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Sunday, November 13, 2011

SSACS launches 2nd edition of ‘Red Fest’

GANGTOK, 11 Nov: The Sikkim State Aids Control Society [SSACS] launched the two-month long 2nd edition of ‘Red Fest’ today which will end in the second week of February 2012. On the occasion Secretary, Health Department, Dr. Kumar Bhandari, was the chief guest.
The mission of the Red Fest is to improve the quality of life for individuals, families and communities by providing a continuum of information, education and services that are widely accessible to advance in the field through research and training and to improve quality and effectiveness through continuous improvement and innovation.
While addressing the gathering, Dr. Bhandari informed that HIV/AIDS is becoming a serious problem in the world, but the government and some non-government organizations have been contributing and spreading awareness about it amongst the masses.
Everyday around 7,000 people are infected by different methods and a multi-media campaign is the right way which can directly reach the youth and the campaign was a success last year, he said. Every parent should play an important role and they have to keep a close watch on the activities of their children. Similarly, teachers should inform the students about the disease and must play active role, he added.
Mr. Bhandari further mentioned that the media also plays an important role because people get to know every thing through the media. Likewise the society, NGOs and intellectuals also have a role to play since everybody has a responsibility.
Similarly, Deputy Director IEC, SSACS, Raj Kumar Sharma, agreed that a multi-media campaign is the right way to go and informed that under the programme, they will be engaging the youth in football, music, dance and painting. Through this campaign they want to divert the mind of the youth to engage in different areas like games, music, painting, etc.
Mr Sharma further mentioned that under this programme, they will visit schools and colleges and meet the students informing them about the programme. The main objective is to create responsible youth and bring about behavior changes and also positive engagement.
An open genre music band competition will take place in all the districts with the finals held on the concluding two days of the Red Fest, while a 5-side football tournament will also be organized under this campaign.
The mission of the IEC division is to provide quality information and support to people wherever they may be in their personal journey, from education and early intervention. In order to spread awareness, disseminate information about HIV and AIDS among youngsters in schools, colleges and the youth in general, SSACS is organizing this fest.
This intervention would look at spreading awareness about HIV and AIDS and the ill effects of substance abuse amongst the young across the state. The two months involvement would look at positively engaging the youth through several competitions, ranging, from music, football, positive intervention in schools and colleges and host of other activities. All the activities under the campaign will have an underlined theme on HIV and AIDS.

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