International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies - 11 November 2002
Anasuya Basu in Hyderabad

"HIV-AIDS is the most important issue of the day. It is easy to develop a child's mind so care must be taken to give them the right information at the right time. We will do more. There's lot of distance to be covered," she adds.

Recent surveys by the Indian government's National Aids Control Organisation (NACO) bear this out. It estimated that almost four million people in India are HIV-positive, but without proper preventive measures and better information about the dangers of unsafe sex and intravenous drug use, millions more, especially in the 15-29 age group, are at risk of contracting the virus.

It was fitting that the Indian Junior Red Cross (JRC) chose to hold a recent camp on tackling the question of HIV/AIDS in Hyderabad, capital of the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, the Indian state with the largest HIV-positive population at around 350,000 people.

The NACO survey revealed that, among both men and women in the state, the incidence of unsafe sex with non-regular partners was the highest in the country.

These figures prompted the government of Andhra Pradesh in September to order all schools in the state's 23 districts to form a JRC team to address the problems of HIV/AIDS, such as tackling stigma, health and hygiene and and peer pressure. The move has given a timely shot in the arm to the Andhra Pradesh branch of the IRCS in its AIDS awareness campaigns.

The Indian Red Cross has a strong network of JRC groups all over India with over 6 million members. Last year, the movement was expanded to include college students under the name of Youth Red Cross, whose membership has now swelled to 4 million.

Speaking at the JRC integration camp in Hyderabad, Dr. Hari Priya Rangarajan, chairperson of the IRCS branch in Andhra Pradesh, stressed the need to reach out to the children and tell them about the disease, and to equip teachers pass on the message.

"There are a lot of stigma, fears and misunderstanding surrounding the victims of the disease which needs to be done away with," she says.

School teachers, who are also JRC counsellors, from 13 states came together during the gathering to discuss the problems associated with telling students about HIV-AIDS and to share strategies for reaching out to young minds.

Anwari, a 45-year-old teacher from a state-funded school in the Babanagar area of Hyderabad find it embarrassing to talk to her students about safe sex: "I speak freely at home to the men in my family about being careful because once you have AIDS, it's a point of no return. Somehow, I can't seem to talk to my students so freely," she says, brushing the veil of her black burqua from her face.

But it is a different matter for Naseem, a former student of Anwari and now a teacher in the same school. "I can talk to my students about safe sex without embarrassing them or me. I think it is very important to be a friend to them and tell them the facts. I have come to the counsellor's workshop to learn more about how to break the ice with the kids and help them live a normal healthy life," she says with conviction.

This illustrates why the Indian Red Cross is stressing the need for more youth-to-youth AIDS awareness programmes, in which the youngsters can talk freely to their peers without hesitation.

More than 500 children participated in the camp and voiced their fears and curiosities about HIV-AIDS, relationships, health and hygiene in an open session, which stressed the need to treat those living with HIV as individuals who have a right to live with dignity and not be treated as untouchables.

For many of these youngsters, HIV/AIDS is something that happens to other people. For others, it is a shocking reality which needs to be dealt with fast.

"Young people are much more aware about this deadly disease and willing to talk about it. Silence will no longer help,"says 14-year-old, secondary school student, Swathi. "We should involve the elders in learning about this disease and talk about prevention and care. I told my mother about AIDS and she has encouraged me to talk to others."

Swathi and her two friends, Pawan and Anil study in the Devnan School for the Blind in Andhra Pradesh. At the camp in Hyderabad, they were demonstrating a device they had built to harvest rain water. The confidence with which they talk about their creation is matched when they discuss the need to reach out to youngsters like them and talk about AIDS.

They would like to see more media campaigns by the IRCS. They would also welcome HIV/AIDS education programmes specially designed for blind people.

Ankita Sista, 13, feels many girls of her age are hesitant when it comes to talking about AIDS. Winner of the third prize in a cartoon strip competition organized by the Indian Red Cross for World AIDS Day in 2001, Ankita feels it would be a good idea to organize more youth camps where everybody can exchange views freely about prevention, care for the victims and other health issues.

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