Rotterdam 2007 Conference on Ownership of STI/HIV Prevention among Ethnic Minorities in the Netherlands
Ownership of STI/HIV Prevention among Ethnic Minorities in the Netherlands
Rotterdam 2007 Conference
5 October 2007
Rotterdam, The Netherlands
PSAP represented the Filipino community in the Netherlands in the conference entitled “Ownership of STI/HIV prevention among ethnic minorities, 2007″. This gathering which was the second one of its kind convened by SOA AIDS Nederland, was held at the De Kuip Congress Centrum in Rotterdam on 5 October 2007. The sub-theme of the conference: “Preventing further infections while supporting the infected!”
Dutch MP Kathleen Ferrier referred to Dutch policy on STI and AIDS in her keynote address.
PSAP’s contribution highlighted the connection between the settled Filipino migrant community in the Netherlands and the huge number of Filipino seafarers constantly transiting the country. PSAP then shared to participants PSAP’s over-10 years old programme on HIV/AIDS prevention for seafarers which utilized, among others, community-based volunteer educators. PSAP also showed the pioneering contribution of PSAP in the maritime industry, with its publication of “The Singing Mate”, which documents the life of a Filipino victim of HIV/AIDS.
The alarming connection between HIV/AIDS and Filipino seafarers employed in the international trades has been established in the Philippines, where the HIV-AIDS prevalence has changed from being described as “low and slow” to “growing and alarming”. Recent Philippine government data show that of the 2,001 sero-positive persons in the country, 32% were Filipino overseas workers, with seafarers being the most affected group.
On the other hand, recent monitoring reports reveal that there were a total of 16 HIV patients in the Netherlands who are of Filipino origin.
PSAP’s delegation to the Ethnic Minorities Congress consisted of: Dr. Peter Payoyo, Engr. Felix Pulmano, PSAP HIV/AIDS educator Josie Pulmano, and community youth representative Shane Pulmano.
AIDS break: some participants touring the conference venue – home base of the Feyenoord football team
| PSAP began its HIV/AIDS education initiative for seafarers in 1995, and with the support of the ITF Seafarers Trust, launched a more systematic campaign in 1996. The campaign took various forms: training of HIV/AIDS educators (with the help of GGD Rotterdam) among the community-based volunteers of PSAP, regular ship visiting for on-board education, launching of informal “peer group” meetings among seafarers ashore, studying sexual behavior of Filipino seafarers, publishing culturally sensitive information materials, and establishing linkages with the relevant networks in the Philippines and internationally. The programme was positively evaluated in end-1999 when the ITF-funded project terminated. |
Philippine Seafarers Assistance Programme
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