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Young World
Different class
MURALI N. KRISHNASWAMY
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At the AIDS awareness programme held by Madras Christian College for school students recently, the participants got to know a little more about the disease. The slogan writing and poster contests brought their talent to the fore.
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In rapt attention... school students at Madras Christian College
The last few decades have seen many disease-causing agents appearing for the first time among humans. Environmental and lifestyle changes have set the stage for the appearance of these deadly organisms.
The Human Immune deficiency Virus (HIV), the causative organism for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), is one such infectious agent that appears when the environment is right.
AIDS has spread so quickly to all parts of the world that it has become almost a pandemic, threatening to decimate the world's population on a scale never known before. It would be no exaggeration to say that AIDS is the greatest infectious threat that the human race has had to face so far.
Every day, more than 8,000 people die of AIDS. Every hour, almost 600 people become infected. And, more than 40 million people live with the virus. In their Millennium Declaration, world leaders have pledged to halt and reverse the spread of AIDS by 2015. More importantly, in a number of countries, prevention campaigns have been launched, aimed at different sections of the population ... school children for one.
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Anderson Hall, Madras Christian College.
On November 30, on the eve of World AIDS Day, students from schools in Kancheepuram and Chingelput districts were the focus of an AIDS awareness programme organised by the Department of Social Work, MCC (in collaboration with the Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society, Chennai, and in coordination with the chief educational officer, Kancheepuram district).
The aim? First, to get them to know the facts about the disease. Second, to use fun productively as a poster and slogan writing competition.
In her inaugural address, Ms. Shyamala Natarajan, programme director, South India AIDS Action Programme, departed from the usual. List the qualities that you find in your best friend, she asked them.
Respect for one another, honesty and support were some of the answers the children gave. Look for these in a relationship too later in life, she said, and stay away from ``trouble''.
In the slogan writing competition, it was S. Madhusudan and S. Ramya's (Bharathi Vidyalaya SS School, Perumbakkam)
``Assassinate Immorality, Derive Security
AIDS is a dreadful devil
Drive it away we will'', that won the first prize.
There were 27 drawings, with the first spot going to M. Swarna and B. Karthika of St. Teresa's Girl's HSS. The theme was ``I care ... Do You?''
The programme ended with a panel discussion where an AIDS patient described how he had contracted the disease. Frank in detail, it paved the way for an avalanche of questions, some being ``Can mosquitoes spread AIDS?'' to ``Is there a cure in ayurveda?''
The final message was that World AIDS Day was not celebrated but observed as it was a time to think and ponder.
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