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NPA intensifies war on HIV/AIDS at Lagos ports 

In a bid to reduce the spread of the Human Immuno Virus/ Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) pandemic, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) HIV/AIDS Enlightenment and Sensitisation Standing Committee embarked on a week-long campaign  against the scourge at both the Lagos and Tin-Can Island ports complexes simultaneously.

The Chairperson of the NPA AIDS Enlightenment and Sensitisation Standing Committee, Dr. Comfort Datong, explained that the campaign is to educate port users, which include truck drivers, their assistants commercial and, as well as Customs agents on the dangers of the virus and precautions.

According to Datong, the campaign is a World Bank project, which the NPA is holding with the Abijan-Lagos Corridor Trade and Transport Facilitation Project.

She noted that the project is also being carried out by other port administrations in West Africa.

Datong said that the campaign, which is a quarterly project, includes counselling, distribution male and female condoms, adding that truck drivers and their assistants are very vulnerable to the virus due to the harsh environment which they the operate under.

She disclosed that the project which started in 2011 will last for the next five, noting that peer educators will be raised within the period.

Also speaking, Leader of the Peer Educators and Vice Chairman of the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), Tin-Can Island Port Unit, Alhaji Ibrahim Ajao, said that the initiative by the NPA and the Abijan-Lagos Corridor Trade and Transport Facilitation Project has broadened their knowledge on the pandemic.

Ajao said that truck drivers, particularly members of his association, are now better informed on how to prevent and live with the pandemic.