Young people commemorate World AIDS Day

11 December 2008

There are over 33 million people living with HIV worldwide, including 80,000 people in the UK. World AIDS Day, marked on 1 December each year, raises awareness of HIV and AIDS and aims to combat some of the stigma which continues to surround it.

HIV/AIDS in India
India has an estimated 2.5 million people living with HIV, behind only South Africa and Nigeria in terms of the number of people infected. For the past 4 years, we have been supporting a network of YMCAs in four Indian cities: Jamshedpur, Mangalore, Nagpur and Patna, to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS, to reduce infection rates and to provide support to people living with HIV.

Each of these cities and their surrounding districts are growing rapidly and have a steady influx of migrants from other parts of the country, as well as thousands of truck drivers passing through them every day. This has led to a high demand for the services of sex workers, and an alarming increase in the spread of HIV.

Young people in Jamshedpur on World AIDS Day 2007

As part of its awareness-raising programme, the Network targets those who are at risk of contracting HIV, including migrants, truck drivers and their cleaners, injecting drug users, female sex workers and sexual minorities. They train people in safe sex practices and HIV prevention. Owners of ‘dhabas' (restaurants frequented by truck drivers) have also been trained to educate truck drivers through individual and group counseling.

The Network also works with young people in schools, and marginalized young people living in slums and rural areas, who lack access to basic education and health services. Because of cultural taboos about young people’s sexuality in India, they are often prevented from accessing sexual and reproductive health education, which is not included in the school curriculum. However, in some schools and colleges, the Network has been successful in carrying out sexual health education as part of lessons in Life Skills.

World AIDS Day
Our partners in the Network ran a range of activities on World AIDS Day. Nagpur YMCA organised rallies at schools, colleges, non-governmental and governmental organisations, with the theme; ‘Take the Lead - Keep the Promise - Avoid AIDS’. On the evening of the 1st December, the YMCA celebrated 5 years of its HIV prevention work with a thanksgiving service and the release of a booklet on their work over the past 5 years. They also organised a week of events starting on 1st December, including street plays and interactive games for truck drivers to promote awareness. They also offered free health check ups and arranged a carnival float to spread the message.

Jamshedpur YMCA organised a quiz in 16 schools and 4 colleges on STIs and HIV/AIDS. They also carried out an awareness-raising programme to educate over 200 women and young people living in slum communities. Patna YMCA campaigned at a busy intersection in the city of Patna, asking passersby to take a pledge to help stop the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Find out more about our work on HIV/AIDS