Youth ambassadors for Positive Living

[Guest guest]

Against a dangerous enemy

HARNEET SINGH

TIMES NEWS NETWORK [ THURSDAY, JANUARY 24, 2002 3:07:53 AM ]

CHANDIGARH: They're all here -Participants from Bangladesh, India,

Maldives and Sri Lanka attending a three-day sub-regional workshop

for youth ambassadors for Positive Living organised by the

Commonwealth Youth Programme (CYP) Asia Centre, Chandigarh, at its

premises.

The first day of the training programme was inaugurated by Dr.

, Country Programme Adviser, UNAIDS (India). In addition to an

expert panel of resource persons, the workshop also included

presentations by international organisations such as the Joint United

Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and United Nations

International Children's Emergency Funds (UNICEF). Speaking on the

occasion, Raka Rashid, regional director, CYP Asia Centre,

said, " Youth ambassadors for the Positive Living Programme, which was

officially launched in January 2001, is an adopted version of Youth

Ambassadors of Positive Living Programme of CYP Africa region which

recruited HIV-positive people to send out the message of positive

living to young people whereas at CYP Asia Centre, youth ambassadors,

irrespective of their HIV status are recruited to spread the message. "

Dr , a native of New Zealand, a pioneer in HIV/AIDS

psychosocial management since 1983 and working on HIV/AIDS in

developing countries since 1986, who is also a member of the WHO

Global Programme on AIDS from 1989-1990, presented a staggering

account of the AIDS epidemic in the country. In his one-hour

presentation, he said, " Although k n o w l e d g e about the disease

has come a long way since 1982 when the first patient of AIDS was

diagnosed, our capacities as a species to battle AIDS has not shown

much mobility.

" Blaming the mindset of the people, Dr said, " The stigma

attached with AIDS kills just as effectively as the virus, thus the

first step is to fight the stigma at all levels. " He presented some

shocking figures that served as big eye openers, " In 2001 there were

40 million people with AIDS out of which six million were from

Southern Asia.

In the world, 3-million cumulative number of deaths have occurred due

to the AIDS infection during 2000. India is also the second most

populated country in the world with regards to AIDS where 11,000 new

infections are reported in a week and where 21.4 percent of AIDS

patients are women. " Another astounding fact that Dr presented

was that, " 90 percent of women with HIV-in India have had only one

sexual partner who in most cases is the husband.

" Also present at the occasion was Dr Ajit Saroha, Deputy Director,

State AIDS Control Society, Chandigarh, who said " In Chandigarh there

were 262 reported cases of AIDS in 2000 which turned into 475 in 2001

but still the city is a low prevalent state as regards the AIDS

epidemic. "

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow.asp?

catkey=54640994 & art_id=351237912 & sType=1

______________________________