HIV plan for teachers still has long way to go

THE Workplace HIV-AIDS Policy and Wellness Programme needs further advertising, implementation and dissemination amongst teachers.

This was one of the findings of the Academy for Educational Development (AED), which, in conjunction with the Ministry of Education HIV-AIDS Management Unit and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), last week presented the findings of a study on the attitudes of Namibian teachers to HIV-AIDS.
The education sector employs more than 20 000 teachers, making the Ministry of Education the largest employer in the country, serving an estimated 500 000 pupils.
The survey found that teachers often were unaware of a workplace HIV-AIDS policy, and often had not read it, with HIV-positive teachers being the most likely to have read the policy.
Of the 4 257 teachers surveyed over the last 12 months, only 24 per cent had received formal HIV-AIDS education at work, and 46 per cent received male condoms while 15 per cent received femidoms. Further, only 5 per cent had received voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) at the workplace or through work referral, and 3 per cent had received treatment for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) at the workplace or through work referral.
The survey findings suggest that “the majority of teachers have not received beneficial workplace wellness resources”, indicated by the lack of knowledge of these programmes, the poor use of condoms with up to 36 per cent of male teachers in non-marital or non-cohabiting relationships reporting not using a condom the last time they had sex.
“Education about the policy will protect employee rights, ensure confidence and reduce stigma while use of the wellness programme will improve the overall health of employees infected and affected by the virus,” says the report.
The survey further recommends that younger teachers should be targeted in improving teachers’ knowledge of the workplace policy.
With regard to HIV-AIDS knowledge, attitudes and beliefs, the survey shows that teachers most often receive information on the pandemic from radio and television, with only an average of 24 per cent reporting that they also received HIV-AIDS information from a workplace source – most often a co-worker. This finding suggests that more could be done in the workplace to disseminate HIV-AIDS information.
About 47 per cent of teachers surveyed answered incorrectly with regard to circumcision as a preventive measure, 65 per cent were unaware of the ability to access HIV drugs for free or at a low cost, and 71 per cent did not know that there is an increased vulnerability to HIV when infected with an STI.
In assessing HIV-AIDS beliefs amongst teachers, the survey found that “teachers are more able to refuse unwanted sex than they are to use condoms, with only 45 per cent of teachers reporting ability to effectively use a condom, and 74 per cent reporting ability to effectively refuse sex.
In the assessment of attitudes, the survey found that “generally stigma attitudes were low,” despite 33,4 per cent reporting a stigma-related attitude towards people living with HIV-AIDS.
While the 69 per cent average of teachers that have ever been tested for HIV exceeds the national average of around 40 per cent, only 47 per cent of teachers went for testing in the last 12 months. Of those who have tested positive, “close to a third have not disclosed their status to their partners, and two-thirds never disclosed to their co-workers,” the survey reports.
HIV-AIDS-related risk behaviours also exist amongst teachers, skewing their perception of their own vulnerability to HIV.
The survey implies that teachers engage in risky behaviours such as having multiple sex partners (with 13 per cent of teachers, particularly young male teachers, reporting having had more than one sex partner in the last six months), having concurrent sex partners (16 per cent of teachers reported having had sex with more than one partner over the same period of time in the last 12 months, and another 29 per cent reporting having sex partners who also had other sex partners), having partners who are 10 or more years older or younger, low condom use, and alcohol abuse affecting sex and decision-making.
The survey concludes that teachers’ perceived vulnerability to HIV is low, with 24 per cent of the surveyed teachers reporting that they felt they were likely to become infected with HIV, yet risky behaviours are high.
The survey findings conclude that “knowledge is not enough to change behaviour,” and that there is a need for greater access to resources, a confidence/ability to change behaviour, and a need for a change in social norms and beliefs.
–nangula@namibian.com.na