AS BARBADIANS and visitors alike wind down during this Crop Over weekend, rest assured that along with the law enforcement personnel, another government entity will be working assiduously to ensure that all participating in various events are safe.
To this end the National HIV/AIDS Commission (NHAC), and its volunteers, will be fully mobilised this weekend.
The NHAC has already started its condom distribution to several Foreday Morning and Grand Kadooment bands, as they have done throughout their 15 years of existence.
Bystanders to the weekend events, specifically Grand Kadooment, will also receive protection from the Commission through a special Crop Over Mass Camp, located at the Carlton and A 1 Supermarket on Black Rock.
Director of the NHAC Jacqueline Wiltshire Gay (left) noted “Crop Over is always a period of high activity and one of increased alcohol consumption, encouraged by music and special offers. The Commission is always on high alert with our condom distribution to make sure that people are safe and that they have the tools to make safe and responsible decisions.
“Nevertheless,” she reminded “abstinence is still the safest way of avoiding HIV and other STIs.”
In recent years the Commission executed its Crop Over condom distribution for the final weekend via the Big Music Truck powered by the First Choice Sound System. Budgetary constraints, however, have caused such interventions to be significantly scaled down.
“The Big music truck was always a hit with revellers and bystanders alike, however with a reduced budget the NHAC had to find prudent ways to still reach the masses with our messages and moving towards the kind of behavioural change we wanted to see happening,” Wiltshire Gay noted.
All Barbadians in the environs of Black Rock can visit the NHAC Mass Camp on Grand Kadooment Day at the Carlton & A1 supermarket car park. (PR)