Seafarers Against HIV/AIDS

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محتوى الصفحة: Home > مجلة النقل الدولي "Transport International" > Issue 37 - October 2009 > Seafarers Against HIV/AIDS

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The ITF is working on new projects to help seafarers fight the risks of HIV/AIDS, says Marianne Powell

When Juma Khamisi applied for a job as a seafarer in 2000, he took a pre-employment medical and discovered he had HIV. Khamisi has been a seafarer, based out of Kenya, since 1975. Although he still feels well enough to work, he can no longer find employment as a seafarer.

Working together
The Global Partnership on HIV and Mobile Workers in the Maritime Sector was launched earlier this year. We asked some of the partner organisations what role unions could play in the fight against HIV/AIDS…

Juma was brave enough to speak out about his condition, and what it means for his work and personal life, as part of a new project to educate seafarers (see box on left). Seafarers face a high risk of HIV because of their working conditions. Unfortunately, there are still not enough workplace interventions taking place.

Watch it on film

Kenyan seafarer Juma Khamisi (pictured above) appears in an educational film that will air on Sea TV – a downloadable TV programme for seafarers which can be watched on DVD players. Sea TV was launched as a pilot project in 2006 and covers a range of health-related issues. We spoke to filmmaker Hans Quatfass about seafarers, education and union messages.

How effective is film as a way of educating workers?
I have been making educational films for many years now and I always see how effective it is. There is no better medium for showing the emotional aspects of a communication goal. And my experience is that people, when they get emotionally involved, become more eager to learn, and they become more open to the message.

But keep in mind that on film the message should remain as simple and clear as possible to reach the viewer with most impact. Preferably you should attach the message to a personal story. For complicated instructions, film is not the best way.

Why is HIV an important topic for Sea TV?
In this series aimed at seafarers, we show all kinds of welfare-related items, including health items. HIV infection and AIDS is threatening the lives of millions of people. Seafarers are especially vulnerable to infection because of the work they do, often being away from their families for a very long time. So a film on this subject was at the top of our wish-list. It was very difficult finding a seafarer who could tell his story – and had the guts to tell it to the global community of seafarers.

www.watchseatv.com

Seafarers are one of the populations worst hit by HIV/AIDS in parts of south east Asia – Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Burma, Thailand, Vietnam and Yunnan province (China) – according to a UNAIDS report. Prevalence rates among seafarers are as high as 22 per cent in some places. And a UNAIDS report from the Philippines shows that 35 per cent of total reported HIV infection cases were among overseas Filipino workers and 33 per cent of these HIV positive cases were seafarers.

The maritime industry is waking up to the fact that it needs to do more to combat the threat of HIV among its workforce.

Earlier this year, the ITF hosted the first meeting of a new project to tackle HIV. The Global Partnership on HIV and Mobile Workers in the Maritime Sector brings together international organisations and global networks which share an interest in HIV/AIDS among seafarers. This is the first time that industry and union bodies have come together to target this issue.

Reaching seafarers effectively needs a joint approach, and unions have a big role to play.

“HIV/AIDS is also an issue for seafarers, but it has not been fully recognised as a workplace issue in the maritime sector,” said Jon Whitlow, ITF Seafarers’ Section secretary. “We need more intervention and more programmes that target seafarers and change their behaviour. Working with inter-governmental, NGO and industry bodies is one way we hope to protect these workers and halt infections.”

Unions also have a role to ensure that HIV/AIDS is understood as a workplace issue. For seafarers, the nature of their work and long periods away from home mean that risky behaviour is far more likely. And, sadly, seafarers who are infected with HIV face many obstacles to find work or continue in their job.

The global partnership hopes to launch a pilot project in the Philippines next year – local consultations are under way. AMOSUP, a seafarers’ union in the Philippines, is keen to support work on HIV/AIDS. The union already offers pre-departure seminars to new seafarers, including information about HIV. But, clearly, more could be done.

“Unions have leaders whom workers look up to as role models,” says Marie Engel, partnership adviser, UNAIDS. “Ownership of HIV programmes has to involve workers, and unions are a natural choice as partners. Unions often have better follow-up on their projects.”

The ITF is also trying to halt infections by reaching seafarers through its inspectors’ network. ITF inspectors, based in ports around the world, have frontline contact with seafarers in need.

At a recent seminar in Istanbul, a number of inspectors were given information on HIV/AIDS as a workplace issue. The inspectors who joined the sessions were from countries that supply large number of seafarers, including the Philippines, India, Ukraine and Russia. Inspectors from ports and countries where the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate is comparatively high – such as Kenya, South Africa and Estonia – also joined in.

Most of the inspectors said having education materials would help them to understand the topics better and answer queries on HIV/AIDS from seafarers more efficiently. They suggested that all seafarers’ centres should have HIV/AIDS materials.

Reaching seafarers can be difficult. Clearly, HIV/AIDS is an ongoing issue and won’t be solved overnight. But unions can play a strong and effective role in supporting seafarers to make better decisions and lobbying employers for HIV clauses in collective agreements.

الصفحة الرئيسية للأقسام:
Issue 37 - October 2009

صفحات أخرى لـ Seafarers Against HIV/AIDS:
Working together

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