Corporate bodies urged to help prevent HIV/AIDS
Corporate bodies should come forward to help prevent HIV/AIDS through raising mass awareness among people more vulnerable to the deadly infectious disease, business leaders and health experts said yesterday.
Garment workers were among many other groups vulnerable to the disease and they required special attention, they said at a national seminar titled “Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Preventing HIV/AIDS”.
Marie Stopes and Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) organised the seminar at a city hotel, says a press release.
BGMEA President Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin urged the local initiatives to team up with foreign organisations to help prevent HIV/AIDS.
Appreciating the initiative of the BGMEA, Global Fund and Save the Children for implementing a project on prevention of HIV/AIDS through workplace interventions, Marie Stopes Country Management Consultant Anil P Tambay said BGMEA should continue its effort to prevent the disease in garment factories that contribute to the national economy through earning foreign currency.
Save the Children Country Director Michael McGrath said the private sector is extending its support in this regard, and it should strengthen their efforts.
Local stakeholders should take over charge of every donor-based programme at one stage through partnership among corporate bodies, local entrepreneurs and stakeholders under CSR, said McGrath.
Under the CSR, the BGMEA has been working with Marie Stopes since 2008 and provided life skills education to 313,354 garment workers of 147 garment factories in Dhaka, Gazipur and Narayanganj.
It also trained 168 master trainers, 700 peer educators and 564,580 garment workers, and raised awareness about HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases through video show among the people of different communities.
Dr Abul Kalam Azad, additional director general of the Directorate General of Health Services, BGMEA Vice President Faruque Hassan, second Vice President Siddiqur Rahman, former vice president Harun-Ar-Rashid also spoke at the seminar.
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