UNIVERSITY OF NAMIBIA

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND THE BUILT

ENVIRONMENT

HIV AND AIDS EDUCATION

ASSIGNMENT 01
_________________________________________________

Student Name: Haileka Tuhafeni N

Student Number: 219015457

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Introduction

AIDS, also known as acquired immune deficiency syndrome, is a fatal illness. It is one of the
20th century's most feared illnesses. The Human Immunodeficiency Virus, also known as
HIV, destroys the human immune system and is the root cause of AIDS. Since the beginning
of the epidemic, 84.2 million [64.0–113.0 million] people have been infected with the HIV
virus and about 40.1 million [33.6–48.6 million] people have died of HIV.

Globally, 38.4 million [33.9–43.8 million] people were living with HIV at the end of 2021.
An estimated 0.7% [0.6-0.8%] of adults aged 15–49 years worldwide are living with HIV,
although the burden of the epidemic continues to vary considerably between countries and
regions. AIDS has spread like wildfire throughout the world since it was first identified. The
public has become more aware about AIDS thanks to the ongoing efforts of the government
and non-governmental groups [1].

This report will focus on how to mitigate and measure the impacts of HIV/AIDS. It will also
make a make reflection on a HIV Workplace Programme of an Engineering
Industry/Company). It will Present an overview of an industry/company in terms of the type
of business and product they deal with as well as the number and sex composition of the staff
and management structure/staff. Moreover, the report will evaluate of the Strategic
framework for HIV workplace of the mentioned industry/company in relation to the strategic
framework described in the Health Safety and HIV Education Student Manual For each of the
following strategic framework. Describe the expectations and indicate how the strategic
framework of this industry/company under evaluation complies to the expectations outlined
in the student manual as well as other related official documents. The report will also make
an emphasis Combination Prevention Strategy. How the recommendations of the
International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC) are applied.

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1.1 An overview of the industry worked with during attachment one.

The student was sent to the ministry of works and transport as an intern under the department
of works. The department is structured into three directorates namely; Directorate of capital
management, directorate of works and maintenance and the directorate of aircraft Accident
and Incident investigations. The internship that was carried out at the Omuthiya Ministry of
Works and Maintenance office.

The office of the MWT Omuthiya acts at the main office for the following sub-offices;

1. Tsumeb Sub-office
2. Onayena Sub-office (Oniipa)
3. Oshivelo Sub-office

The office has three sections;

1. Inspectorate
2. Administration
3. Work force

The Ministry of Works and Transport is responsible for sectoral policy and regulation, and
has a mandate to ensure infrastructure development and maintenance on transport and state
asset management through operational excellence and prudent management of resources [2].
In other words, the aim of the department of works and maintenance is to just maintain and
prolong the use of government buildings and to preserve the resources of the government and
to avoid unnecessary costs on tenders but to just have personnel who are in the payroll to
carry out any maintenance work as well as do other jobs/ projects that do not require or are
too small for contractors.

The office is made up of 20 employees, which comprises of 7 Ladies and 13 Men.

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 1.2

This part of the assignment will focus evaluating the effectiveness of the strategic frame-
work for HIV/AIDS work place for the ministry of works and transport. So, what exactly is a
strategic frame work? A strategic frame work is defined as an externally facing, visual outline
of activities that make up an organizations or department’s overarching strategy.

Based on the student’s manual there are four frame works that are going to be used in
evaluating the strategic frame work of this entity namely; Information, Motivation, Ability to
act and Norms.

i) The overall expectations for this part were high since the workers are for the
government, that means they should also be well informed about the pandemic it’s
dangers and how to avoid them. So everything came out as expected and thus the
overall evaluation was promising.

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 ii) We begin with Information, this attribute is well defined, since it offers strategies
that are relevant to the internalizing and acting on HIV vulnerability and the risk
of avoiding risky partners, establishing long-term relationships with rusted and
accountable partners. So, what this is all about is just spreading awareness on the
dangers of HIV/AIDS and how to mitigate them. The Ministry of works and
transport under the Employee Wellness Program (EWP) which was implemented
in 2010, addresses the health risks of the workforce and providing advice in
making the right/healthy lifestyle decisions. There are also News letter
Developments to spread awareness. Motivation, this topic is also well defined in
the EWP for the ministry since it calls for faith among the employees to maintain
good health among themselves and to also set some long-term goals and accepting
their status. The ministry offers guest speakers to employees on different health
related issues, like managing their stress, counselling is also offered to make sure
the infected people do not begin to feel bad about themselves and to sometimes
alleviate any suicidal thoughts the test results may cause. The ability to act and
Norms, this part focusses on providing the necessary support for safe sexual
relationships at all levels of relationships and group dialogues more like support
groups. This part was also well defined in the EWP report whereby, under the
slogan “Together we care”, the sector has implemented large scale national and
regional health promotion campaigns to curb the spread of STI’s and STD’s and
sessions were also held to enlighten the employees on these diseases and
infections, Condoms are also given for free to encourage safe practice of sex [3].

1.2.1

Combination Prevention Strategy, it is common knowledge that no single HIV prevention

strategy can contain the epidemic. The "Combination Prevention" approach to HIV
prevention recognizes that while all response domains are important for reducing HIV
incidence, a proper balance between biomedical, behavioral, and social/structural strategies
must be maintained.

