HIV/AIDS:Barbers, Hairdressers Vulnerable To Spread Disease – Official

Barbers, Hairdressers have been cautioned to maintain high level of hygiene, especially in the use of body piercing and sharp objects on their customers.

The charge was given by the Public Relations Officer of the Rivers State Agency for HIV/AIDS, Mr. Paulinus Nsirim during a one day sensitisation forum on HIV/AIDS by the Ministry of Women Affairs on Thursday.

Mr. Nsirim also said that the HIV/AIDS infection rate was rising in Rivers State with about 7.3 percentage against 5.4 few year back.

The RIVSACA spokesman maintained that the public need to be careful in their sexual activities, use of sharp objects and other means of contracting the disease, warning that HIV/AIDS is real.

Most especially Mr. Nsirim said since barbing and hairdressing saloons are susceptible in passing the disease to their customers, they need to sterilise their equipment before using it for another person.

Specifically he stated that needles and clippers should be properly sterilised, even as he said needles used in fixing weapon should be discarded after use.

In other not to risk being infected with the dreaded disease, the RIVSACA official urged members of the public to go to saloons with their clippers and hair weaving needles.

Similarly, a senior official of the HIV/AIDS Centre in the state owned Niger Hospital, Mrs. Ann Maclayton advised barbers and hairdressers to sterilise their equipment, boil your instrument for 20 minutes or soak inside a mixture of bleach solution,” she added.

She urged every pregnant woman to go for a PMCT text so that the disease would not be transferred to their child.

From recent statistics, she revealed that there are more discordant infection rate in the state, but said the women are more infected than the men.

In a discordant infection she explained that it is either of the couple is infected, while calling on the population for voluntary tests to determine their status.

She also advised that couples should be faithful to each other and the young adolescents to either abstain from sex or use condom for their safety.