About 876 fishing communities at the coast of Indian Ocean in Dar es Salaam have been trained on best practice to prevent new HIV infection and other related sexual transmitted diseases.
The public awareness campaign has also motivated voluntary testing, whereby 450 people were screened to know their health status and those who tested positive were advised to start medication in order to suppress the virus.
The campaign which lasted for two years commenced in October 2020 and was carried out by China Harbour Engineering Co. (CHEC) Ltd.
It was meant to benefit people who live or work near the Dar es Salaam Maritime Gateway Project (DMGP) II which is dredging the ship’s entrance channel and the turning basin of the Dar es Salaam Port.
The participating communities included fishers, boatmen, fish traders, food vendors around the beach area and the site construction personnel.
“This education has come at the right time where youth involving in fishing activities are widely indulging in immoral sexual actions. I will use this knowledge to speak to young people on the importance of abstaining from such acts or using protective gears,” said Mr Hamis Mlongo (72), a fisherman at Kivukoni fishing market.