Madhya Pradesh students campaign against AIDS

Bhopal, Hundreds of students in Madhya Pradesh took part in an AIDS awareness campaign and vowed to do their bit to control the fatal virus.The students tied ’suraksha bandhan’ (protection bands) on their wrists Sunday to symbolise their awareness of HIV and their commitment to spread this awareness.The students were in a workshop organised by the Makhanlal Chaturvedi University of Journalism here as part of a ’Unite for Children, Unite Against AIDS’ drive aimed at engaging the young to prevent the deadly disease.The campaign, in association with the Madhya Pradesh State AIDS Control Society (MPSACS) and Unicef, aims to achieve measurable results in preventing parent-to-child transmission, providing pediatric treatment for HIV children, preventing HIV infection among the youth and providing treatment for affected children."We need to be equipped with the right knowledge and young people can help spread awareness and the right information," said Unicef state representative Hamid El Bashir here. He said that worldwide millions of children, adolescents and youngsters are at risk and in need of protection. Across the world millions of children under the age of 15 have lost one or both parents to AIDS. "More disturbing is that HIV/AIDS is now engulfing the ’productive population’ in the age group of 20-40 years. With the exposure teens and youth are getting through television, they have started experiencing sex at an early age, further aggravating the problem," said a MPSACS official.