HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns, rallies to mark International Youth Day tomorrow
Andhra Pradesh State Aids Control Society (APSACS) will launch an intensified IEC (Information, Education and Communication) campaign on August 12 to raise awareness among the public on HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).
The two-month programme, under the auspices of National AIDS Control Society, will be launched by APSACS Project Director A. Siri in Vijayawada, as part of the country-wide celebrations of International Youth Day.
As part of the State-level programme, a rally will be flagged off by Ms. Siri at the P.B. Siddhartha College of Arts and Science. NTR District Collector G. Srijana will be the chief guest, a press release from the Health Department said.
Rallies will also be carried out across the State, at district levels, and celebrities, district administration and government officials would participate in it to raise awareness among youth about safe practices, to root out discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS and encourage more people to come for testing.
The IEC campaign is titled ‘Meeku Telusa’ (Do You Know).
According to sources, India has the second-highest number of people lviing with HIV/AIDS in the world. Despite low prevalence, this number stands at 25.44 lakh as of 2023. In the year 2022-23, the number of people who tested positive for HIV/AIDS is 68,450. The district wise number, which stood at 156 in 2007, rose to 178 in 2022.
In Andhra Pradesh, while 25,649 people registered themselves to receive ART (Antiretroviral Therapy) medicines in 2014-15, the number reduced to 14,257 in 2023-24. As of July 2024, while there are 2,22,425 people using ART medicines, of them 10,104 fall in the age bracket of 15-25 years of age.
The ART medicine reduces the risk of the virus spreading from one person to another. Despite this, 1,48,270 people have succumbed to the virus from 2004. It is therefore important to go for early testing, and if tests return HIV positive, one can go to the ART centres, register oneself and get medicines for free, the release said.
During the two-month campaign, ‘grama sabhas’ and performances will be organised in villages to educate people on how HIV is spread, how to prevent it and how to live with HIV/AIDS positive people. The Health Department will also make use of social media, post videos and memes on the same topics, it said.
The health staff will also make door-to-door visits and organise meetings involving HIV/AIDS positive people to spread the message that testing positive for the virus does not mean the end of the world.
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