‘Aids battle is for everyone’

CHIEF Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA), Orville London said yesterday that Tobago was not in denial over the alarming HIV/AIDS situation in the island. He emphasised that everyone must get involved if there is to be any success in the battle to stem the rapid spread of the killer disease. London made the point when he addressed an official reception at the Scarborough Port Terminal Building, which followed the military parade in commemoration of this country’s 41st anniversary of independence. “The awareness of all the people and the involvement of all the people remain critical as we attempt to prevent HIV/AIDS from decimating our population and threatening our very existence,” he stressed. The THA Chief Secretary told his audience: “Tobago is not burying its head in the sand and we are now poised to implement a comprehensive programme of education, sensitisation, treatment and counselling that would impact on every resident on the island. We need your co-operation; those who are afflicted or affected need your understanding,” he appealed. “And all of us need to understand that our lifestyle could determine the length of our lives,” London warned.

He noted that the HIV/AIDS problem was really no different to the crime situation. In this regard, he said it was recognised that in Tobago the most potent weapon in the battle against crime was “the support of the people who must co-operate with the law enforcement agencies in nurturing an environment in which it would be the criminal, not the law-abiding citizen, who feels alienated.” London said the THA was in support of the move to increase the strength of the police service, and expected that “Tobago would receive its fair share of the new intake. But,” he emphasised, “an increase in the number of law enforcement officers must be accompanied by an enhanced public awareness of the importance of the role of the people in the tackling of a problem that concerns the people.”