Low turnout for men’s Aids workshop
Only a handful of men showed up today for a “Men Only” workshop on AIDS that was designed to openly discuss the AIDS epidemic and other reproductive health issues such as fatherhood and relationships. The low turnout reflected a larger problem: fear and disinterest. Janelle Chanona reports.
Janelle Chanona, Reporting
“So you didn’t have a choice in coming today or did you want to come to?”
Jose Lopez, Belize Defense Force
“Well, I really didn’t never had a choice right, he asked me to represent and so I did that.”
The fact that almost half of today’s participants were there because they were required to be is just one of the many problems the National Aids Task Force is facing. The word sex and Aids are still taboo for most Belizeans, making it hard to educate them about sexual health, especially when it comes to men.
Luis Martinez, AIDS Educator
“That’s where people who will argue that condom use is not effective but the truth is that when your are not using them correctly that’s when they will fail. The most two common errors are leaving some air inside the condom when they put it on and using oil based lubricants cause those can damage the latex.”
Rodel Beltran Perera, Deputy Chairman, National Aids Task Force
“Throughout our experiences with not only the National Aids Task Force, but through the National Aids Program and then also with different organizations, NGOs, agencies and departments, personnel have seen faced difficulties with facing men to come in as a big group to come in and speak about their sexuality…about sex.”
But with Belize now number one in Central American with cases of aids and HIV infection the message has to get out and people have to begin to talk. According to Perera, from the first week of January to the end of February this year, one Belizean a week died from AIDS or an AIDS related illness.
Perera says the situation is so critical that all Belizeans even those who experience a language barrier or are illiterate cannot be forgotten.
Rodel Beltran Perera
“We know of literacy programs being carried out in the country presently. We want to network with that grouping so that will further take our campaign into that grouping.”
Janelle Chanona, for News Five.
The workshop, which was sponsored by the National AIDS task force, was held at the Princess Belize.
