Students held posters and raised awareness on the eve of World AIDS Day at a railway platform in Chennai on Sunday.
December 01 is celebrated as World AIDS Day and on this occasion an NGO, ‘Indian Development Foundation’, organised an awareness programme at Chennai’s Egmore railway station.
Posters bearing several messages on AIDS with symbolic red ribbon were displayed at the station to grab the attention of passengers. A sizeable number of schoolchildren participated in the programme.
Manager of the NGO, Sreeram, said that such programmes help in creating awareness on the disease and assist infected persons to lead a normal life.
“December 01 is being observed as the World AIDS Day, so we have to create lot of awareness and eliminate the disease from our soil. So we are reaching many people, we are getting support from the schools and colleges and towards a better society we are working. And we are sure, that with all your support we can do wonders and eliminate the disease from our country,” said Sreeram.
He also thanked the government for helping the NGO in various ways by providing support for such events.
India had the third-largest number of people living with HIV in the world at the end of 2013, according to the U.N. AIDS programme, and it accounts for more than half of all AIDS-related deaths in the Asia-Pacific. (ANI)