Arlene Nicholson (left), Director, Health Promotion and Education, Ministry of Health, urges members of the Reach Organisation at the Ocho Rios High School to take charge of their health by eating wisely, exercising and practising responsible sexual behaviour. The student leaders were participating in a recent workshop hosted by the Private Sector Organisation, the Jamaica Employers' Federation and the Ministry of Health at the Grand Lido Sans Souci Hotel, in St. Mary. - Contributed
TESTING OF pregnant women, training of health professionals and health workers in voluntary pre and post-test counselling, as well as home-based caregivers, are among new HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment strategies to be introduced by the North East Regional Health Authority (NERHA) this year.
Details of the initiatives were outlined by Dr. Michelle Roofe, regional technical director, at a workshop on HIV/AIDS and Corporate Wellness, hosted by the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ), the Jamaica Employers' Federation and the Ministry of Health at the Grand Lido Sans Souci Hotel, recently.
They are being adopted in the face of the rising incidence of HIV/AIDS, especially in the parish of St. Ann, which has the fourth highest AIDS case rate in the island of 207 per 100,000.
Dr. Roofe stated that the North East Regional Health Authority would be focusing on the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS, with a view to meeting its target of 80 per cent per cent to 100 per cent testing of pregnant women by year-end.
TESTING FOR PREGNANT WOMEN
She explained that, in keeping with this objective, the Ministry of Health planned to introduce a rapid testing method for HIV, for pregnant women this month. This service would be extended, subsequently, to individuals who attend clinics dealing with family planning and sexually transmitted infections.
The Regional Technical Director added that pregnant women living with HIV/AIDS would also have access to a single dose therapy of an anti-retroviral drug, given at the onset of labour, with medication also available for newborns within 72 hours after birth. This will help to reduce the rate of transmission of the virus from the mother to the baby.
Dr. Roofe went on to highlight plans for the establishment of a specialised treatment site at the St. Ann's Bay Hospital. Clinicians will be trained specifically in the management of persons living with HIV/AIDS. "Despite increased levels of awareness, there is still a stigma associated with HIV/AIDS among some health workers. We have identified several strategies to address this problem," she noted.
HOME-BASED CARE PROGRAMME
A programme is also being developed to provide improved home-based care, so that both health workers and community members will be trained to offer basic supportive, psychological and nursing care to persons living with HIV/AIDS in communities.
In his presentation, Mr. Owen Belvett, Regional Director for the North East Regional Health Authority, told participants, "We no longer say 'AIDS kills,' as there is a life to live between the time the disease is contracted and death. There is productive time."
However, he cautioned the audience that the disease would eventually affect everyone, as it spreads to infect close friends and relatives.
"We must be able to talk honestly about sexual intercourse with our children, because this is the most common way that the disease is transmitted, and this is the only way that we can prepare them to protect themselves and, at the same time, ensure that our country continues to have a productive workforce," he emphasised.
The workshop was the third in a series of regional meetings to alert business leaders to the threat that HIV/AIDS and chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes, pose to the business sector and to encourage them to develop Corporate Wellness Policies for their organisations.