To increase awareness among the youth for HIV AIDS, eleven departments of State Government have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The additional project director of Uttarakhand State AIDS Control Society (USACS), Dr RK Pandey informed this while addressing meeting organised to constitute a State-level joint working group for youth here on Wednesday.
He said that MOU aims to remove the stigma associated with the disease and endeavors to prepare a strategy to combat HIV/AIDS in the society. The major departments associated in the project are AIDS control department, Higher education, electronic and information technology, sports and youth welfare department. Pandey informed that the state government has set up ART link centres in all the districts of the state where the HIV patients are getting free treatment. Most of the patients getting treatment in these centres belong to lower strata of the society.
It was decided in the meeting that higher education department and youth welfare department would work in tandem for strengthening Red Rainbow clubs constituted under National Service Scheme (NSS). Other than this Nehru Yuva Kendra (NYK) and sports department would provide their annual calendar to USACS. The officials of higher education department informed that they would include HIV/ AIDS in the curriculum of the higher education institutes.
It was decided that the volunteers of NSS, Nehru Yuva Kendra, Scouts and guides would launch a collective campaign for distribution of cloths, books and blankets among the poor AIDS patients. The meeting was attended by Research Coordinator higher education department Madhu Thapliyal, Youth Welfare officer lalit Joshi, Zonal Director NYK B S Khosa, State secretary Bharat Scouts and guide N K Shah, IEC officer Anil Sati, team leader TSU Mahendra Pancholi, Deputy Director Social Protection Mainstreaming USACS Padmini Malhotra and others.