Strategies that are pertinent to internalizing and acting on HIV vulnerability and risk should
be the focus of information communication, such as:

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avoiding partners who are risky; forming long-term relationships with partners who can be
counted on and trusted; and avoiding risky settings like alcohol-serving establishments.

Setting long-term goals, accepting one's circumstances, having self-respect, and reaffirming
faith are all personal motivations for HIV prevention.

Capacity to act Peer, family, and community support should be provided for safer sexual
relationships. Through group dialogue at the community level, this includes encouraging and
supporting critical thinking and problem-solving for HIV prevention. In order to encourage a
widespread mobilization to combat HIV, men should also be drawn into the response more
closely.

Norms It is necessary to raise awareness of the fact that the epidemic in Namibia continues to
be severe and that everyone has a collective responsibility to participate in the response to the
epidemic. HEALTH, SAFETY, AND HIV EDUCATION STUDENT MANUAL
49Recognizing the impact of risky sexual relationships and new HIV infections on
communities as a whole and promoting new relationships based on responsibility, openness,
accountability, and trust should be the primary focus of community-level leadership and
mobilization.

With the theme "Know Your Local Epidemic," the Community Preventive Services (CPS)
provides in-depth recommendations for the focus of community-level prevention programs.

The CPS acknowledges that sexual relationships are an essential part of Namibian social life
and that everyone has rights to health related to HIV prevention and treatment. It focuses on
two major themes, "healthy relationships" and "healthy communities," with a particular
emphasis on mutual rights and shared responsibilities, and offers an opportunity for an
integrated response to HIV prevention.

Relationships that last:

In sexual relationships where partners fail to adequately address the risk of HIV transmission,
the vast majority of HIV infections in Namibia occur. This includes short-term and casual
relationships as well as marriage and cohabitation over long periods of time. Therefore, the
concept of "healthy relationships" encompasses all sexual relationships, including
relationships between people of the same sex, in which both partners consider and address
HIV risks, acknowledge their responsibility for HIV prevention, and pledge to address HIV

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risk within the context of their relationship. In addition to addressing the psychosocial aspects
of HIV prevention, this focus includes adopting a variety of biomedical strategies. In
conclusion, healthy relationships necessitate partners' conscious commitment to behaviors
and practices that prevent new HIV infections.

Communities that thrive:

Through the formal health system, all Namibian communities have access to biomedical
approaches to HIV prevention and social services that support HIV preventions, in addition to
other organizations and key stakeholders, provide additional support.

Despite the fact that these components are essential to HIV prevention, communities must
incorporate responses that address the HIV vulnerability of all community members.
Promoting individual, couple, peer, family, institutional, and community responsibility for
HIV prevention in Namibia is a key component of this response. Healthy communities
include the conscious commitment and mobilization of community members, such as health
and social service workers, CSOs, and community leaders, to support HIV prevention in all
spheres with an emphasis on promoting and maintaining healthy relationships and healthy
communities.

1.2.2

International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC), the International Federation of

Consulting Engineers, is the global representative body for national associations of consulting
engineers and represents over one million engineering professionals and 40,000 firms in more
than 100 countries. The buildings and infrastructure sector in which FIDIC members work
contributes around US$36trillion to global GDP [4]. Increasing public awareness of HIV;
ensuring that construction workers have access to condoms; providing HIV voluntary
counseling, testing, and referral services; diagnosing and treating STIs; and monitoring
outcomes in conjunction with national HIV authorities. Eliminate HIV transmission from
construction workers, their families, and the surrounding community; Promote the advantages
of abstinence or avoidance and raise awareness of the risk of HIV infection among
construction workers and the community at large.

Conclusion

To sum up, HIV and AIDS has affected many lives and continues to do so due to a lack of
information which only reaches the working class and not the unemployed group.
Throughout the world, numerous individuals contract HIV annually; AIDS affects thousands

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of HIV-positive people. Depending on the society in which the person infected lives, the
effects of contracting and living with this virus can be extremely difficult. The impact may
have an impact on the efficiency of the management plan, treatment adherence, and the
prevention of new infections. Getting all people living with HIV/AIDS access to timely and
effective treatment and care, developing modern prevention strategies that take into account
the varying patterns of the pandemic, and eliminating the economic, physical, and
psychosocial effects of HIV infection are the most significant obstacles. In order to
effectively address the impact of HIV on various sectors, policies ought to take into
consideration the requirements of individuals, families, and the community [5].

REFERENCES

[1] “HIV.” World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/themes/hiv-

aids (accessed: Sep. 30, 2022).

[2] "Mandate & Core Value - MWT - GRN Portal", Mwt.gov.na, 2022. [Online].
Available: https://mwt.gov.na/mandate-core-value. [Accessed: 01- Oct- 2022].

[3] 2022. [online] Available at: <https://mwt.gov.na › documentsPDF The Employee

WellnessProgramme of the Ministry of Works ... - MWT> [Accessed 2 October
2022].

[4] "International Federation of Consulting Engineers - FIDIC | Genève

internationale", Geneve-int.org, 2022. [Online]. Available: https://www.geneve-
int.org/whoswho/international-federation-consulting-engineers-fidic. [Accessed: 02-
Oct- 2022]

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[5] "International Federation of Consulting Engineers - FIDIC | Genève
internationale", Geneve-int.org, 2022. [Online]. Available: https://www.geneve-
int.org/whoswho/international-federation-consulting-engineers-fidic. [Accessed: 02-
Oct- 2022].

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