Footballers to receive sex health education

The Ministry of Health and Wellness and the Barbados Football Association (BFA) have launched a community outreach programme focused on HIV and STI prevention for footballers.

The partnership was announced at the BFA’s Technical Centre in Wildey.

Senior Medical Officer of Health with responsibility for the HIV/STI Programme, Dr Dale Babb, said the goals of the initiative include increasing access to information and services related to sexual and reproductive health, and promoting HIV and STI awareness, prevention, testing, and safer sexual practices.

She said the Ministry chose football as the vehicle for this campaign, because “a football team can be viewed as a trusted social network, and team bonds create safe spaces for honest and trusted[or did she say ‘truthful’] conversations.”

She added that the structure, discipline, and teamwork inherent in football mirror valuable life lessons around sexual health and decision-making.

Dr Babb also highlighted the role of coaches in delivering key messages and engaging players meaningfully.

Outlining the programme’s activities, she said: “There will be free and confidential HIV and STI testing and screening. There will be distribution of educational materials and condoms, demonstrations on condom use, condom negotiation, and condom negotiation skills. There will also be facilitated community dialogues on sexual and reproductive health and mental health.”

With 66 clubs and thousands of players across the island, the BFA has pledged full support to help roll out the programme, beginning with the national team.

President of the BFA, Randy Harris, welcomed the collaboration and emphasised the importance of players’ wellbeing off the field.

“We are not trained in health and wellness, so we need assistance to make sure that these projects are done in the way that both of us will be happy,” he said.

Talent Development Manager Dale Rudder echoed this sentiment. “We welcome the expertise of this kind of organisation to work with us in bettering the football ecosystem of Barbados,” he said.

He noted that the BFA has already initiated several youth-focused programmes and believes this partnership will strengthen those efforts.

“Even within the communities, the real issue is not just the kids, but the lack of education and guidance from adults like us, the experts like yourself. So I think with your expertise and ours in football, we’ve got the programmes running. It’s just a matter of putting it together, and this bodes well not just for football in Barbados, but the country as a whole.”

Community Health Education Consultant in the ministry, Sade Leon Folkes, stressed the importance of targeting men and helping them develop life skills through the initiative.

“With all of the gun play and all of this, we want to be able to—without even realising it—use sexual and reproductive health to help with life skills, to help with the skills of negotiating life,” she said.

The programme, which is expected to begin in the coming weeks, will also offer access to trained community health volunteers. (LG)