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Practise safe sex, fishers told

Fishers and fish-mongers operating along the shores of Lake Chilwa have been asked to practise safe sex to avoid contracting HIV .

Youth Net and Counselling (Yoneco) district projects officer Richard Khonjera said this at Mposa in Machinga recently during a four-day training organised with funding from the National Aids Commission (NAC).

Khonjera said fishers, considered to be a hard-to-reach population, are vulnerable to HIV , but are largely excluded from Aids programmes.

“Fishers and fish traders are a mobile community that often spends extended periods on the water and away from home. Vulnerability to HIV and Aids stems from their mobility.

“Many of them have money and often are young and sexually active. Commercial sex in fishing ports makes the situation worse,” said Khonjera.

Mposa Health Centre antiretroviral therapy (ART) programme supervisor Frank Nyozani said unprotected sex is leading to high HIV prevalence rates.

The training attracted at least 25 participants.

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