The education on the prevention of HIV and AIDS seems to be going down with Ghanaians and people are now being more careful of their lifestyles.

Basic information about the A, B and C (Abstinence, Be faithful and use a Condom) has become a household word and Kayayei (women porters) who have been described as vulnerable, are using these three alphabets as their guiding principles.

A Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) exercise conducted for 150 Kayayei from Agbobloshie and Mallam Atta markets had all of them testing negative.

The test, which was conducted three consecutive times just to be sure of the results, was done by Society for Women against AIDS in Africa (SWAA) in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and supported by the UNFPA.

The VCT was a follow-up of training of 50 Kayayei selected from the two markets in Accra early this year where they were trained as peer educators on HIV and AIDS and Sexual Reproductive Health (SRH) issues among their peers.

The training formed part of UN reform focusing on division of labour in relation to HIV and AIDS; which focused more on prevention intervention, targeting young people, women and vulnerable groups.

Speaking to the media, Mrs Cecelia Lodonu-Sam, Executive Director of SWAA, said her outfit would engage the Kayayei in intensive education that will enable them remain HIV negative.

She explained that the aim for the collaboration is to build the capacity of the Kayayei in reproductive rights to enable them make health decisions and have negotiation skills.

"People have always underestimated these Kayayei and we consider them as very vulnerable and they have proved us wrong. With a little push in education and support, they could also make it in life and rub shoulders with their colleagues in the formal sector," she said.

She also added that Kayayei, though vulnerable, are able to control themselves because of their cultural beliefs about incriminate sex, fear of unfortunate things happening to them or incurring the wrath of their ancestors and gods. They would therefore rather keep to themselves and have their blessings.

As part of the efforts to improve their economic status, 20 condom outlets have been opened in the two market centres and are being operated by the Kayayei.

Mrs Loddonu-Sam said the project of training and equipping the Kayayei with economic skills would be extended to men porters who have complained of being sidelined in the training.

She appealed to other stakeholders assist in training and equipping women and men porters with requisite skills to improve their economic status and social lifestyles.

HIV and AIDS Programme Officer of UNFPA, Ms Esi Awotwi, expressed UNFPA's excitement about the negative reports of the VCT conducted on the kayayei and pledged continuous support in intensifying the peer-to-peer education to further reduce the spread of the virus.



Source: GNA