LBCH Partners with tourism association ASMET to promote HIV and AIDS awareness
View(s):The Lanka Business Coalition on HIV and AIDS (LBCH) recently signed a MoU with The Association of Small and Medium Enterprises in Tourism Sri Lanka (ASMET) with the aim of promoting HIV and AIDS awareness among its members.
ASMET President Sam Tegal signed the MOU on behalf of ASMET and Nadija Tambiah, Chairperson of the LBCH on behalf of the LBCH. Ayomi Fernando, Director LBCH and Rukmani Rathnayake, Coordinator LBCH presented the services offered by LBCH and how the artnership with ASMET and LBCH is envisaged, a media release from LBCH said.
In terms of the MoU ASMET will provide access to its members in the leisure sector to the awareness sessions offered by LBCH. LBCH has been instrumental in conducting peer education and sensitization programmes free of charge for its member associations, with the aim of preventing the spread of HIV and AIDS in the country. The 2015 LBCH focus has been on the hotels and tourism sector, due to its higher vulnerability. LBCH has already initiated several training/ awareness creation programmes for this sector. “Working with ASMET provides an important opportunity for the LBCH to reach a larger number of businesses involved in this sector, as well as to target communities and persons connected with the industry who may be especially at risk,” the release said.
LBCH is a non- profit coalition of individual corporates, which has partnered with organizations such as the National STD/AIDS Control Programme of the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Labour, ILO, UNAIDS, Chambers of Commerce, the Tourist Hotels Association in Sri Lanka and Employers’ Federation of Ceylon to address the critical issue of HIV and AIDS awareness and prevention. Many leading corporates in Sri Lanka are members of LBCH, recognizing both the need for the corporate sector to play a role in maintaining Sri Lanka’s current low HIV prevalence rate, and their own responsibility to safeguard the health, safety and well being of their own employees.
Mr. Tegal said that HIV and AIDS is a national problem and all need to join hands together to overcome this issue. Further he requested his members to take advantage of the MOU entered into between the two bodies, to take the message of HIV awareness and prevention to a wide audience.