ADB Manual Offers Practical Approach to Stopping the Spread of HIV/AIDS in Infrastructure Projects
MANILA, PHILIPPINES - Effectively mitigating the spread of HIV/AIDS in infrastructure projects can be achieved through four easy and practical steps, according to a new publication by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). “Providing people with knowledge about HIV is the easiest part of prevention. Changing their behavior is much harder,” according to More Safety: A Resource Manual for Health and Safety in Infrastructure, the new manual launched by ADB this month. Workers in construction sites already know a lot about HIV/AIDS, but sometimes knowledge does not translate to safe sexual behavior, according to the manual. For workplace HIV prevention, prevention messages need to be communicated frequently and in many different ways. The manual highlights four steps to achieving this objective. The first is to build an HIV Prevention Management Team composed of three to four part-time workers who will be responsible for driving HIV/AIDS prevention in the workplace and local community. The second step is for the HIV Prevention Management Team to assess the knowledge of workers on HIV and any possible risky behavior. An HIV prevention plan can then be developed to help the team understand how to deliver HIV prevention work. The next step consists of workplace activities to prevent HIV/AIDS, which would include developing the capability of managers in HIV prevention through training and advocacy, information dissemination, working with communities, and making condoms available at the work sites. The final step involves monitoring and evaluating HIV prevention in the workplace. More Safety: A Resource Manual for Health and Safety in Infrastructure draws on the practical experience of infrastructure HIV prevention projects in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and other parts of the world. “Infrastructure development carries with it the risk of further spreading HIV as the projects involve mobility, men and money – known as the ‘three Ms’. This publication gives project developers the information and hands-on tools they need to help reduce the risk of spreading the disease,” said Claude Bodart, Health Specialist in ADB’s East Asia Department. The manual is developed under a technical assistance grant financed by the Poverty Reduction Cooperation Fund from the UK Department for International Development. Infrastructure development is the single largest share of ADB’s lending operations and will remain a priority of the institution. Under ADB’s new long-term strategy, Strategy 2020, to make growth more inclusive will require strong, sustained investment in infrastructure and education, as well as in health programs and social services for the poorest. Asia currently has an infrastructure investment gap of about $300 billion a year. About ADB | 
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