The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : ‘Red Ribbon’ draws good response

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Sunday, Apr 20, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

‘Red Ribbon’ draws good response

Staff Reporter

Collector inaugurates expo on wheels

— Photo:S. Rambabu

on a mission: Members of a cultural troupe ready to venture into the rural areas on bicycles as part of the ‘Cycle Caravan which is a part of the all India tour of Red Ribbon Express, at Kakinada town railway station on Saturday.

Kakinada: The Red Ribbon Express, a joint initiative of the National AIDS Control Organization (NACO), Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF) and Nehru Yuva Kendra (NYK), aimed at spreading awareness on HIV and AIDS, evoked good response in this port town.

Inaugurated by Collector Gopalakrishna Dwivedi, the special train attracted a large number of people, most of them studying nursing courses, who turned up to see for themselves what causes HIV/AIDS and in what way it can be prevented.

The visitors were educated how they can help in controlling the dreaded disease from afflicting more people. Some 1,000 people visited the train on day one of its stay at Kakinada town station.

Awareness

There were exhibits on HIV/AIDS in two out of seven coaches. An equal number of coaches have provision for conducting training and awareness classes and the remaining ones were meant for cultural troupes to spread the message that prevention is the best cure for HIV/AIDS.

Speaking on the occasion, District Collector Dwivedi said the prevalence of HIV/AIDS has come down to a large extent due to information and education campaign while the Government was doing its best to prevent the disease from ruining the lives of the vulnerable sections.

Zilla Parishad Chairman Ch Venugopala Krishna said the Red Ribbon Express was rightly focussing on youth who constitute 90 percent of the HIV/AIDS patients in India.

Kakinada MLA Mutha Gopalakrishna, District Medical and Health Officer D Vijay Kumar, additional DMHO M Pavan Kumar, Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting nodal officer MS Mahesh and others spoke.

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Andhra Pradesh