HIV/AIDS in the workplace and the need for behavioural change will be high on the agenda at a workshop being held next week for Heads of Departments under the Ministry of Social Care, Constituency Empowerment, Urban and Rural Development and Special Education Teachers.

The Ministry’s HIV/AIDS Coordinator, Veronica Belle, said the three-day event would seek to bring about a greater commitment to its HIV/AIDS programmes, address the issue of discrimination and HIV/AIDS in the workplace, and focus more on the disease and how it affects persons with disabilities (PWDs).

Touching on the issue of HIV/AIDS and PWDs, Mrs. Belle said that it was usually an "overlooked" area.?? "It is a myth that PWDs are not sexually active; so, we expect the two-day session would seek to sensitise and update those Heads and teachers about issues, bring awareness about this and place greater focus on PWDs and HIV/AIDS, as well as to find innovative ways to place that information on HIV at the disposal of PWDs," she remarked.

Mrs. Belle also pointed out that behavioural change was important because although many persons were aware of the pandemic and its effects, they were not modifying their behaviour and putting into practice what they had learnt. "The workshop will look at innovative ways to get persons to do so," she added.

Minister of Social Care, Christopher Sinckler, will deliver remarks at the opening ceremony for the workshop.??

emcclean@barbados.gov.bb

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