The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Saying `goodbye' to AIDS

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jun 30, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Saying `goodbye' to AIDS

Staff Reporter

Awareness campaign launched in the city

CHENNAI: It has been 25 years since the first AIDS death in the world was reported. To mark this, an awareness campaign was started recently.

A van with the message `Goodbye to AIDS' was flagged off by Lakshmi Bai, Project Director of the Tamil Nadu AIDS Initiative (TAI). The van went around the city, ending its journey on the Marina beach.

The campaign was organised by TAI-VHS and non-governmental organisation Indian Community Welfare Organisation (ICWO), which works for STD/HIV/AIDS prevention among female sex workers and homosexual men.

ICWO secretary A.J. Hariharan said that the challenge was to reach out with HIV prevention messages to marginalised communities and back them with adequate services.

Till date, over 40 million people are living with HIV/AIDS and over 25 million people have died of it. Earlier this year, UNAIDS reported that there are an estimated 5.7 million people in India with HIV/AIDS, making it the country with the largest number of infections. However, Tamil Nadu, according to the report, is also showing signs of reversing the trends of the epidemic indicating that prevention efforts are making a difference.

"We have come a long way from the initial fear and hopelessness. Community-led prevention initiatives of leading NGOs such as ICWO are showing encouraging signs," said Dr. Lakshmi Bai.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu