Introduce AIDS awareness in moral education: Health Minister

 Jammu,May 27  – Advocating introduction of AIDS awareness in moral education being imparted in educational institutions, the Minister for Health, Horticulture and Floriculture, Sham Lal Sharma Wednesday said that AIDS is not only a health related problem but has educational dimension, adding “As awareness is the only potent tool to check the spread of this dreaded disease, educational institutions can serve as the means for generating such awareness.”

The Minister was speaking after inaugurating a four-day seminar on ‘Implementation of adolescent AIDS education programme’ organized by State Institute of Education in collaboration with J&K AIDS Prevention and Control Society, here today. A large number of principals, headmasters, teachers and students of different educational institutions of Jammu province are participating in the seminar.

Project Director, J&K AIDS Prevention and Control Society, Dr. M. A. Wani, Director Health Services, Jammu, Dr. Jasbeer Singh, Head of the Blood and Transfusion Department, Government Medical College (GMC), Jammu,  Dr. Kum Kum Sharma, Administrator, GMC, Jammu, Dr. Rakesh Khajuria, Regional Secretary, Indian Red Cross Society, J&K, Anil Padha and Principal, State institute of Education, Mr. Thakur Dass were also present at the inaugural session.

Stating that adolescents are the most vulnerable sections of the society in terms of exposure to AIDS, Sharma said that children in this age group are more volatile and show tendency to experiment with new things making them vulnerable to AIDS. He said that it is the duty of the society to channelize the surplus energy of adolescents to a positive direction so that their thirst for novelty in life does not drive them to a wrong path.

The Minister, highlighting the role of teachers in reducing the spread of the disease said that teachers wield greater influence on students and should serve as engines to bring social, moral and ethical transformation in youth. Youth of the country should be moulded in a manner that they are not only aware of the threat of AIDS but also spread the message of AIDS prevention to their homes and to a wider society, he said.

            Recalling that lack of comprehensive adult education in our country adds to their vulnerability making them easy prey to the disease, Mr. Sharma said that time has come when we leave our taboos behind and talk openly about the disease not shying to highlight it’s causes to our children. He said that every one of us should strive in creation of a society free of AIDS, adding that he envisages J&K to be a model state in eradication of AIDS.

Earlier, Mr. M. A Wani briefed the minister about the efforts of the Society to rope in religious heads as well as political representatives in generating AIDS awareness among general populace. The Society has organized awareness programmes at different parts of the state and has covered 1,400 schools and plans to cover 600 more schools this year.

            Reflecting on the enormity of the problem, Mr. Wani said that every day as many as 16,000 new AIDS cases are detected in the world, 8000 deaths occur per day due to the disease and in 2008 alone 50 lakh new cases were detected. He said in India, the first AIDS case was detected in 1986 in Chennai and as of now there are 25 lakh people in India who have AIDS.

Later, Mr. Wani also presented a memento to the Minister for his active support to the cause of AIDS prevention and control.

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