Mangalore, Feb 24: Posters, banners and talks on HIV/AIDS awareness have been experimented and witnessed by all. How about a ferry ride?
Taking the road less taken and doing their bit for the society, Department of Mass Communication at St Aloysius College, Mangalore, along with Boloor Mogaveera Sabha, a ferry service and Hongirana Network of Positive People (HNPP), an NGO, came up with an innovative idea to spread awareness on the deadly virus and its effects, by organising an HIV/AIDS awareness campaign 'Nirmulana' on the ferry from Sultan Battery to Thannirbavi for a duration of three hours on Saturday.
Very few venture out to the beaches of Mangalore on a hot and sunny Saturday afternoon except youngsters and couples wanting to spend some exclusive time together at the beach. Wanting to reach out and spread HIV awareness among youngsters, student co-ordinators Kiran Shenoy and Anjali Rai helped distribute pamphlets on steps and questions on HIV/AIDS to passengers on the ferry.
Speaking on the occasion, social worker Seema from HNPP said that spreading awareness on HIV/AIDS has to be focused on youngsters as around 31 per cent of HIV infected individuals in India fall in the age group of 15-29 years.
“Infected individuals with HIV live with a stigma of being infected, which should be fought with mental fortitude,” she said.
Speaking about the NGO, she said that over 3,400 HIV infected people had enrolled in the organisation from the time it started in 2006. The organisation offers counseling for the infected individuals, and helps them avail government packages meant for such individuals. Our main aim is to reduce the death rate of infected patients. These individuals are able to get rid of the stigma and hurt when they are offered care and support by others who are infected,” she said.
Dr Sangeetha Laxmi, a naturopathic practitioner at Sahara Nature Cure Centre, spoke on HIV and AIDS from a doctor's point of view and said that HIV infection was a viral problem which, unlike other viral infections, did not show any symptoms in most infected persons. “One should remember that HIV infection by itself does not cause the death of an individual. The virus gradually destroys the immune system and causes decrease in lymphocyte count in the human body, which is how the person falls prey to other diseases,” she said.
She said that as on February 22, around 4,100 HIV positive individuals had been registered at Anti-Retroviral Treatment (ART) centres in Dakshina Kannada district. “In all government hospitals, Integrated Counseling and Testing Centres (ICTC) provide free check-up, care, treatment and counseling for people affected by HIV/AIDS, which could be availed by them at no cost,” she said, detailing ways of transmission and how best to prevent HIV from spreading.
Rajashekar Karkera, Devanand Gujaran, Madhava Salian and Madhava Karkera from Boloor Mogaveera Sabha and Laxmi Shenoy from Department of Mass Communication participated in the awareness campaign.
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