Spreading the word

AIDS is not a popular topic of discussion in Nigeria. For this reason, Julius Berger Nigeria PLC makes use of peer education to spread information about the disease and promote prevention: colleagues advise colleagues on how AIDS can be avoided. In September, a program was launched for truck drivers—a particularly high-risk group.

When somebody dies young, family members talk of “blood cancer” or “pneumonia.” Nigerians go to great lengths to avoid the four-letter word—despite the fact that over 300,000 a year are killed by the virus which does not stop at class barriers. Some 3.6 million citizens are estimated to be infected—five percent of the adult population.

“Men who travel a lot in their jobs are especially at risk,” says Elisabeth Girrbach of GTZ, a state-owned German technical cooperation agency. Truck drivers and businessmen frequently contract HIV while traveling—and spread the virus further. The GTZ provides assistance for companies in combating AIDS: in Nigeria, it supports the “Nigerian Business Coalition against AIDS” (NIBUCAA). This organization is an association of three dozen companies, including Julius Berger Nigeria PLC (JBN)—one of the country’s largest employers, with a staff of 16,500. “Julius Berger is one of the driving forces behind the anti-AIDS coalition,” says Elisabeth Girrbach. The association organizes its educational campaign against AIDS from an office in Lagos which is made available and logistically supported by JBN free of charge.

In addition to its involvement in the umbrella organization, JBN is now launching a prevention program for its own staff. It is based on the idea of peer education: colleagues inform each other. “Studies in other African countries have shown that education among peers is more successful than information campaigns initiated by superiors, teachers or doctors,” explains Dr. Martin Wilczek, Chief Medical Officer with Julius Berger. The company employs a total of ten doctors to provide free medical care for employees throughout the country. The program is initially geared towards the high-risk group of around 500 truck drivers who transport material from the sea ports to construction sites all over the country. “First of all, we identify drivers with a certain charisma,” explains Hartmut Tolle, who initiated the project with Martin Wilczek. “They are then trained to be trainers themselves so that they can tell their colleagues about the disease and how it is spread.” The program starts with the first “train-the-trainer” session in September and will be evaluated after three to six months. “If we are successful and the drivers really do start to change their behavior—by using condoms, for example—we will introduce the program at all our sites,” says Dr.Wilczek.

As Hartmut Tolle explains, the drivers will also take their new knowledge to their home villages. “People who work for Julius Berger have a solid, regular income and so they enjoy considerable social prestige: we hope our people will use their influence to talk to their friends and neighbors about AIDS, too. This is the only way the initiative will go beyond the company and start to take effect in society at large.” This is crucial because the disease inevitably results in catastrophe, for both those infected and their families: Nigeria is still a developing country with rudimentary health and social care systems, so there is no escape once AIDS strikes. This is why it is so important for companies to get involved in prevention, says Hartmut Tolle: by providing information, condoms and free AIDS tests. In recent years, some three and a half thousand Julius Berger employees have taken advantage of the opportunity to undergo an AIDS test. As anticipated, the number of those testing positive was high.

“We have great hopes for the success of our new peer education program,” explains Martin Wilczek. “People simply have to learn that unprotected sex is extremely dangerous.”

(Text: Bernd Hauser, Photos : Tony Azougu)