To raise awareness for World AIDS Day this year, Ecobank employees in Africa were encouraged to attend sexual health education seminars.
The meetings gave staff across all 33 markets the opportunity to discuss freely the importance of HIV prevention and discrimination free treatment with doctors and specialists.
Ecobank Zambia organised one-on-one sessions with a counsellor to learn more about HIV/AIDS, said Veronica Lumbo, Human Resources Business Partner for Ecobank Zambia.
“Our employees welcomed the sessions as a good way to spread the word and make HIV testing much more accessible. We have received requests from colleagues to provide these services at different times as not everyone could attend.”
In Senegal, Ecobank invited the National Committee for the Fight against AIDS (CNLS) to give a presentation.
“Our MD, the management board, our company doctor, and employees followed the presentation with a lot of interest,” said Latifa Fall, HR Head at Ecobank Senegal. “This encouraged a rich debate about the fight against HIV in Senegal.”
In addition to the HIV/AIDS discussions Ecobank Uganda also held a brief health awareness talk on Hepatitis B, which is transmitted in some of the same ways as HIV.
Through its partnership with the Global Fund, the Ecobank Foundation has joined the battle to end HIV/Aids in Africa by 2030. Advocacy amongst Ecobank’s 17,500 employees is one of the pillars of the partnership.