The NGO RAPAA and the NGO FAMME: an action of sensitization and voluntary HIV testing for students and vulnerable women

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Extract from the article: As part of the celebration of the World AIDS Day observed every 1st December, the NGO RAPAA and the NGO FAMME organised a meeting with media professionals on Thursday 15th December 2022 in Lomé. The aim of this meeting was to inform the media about..

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As part of the celebration of the World AIDS Day observed every 1st December, the NGO RAPAA and the NGO FAMME organised a meeting with media professionals on Thursday 15th December 2022 in Lomé. The aim of this meeting was to inform the media about the actions carried out and the results obtained during the two (02) days of activities.

Since 2015, the NGO RAPAA has used the World AIDS Day as an opportunity to carry out actions to fight against the use of psychoactive substances and HIV/AIDS contamination. For the 2022 edition of World AIDS Day, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) wanted to focus on eradicating the inequalities that fuel the AIDS epidemic and hinder progress through the theme: "Pushing for equality". With this in mind, the NGO RAPAA, in collaboration with the NGO Force en Action pour le Mieux-être de la Mère et de l'Enfant (FAMME), an organisation that has been working for many years with women in vulnerable situations, conducted awareness-raising activities and voluntary testing for STIs, HIV/AIDS and hepatitis B. These actions, which were perfectly integrated into the global theme of the WDD, were carried out thanks to the technical support of the National Council for the Fight against AIDS (CNLS) and the financial support of UNAIDS.

Development of the two days of activities

On Friday 09 December 2022, the teams of the NGO RAPAA and the NGO FAMME in collaboration with the peer educators carried out information, sensitisation, voluntary screening for STIs HIV/AIDS and hepatitis B, therapeutic consultations for the students of the university ESIG GLOBAL. The NGO RAPAA has already intervened in this university and sensitized students on two important themes such as "Consumption of psychoactive substances and risky sexual practices" and "Consumption of psychoactive substances and contamination with HIV/AIDS, hepatitis and others". Then, on Wednesday 14 December 2022, teams from the NGO RAPAA and the NGO FAMME joined sex workers and female porters at the public site of Agbadahonou for information, awareness raising, voluntary screening for STIs HIV/AIDS and hepatitis B, therapeutic consultations and the distribution of hygiene materials. 

Results of the two days of activities

Under the influence of substances, there is a greater risk of being exposed to risky sexual practices such as unprotected sex, non-consensual sex and vulnerability to sexual assault. Thus, for the two (02) days of activities, the intervention teams were able to raise awareness among 255 students and 190 women and men on the consequences of substance abuse, particularly the risks of contamination with STIs, HIV/AIDS and hepatitis B. To reinforce these awareness-raising activities and reduce the risks of contamination by STIs/HIV/AIDS, prevention tools such as 810 leaflets, posters and stickers were distributed to participants, and around 10,000 male condoms, 1,500 female condoms and 2,250 lubricants were distributed to encourage women to have protected sexual relations.

During these days of activities, nearly 183 students, 83 of whom were girls and 100 boys, were able to undergo voluntary HIV testing, and 102 people, 55 of whom were women and 47 men, most of whom were drug users, underwent voluntary testing for HIV, Hepatitis B and STIs. The positive cases detected were referred to the medical and social centre of the NGO FAMME, which specialises in the care of people living with HIV.

It is important to reduce socio-economic inequalities and to strengthen actions aimed at people with difficult living conditions in order to avoid their stigmatisation and marginalisation, with all the risks inherent in their social exclusion.

Raymond Dzakpata