Ch 7:
The Army & HIV/Aids
They confidence build with Guatemalans, jungle train with the British and now the Belize Defense Force is learning about aids from the U.S. army's Southern Command. The BDF and the U.S. SOUTHCOM are jointly holding a 5 day peer training seminar. The idea is that soldiers will gain Aids awareness, not in the classroom or lecture hall, but from their own peers. We stopped in at the Biltmore where SOUTHCOM's Major Cheryln Brown told us that the U.S. Army sees HIV and Aids education as priorities.
Major Cherlyn Brown, SOUTHCOM
The United States and the Department of Defense have partnered with the Caribbean countries and with Central America to help with the fight of HIV and Aids and we are doing this by providing technical assistance in helping to establish or support educational programs to help the military or the Defense forces understand how HIV and Aids is transmitted and to also help decrease stigma and discrimination associated with HIV and Aids."
Brig. Gen. Lloyd Gillett, BDF Commander
"There are three reasons - first there are national security implications. Secondly we want to have healthy soldiers and, third, if we can help to reduce the spread of HIV and Aids in the BDF then we help the national fight against HIV and Aids."
Major Cherlyn Brown,
"HIV and Aids is one of the most preventable sexually transmitted diseases and we are trying to get the message out, especially to the defense forces, to understand the significance and importance of trying to decrease the spread of this disease."
Brig. Gen. Lloyd Gillett,
"We have over the years been giving the information to our soldiers. We have a very robust program with the Pan American Social Marketing Organization (PASMO). They've been out trying to train the trainers, increase awareness, and get people get people to adopt the right attitudes and behavior change. I mentioned that there are national security implications and as the HIV infection rate goes up, then the total manpower available for military service will decrease and we won't be able to recruit our future leaders, officers, and soldiers and our country will become more attractive to the transnational criminal organizations and others who want to do our country harm. At the moment we have seen that within the force, our infection rate is less than that of the general population and that is so because we are a more healthy population, we do more testing as well, and it is also so because on entry people are screened before they come into the force. We are hoping that the peer education techniques that they get here will be able to assist the participants to go out and spread the message to those other soldiers that are out there and even when they are out in the evening having fun, these peer educators will be able to try and influence the behavior of those other soldiers."
The training seminar runs through to Friday.
The Army & HIV/Aids
They confidence build with Guatemalans, jungle train with the British and now the Belize Defense Force is learning about aids from the U.S. army's Southern Command. The BDF and the U.S. SOUTHCOM are jointly holding a 5 day peer training seminar. The idea is that soldiers will gain Aids awareness, not in the classroom or lecture hall, but from their own peers. We stopped in at the Biltmore where SOUTHCOM's Major Cheryln Brown told us that the U.S. Army sees HIV and Aids education as priorities.
Major Cherlyn Brown, SOUTHCOM
The United States and the Department of Defense have partnered with the Caribbean countries and with Central America to help with the fight of HIV and Aids and we are doing this by providing technical assistance in helping to establish or support educational programs to help the military or the Defense forces understand how HIV and Aids is transmitted and to also help decrease stigma and discrimination associated with HIV and Aids."
Brig. Gen. Lloyd Gillett, BDF Commander
"There are three reasons - first there are national security implications. Secondly we want to have healthy soldiers and, third, if we can help to reduce the spread of HIV and Aids in the BDF then we help the national fight against HIV and Aids."
Major Cherlyn Brown,
"HIV and Aids is one of the most preventable sexually transmitted diseases and we are trying to get the message out, especially to the defense forces, to understand the significance and importance of trying to decrease the spread of this disease."
Brig. Gen. Lloyd Gillett,
"We have over the years been giving the information to our soldiers. We have a very robust program with the Pan American Social Marketing Organization (PASMO). They've been out trying to train the trainers, increase awareness, and get people get people to adopt the right attitudes and behavior change. I mentioned that there are national security implications and as the HIV infection rate goes up, then the total manpower available for military service will decrease and we won't be able to recruit our future leaders, officers, and soldiers and our country will become more attractive to the transnational criminal organizations and others who want to do our country harm. At the moment we have seen that within the force, our infection rate is less than that of the general population and that is so because we are a more healthy population, we do more testing as well, and it is also so because on entry people are screened before they come into the force. We are hoping that the peer education techniques that they get here will be able to assist the participants to go out and spread the message to those other soldiers that are out there and even when they are out in the evening having fun, these peer educators will be able to try and influence the behavior of those other soldiers."
The training seminar runs through to Friday.