St. Lucia Developing HIV/AIDS Policy For Education System

Main Category: HIV / AIDS
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health;  Public Health
Article Date: 05 Sep 2008 - 5:00 PDT

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Stakeholders involved in St. Lucia's education system met last week to commence work on an HIV/AIDS policy for the sector, the Caribbean Media Corporation/Antigua Sun reports. The policy will include mechanisms to ensure that the education system can deal with the disease, and Nahum Jn Baptiste, head of St. Lucia's HIV Secretariat, said that orphans and vulnerable children will be targeted under the policy. He added that the policy will address issues such as identifying students in need of care and referring them to providers (Caribbean Media Corporation/Antigua Sun, 9/1). "There will also be the issue of health and family life education, so it's not just about the transmission of HIV and AIDS but trying to have students develop positive lifestyles, which would help secure them not only from the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted [infections] but to live a full life," Jn Baptiste said. According to Jn Baptiste, the policy will be implemented when the draft is approved by St. Lucia's Cabinet (Caribbean Media Corporation, 9/1).

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