DHARAMSHALA: The Department of Health of the Central Tibetan Administration has dedicated the entire month of December for various AIDS Awareness campaigns in settlements, colleges and schools, and counseling training for health department staff at Christian Medical College, Vellore. The programmes were funded by NCA (Norwegian Church Aid). 

To mark the world AIDS day on 1 December, the health department organised a series of awareness talks, quiz, essay, drawing and poster contests in about 25 Tibetan schools, including Sherab Gatsel Lobling School and Pateon School in Dharamsala. Community-wide HIV awareness programmes organised in various Tibetan settlements to mark the world AIDS day include a theater play by TsoJhe Khangsar hospital staff for residents of Bylakyppe Tibetan settlements to emphasise the vital messages of HIV prevention and stigma reduction. 

The focus of this year’s HIV AIDS awareness programme was young Tibetan college students since youths are at greater risk for contracting HIV AIDS. Awareness talks on HIV AIDS were scheduled at the Tibetan Youth Hostel and the Dalai Lama Institute for Higher Studies in Bangalore, and the Institute for Small trade Learning in Nelamangala from 9-14 December which were attended by a total of about 400 students. “The main objective of these talks is to provide knowledge about HIV AIDS to these young people so that they can make informed and responsible decisions to reduce the spread of HIV AIDS in our community,” the health department said.

From 16-20 December, an HIV AIDS Counseling training was organised at Christian Medical College (CMC) in Vellore, Tamil Nadu. The training was aimed at providing HIV AIDS counseling to people living with HIV (PLHIV) as per the national policy of NACO (National AIDS Control organisation) andto equip the health staff with necessary skills so that they can provide effective counseling to people living with HIV in our community. The topics covered during the training include pre and post test counseling, developing micro skills for counseling, dealing with psychological problems of PLHIV, counseling for prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT), behaviorial change counseling and counseling injection drug users.About 10 DOH health staff and one staff from Kunphen center for substance abuse prevention participated in the training.