AIDS awareness workshop for BSF personnel in Siliguri

July 3, 2005

AIDS awareness workshop for BSF personnel concludes in Siliguri

Siliguri: A three-day aids awareness workshop organised here in

Siliguri, by the Border Security Force (BSF) concluded on Thursday.

The workshop, was part of gProject Praharih, was launched in March

2005, aimed at creating HIV/AIDS awareness among its soldiers.

Balbir Singh, Inspector General, BSF, said that the workshop was

held to educate the soldiers about preventive measures.

gWhat we are doing is that first we are creating awareness and then

preventive measures are being taken. Though people have suffered

there are also other people who are being told what are the effects.

All things are being done. So the three-day workshop was organised

for this only,h he said in a news conference after the workshop.

At least 17 BSF soldiers have been diagnosed with the killer HIV

virus.

Recent studies have shown that soldiers, who had limited access to

television and were poorly educated, knew very little about HIV/AIDS

and were dangerously ill informed.

Alarmed by the enormity of the threat, the armed forcesf top brass

had time and again launched initiatives, talking to the men through

films, their most preferred medium.

With close to 5.1 million people living with the HIV or AIDS, India

has the worldfs second-largest national total after South Africa

and experts say the number could quadruple by 2010.

In 2004 the World Bank warned the disease would become the single

largest cause of death in India, unless there was a change in

treatment policy and progress made on prevention.

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