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Let us unite against HIV/AIDS: Dravid

Staff Correspondent

Skipper, Raina sign a pledge to support campaign

— Photo: PTI

FOR A CAUSE: Rahul Dravid ties an AIDS awareness band on a boy's wrist during an awareness programme in Indore on Friday. Member of Parliament Jyotiraditya Scindia looks on.

INDORE: Captain of the Indian cricket team Rahul Dravid on Friday made an appeal to people from all walks of life to come forward and join the campaign on children and HIV/AIDS.

Addressing a function jointly organised by the UNICEF and Madhya Pradesh AIDS Control Society (MPSACS), Mr. Dravid said the Indian cricket team would always lend full support to the campaign. He said AIDS deprived many children of their rights as the victims were denied parental care and affection. He said: "Let us unite for children and let us unite against AIDS."

Member of Parliament and chairman of the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association, Jyotiraditya Scindia, and Team India member Suresh Raina, who arrived here for the last ODI against England, were among those present. They spoke to the gathering, comprising young children, about the need to spread awareness about AIDS, tied the `suraksha bandhan' on young campaigners and signed a pledge to support the campaign.

High incidence of AIDS

Mr. Scindia said AIDS was spreading in Madhya Pradesh. From barely two to five cases detected in the State in 1992, there were over 360 AIDS cases in 2005. More cases were being reported from cities such as Indore and Jabalpur, he said and emphasised the need to create AIDS awareness in rural areas as well. He appreciated the private/public model being implemented in the State for building awareness about HIV/AIDS.

State UNICEF representative Tapas K. Datta said: "By ensuring that parents live healthy and longer lives, we can provide the best support to children."

Project Director of MPSACS, Selina Singh thanked the Indian captain for supporting the campaign.

The `Unite for Children: Unite against AIDS' campaign, convened by the UNICEF and the UNAIDS, is intended to reorient policy-making, investment and research on children affected by the scourge.

The campaign was launched in India by President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam on October 25, 2005 and simultaneously by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, UNAIDS chief Peter Piot and UNICEF executive director Ann M. Veneman in New York.

Need for sustained campaigns

The campaign aims to alert people about the urgent need to carry forward sustained programmes, especially those on advocacy and resource mobilisation to limit the spread of HIV/AIDS among children.

The campaign's target is to achieve measurable results in four areas — prevent parent-to-child transmission of HIV, provide paediatric treatment to HIV positive children, prevent HIV infection among young people and provide treatment care for children affected by the scourge.

According to the latest UNAIDS epidemic update, India has 5.13 million of the estimated 40.30 million people living with HIV and AIDS worldwide.

As per an earlier study, approximately 2,20,000 of the infected in India are children.

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Let us unite against HIV/AIDS: Dravid

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