PLACA Donates 7,000 Condoms To NUJ, Conduct Free HIV Test
The Nigeria Union Of Journalists Plateau State, on Thursday received 7000 Condoms and other sensitive materials from the Plateau AIDS Control Agency (PLACA), aimed at controlling the Scourge of the Human Immune Deficiency (HIV) and Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).
According to the Acting Executive Director PLACA, Mr Sunday Markus, he said that Journalists are the mouth piece of the nation, hence, the need to sensitize them on the deadly disease, so they can communicate the message to the society.
Markus posits that for the media to educate people on the subject matter, they also need to know their HIV status and go through the counseling exercise.
His words, “Journalists are essential partners on the war against the deadly scourge called HIV and AIDS and once you neglect the media, then, we are missing it wrongly.
“That is why we have said all Journalists must know their HIV status and one of the ways to get them to check their status is to offer free screening and counseling to all media practitioners within our reach”.
The PLACA boss also said that a comprehensive training and lecture will be given to newsmen as a guide to prevention, adding that once Journalists are abreast with basic information on the killer disease, then, they can disseminate the information and educate others.
However, Markus revealed that early detection and treatment can stop the carrier from transmitting the virus to another person, adding that researchers has come up with a drug that can reduce the effect of the virus and prevent it from onward transmission.
He said “once there is an early detection and treatment is administered between six to one year consecutively, the patient will live a normal life and cannot transmit the virus to another person”, the PLACA boss said.
