Jalingo — The Women Trafficking and Child Labour Eradication Foundation (WOTCLEF) has embarked on HIV/AIDS and Human trafficking sensitisation workshops in secondary schools in Taraba State.

State Coordinator of the organisation, Mrs. Sarah David Ibi told THISDAY after an exercise in Jalingo, that the sensitisation became necessary due to the alarming report by National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons (NAPTIP), which as at 2006, ranked Taraba among the 10 endemic states in the north where traffic in human beings is flourishing.

She said theSero-Prevalence Survey of 2005 also ranked the state as having the highest HIV/AIDS prevalence in the north east. Mrs. Ibi added that students, especially at the secondary school level are the most hit and as such sensitising them was one of the new strategies in combating human trafficking for commercial sex purpose and the spread of the HIV/AIDS virus.

Coordinator of State Action Committee on AIDS (SACA), Dr. Philip Duwe said the state government was committed to the fight against HIV/AIDS in the state. He six free HIV testing centres had been established in Zing, Jalingo, Mutum-Biu, Wukari, Bali and Gembu and advised the people to go for the test in order to knowtheir HIV status.

He added that anti-retroviral drugs and counselling are available at the centres. Duwe cautioned against child labour and other forms of child abuse and encouraged the students to report any case of sexual harassment to his office.