St. Maarten Ports Authority
joins [RED] AIDS campaign
PHILIPSBURG--The St. Maarten Ports Authority has joined the [RED] campaign and will be throwing its support behind the campaign for the month of February.
During the entire month of February, SMPA employees will wear the signature [RED] polo shirts every Friday and share HIV/AIDS information with customers.
Anyone visiting the SMPA offices from 8:00am to 12:00 noon will be given information and material on HIV/AIDS. “This is being done in an effort to raise dialogue and awareness about HIV/AIDS, instead of making it a taboo subject,” it was stated in a press release.
St. Maarten’s [RED] Campaign was officially launched on World AIDS Day last year. The focus of the campaign is to build public/private partnerships that will focus on various programmatic aspects over the next four years. Stage one of the campaign is being introduced in 2008: Talk [RED] … St. Maarten Cares.
The second stage, which will be launched in 2009, is entitled Think [RED], Do Safe … St. Maarten Cares, and will focus on promoting healthy sexual choices.
Stage three, which begins in 2010, has as its theme Act [RED], Go Test … St. Maarten Cares. In this stage persons will be encouraged to know their status and get tested.
The final stage of the campaign in 2011 is Act [RED], Show Love … St. Maarten Cares, which aims to reduce stigma and discrimination.
HIV/AIDS Programme Manager Suzette Moses-Burton said the response to the campaign had been very positive to date.
“In addition to the enthusiasm being shown by the companies that have signed up as official [RED] businesses, there has also been interest expressed by other businesses that want to participate in the campaign in their little way.
“Interest in involvement in the campaign has also been expressed by organisations within the community such as service clubs and even individuals who have been presenting unique and creative ideas for consideration for inclusion in the campaign,” the release stated.
“This is exactly the response that we were hoping for with the unique format of this campaign. We want to make HIV easier to talk about, so that people can get the information they need to save lives. I encourage anyone – businesses, NGOs, service clubs and the general public – to take advantage of the opportunity to get involved, because HIV does affect all of us and it is only when we work together that we will successfully combat HIV here in St. Maarten.”
