Moruga women get AIDS training

GOVERNMENT is committed to a holistic and coordinated assault on HIV/AIDS, Minister of State in the Ministry of Community Development Eulalie James said on Saturday.

Speaking at the launch of the National HIV/AIDS Education and Prevention Programme at Moruga Composite School, James noted: “HIV/AIDS is such an insidious virus that its spread cannot be only prevented with mixtures of sophisticated and unsophisticated techniques. The virus pervades and destroys the immune systems of individuals sociologically, it cuts across the differences of race, class, status, age and gender.”

The programme involves 40 women from the Moruga district who are being trained in AIDS education and counse-ling. James said: “Rural women can also contribute to removing or minimising stigma and discrimination as the barriers to the penetration of HIV/AIDS education and the provision of adequate care, support and treatment. Local women have a wider stock of information on their resident population. They will therefore be more effective than medical and education experts from the outside.”

Also speaking at the launch was CEO of the Tobago Health Promotion Clinic, Dr Raymond Noel, who praised the 40 women for offering themselves to the fight against AIDS.  “I am very happy that 40 women from the Moruga district are involved in the fight against this terrible disease. As a group, you are embarking on a laudable humanitarian mission. You are seeking to make a dent in a health problem that has defied the best minds internationally. But some problems aren’t solved by professionals but rather by simple minds of humble people from our community.”