suppress the virus.
The campaign which commenced in 2020 was created to benefit people who live or work near the Dar es Salaam Maritime Gateway Project (DMGP) II which is dredging the ship’s entrance channel and the turning basin of the Dar es Salaam Port.
“The Construction team insists on effectively fulfilling social responsibility to realize the unity of corporate business value and social value, truly reflecting the improvement and enhancement of the project activities on the local economy, environment, and infrastructure, to maximize the return to employees and society,” said Mr Shan Jifeng, the CHEC’s project supervisor.
He further explained that the AIDS awareness campaign was carried out with the support of AIDS protection experts to the nearby communities and schools and went hand in hand with setting up of free HIV testing stations in conjunction with local hospitals to provide pre-testing, treatment, and psychological counselling and to spread more knowledge about HIV prevention.
The Engineering company also distributed posters with prevention methods messages to raise awareness of the importance of HIV prevention among local people and help them to take part in HIV prevention activities.
Tanzania Ports Authority and site consultant participated in HIV/AIDS training activities with the local HIV/AIDS prevention agency and construction team.
For his part, CHEC’s HIV /AIDS awareness consultant, Mr Onesmo Mwihava, said that the emphasis was laid on combating new infections, where over 9,000 condoms were provided for free while residents were relieved of testing fear.
Participants at the training included fishers, boatmen, fish traders, food vendors around the beach area, and the site construction personnel.
