The groundbreaking development means that over 80 percent of all seafarer cadets graduating from the Philippines each year will have received in-depth training in HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
At a meeting on 2 July with the ITF and its affiliates the AMOSUP and PSU, the Philippines Association of Maritime Institutions (PAMI) and its members agreed to work with the ITF to incorporate a comprehensive HIV/AIDS and STIs module in their curriculums. The ITF and PAMI, which represents 80 of the Philippines’ maritime academies, expect the module to be introduced in all the academies by early 2016. The ITF will provide technical support.
Conrado Oca, AMOSUP president and MAAP chairperson, said: “AMOSUP and MAAP are very excited to see that the pilot initiative in the academy on the HIV/AIDS module is now a global model for consideration and inclusion in the maritime curriculum. AMOSUP will continue to work with the ITF to keep seafarers healthy and happy.”
ITF general secretary Steve Cotton added that seafarers and other transport workers were more vulnerable to HIV due to the nature and conditions of their work, and said that the ITF and its affiliates were committed to help seafarers prevent HIV/AIDS and ensure their better health and wellbeing.
The Philippines development is part of an ITF global initiative to incorporate HIV/AIDs module in maritime academies in all the major seafarers supplying countries by 2018.
Read more about the ITF HIV pilot.
