Date:01/04/2005 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2005/04/01/stories/2005040101490300.htm

Karnataka - Belgaum

AIDS walkathon enters State

By Our Staff Correspondent

BELGAUM, MARCH 31. The yearlong "AIDS Walk for Life," which began in New Delhi on December 1, 2004 to mark World AIDS Awareness Day, entered Karnataka on Thursday with Belgaum being its first halt in the State.

Nationwide campaign

In what is a nationwide awareness campaign launched by Project Concern International (PCI), India, along with several non-governmental organisations and government agencies, including the Health Department, panchayat bodies and district administrations, a team of 25 support staff and 35 walkers of the PCI will cover 6,000 km along the expressways under the Golden Quadrilateral.

They will spread the message of AIDS awareness among 20 lakh people in 13 States in the country.

Support

According to a PCI spokesperson, Rs. 4 crores is being spent on the campaign.

The campaign is supported by several multinational corporations and foundations.

During the campaign, street plays, staging of shows in school and colleges, display of placards and the like will be undertaken to create awareness among the people about AIDS.

Slums, red-light areas, bus stands and railway stations are some of the places that will be covered under the nationwide awareness programme.

In Belgaum, volunteers of the PCI staged street plays in slums and areas inhabited by sex workers.