Deaf persons trained on HIV prevention
The National Aids Coordinating Agency (NACA) has collaborated with Botswana Association of the Deaf (BOAD) to explore alternative ways to getting HIV/AIDS education to the deaf community in a way that accommodates their needs. Nearly 400 000 people in Botswana live with HIV with an estimated prevalence rate of 22.8 percent. Prevention efforts that target HIV- related risk behaviours remain the most effective method of lowering incidence rates and the objective cannot be achieved without sufficient information reaching all members of the community. However, over the years not so much HIV prevention interventions have been made towards integrating deaf persons. With a variety of languages and communication styles employed among people who are deaf, it is important to understand which communication style would be most suitable to the targeted population. BOAD hopes to develop effective HIV prevention intervention programmes to meet the urgent and unique needs of those who are deaf and hard of hearing. As is true of any culture there are features of deaf culture that can both challenge and support the implementation of HIV prevention interventions. Therefore, community based organisations and peer education of the deaf by the deaf are likely to be an advantageous avenue to use in the development and dissemination of HIV prevention interventions that target persons who are deaf or hard of hearing. Deaf Federation of South Africa national director, Bruno Druchen who is consulting on this project shared that, amongst other things, the initiative aims to educate the deaf persons about HIV/AIDS as they have been missing on previous messages in the public domain because those campaigns were not designed to accommodate their needs. Druchen said that to date, all empirically validated HIV prevention interventions have relied on communication strategies designed for people who can hear and read spoken language. Therefore, understanding and developing effective prevention methods is crucial for persons who are deaf. He explained that the main risk factor for HIV infection for deaf people is the lack of access to information. Deaf people, he said, face an information gap at the prevention stage in that one needs proper information in order to know how to avoid infection and deaf persons cannot understand the language used in the mainstream - mass information systems. He indicated that the limited knowledge of how HIV is transmitted may contribute to increased vulnerability to HIV infections among persons who are deaf and hard of hearing. Selected deaf participants were pulled from different places across the country to be trained as trainers who will then go to their respective villages to educate other deaf community members on HIV/AIDS issues in conjunction with their district health teams. Druchen indicated that the aim is to have peer-counselors by the deaf to the deaf, where a deaf person will communicate with another deaf person using the language that they both can understand and offer support to one another. Sign language interpreters were also trained on the code of ethics, the behaviour and professionalism of interpreters as these are the people that assist communication flow between the health service providers and the deaf persons. Druchen emphasised that interpreters should understand that their role is to relay the message and not to talk on behalf of the deaf person(s). He stated that since confidentiality is a key issue in HIV prevention, some clinics and testing centres may not be equipped to deal with deaf persons and hard of hearing persons as they rarely have health care providers who are fluent in sign language and interpreting services are not easily available when needed. This may further marginalise deaf and hard of hearing persons and their access to education on HIV/AIDS, HIV testing and other health issues may be impeded, he warned.