Source: hindustantimes.com
The Rajasthan state government has ordered that red ribbon clubs (RRCs) be opened in all 10 government colleges and five private colleges of Bhilwara to create awareness about HIV/AIDS, officials said.
RRCs are set up in colleges, both government and private, to make the youth aware about HIV/AIDS through a host of activities, such as debates, discussions and rallies. There are 12,000 RRCs in India, and 600 in Rajasthan across all 33 districts. Seven of them are in Bhilwara, all in private colleges. Bhilwara is a high-priority district in terms of creating awareness about HIV/AIDS.
Rajasthan State AIDS Control Society (RSACS) joint director Dr Pradeep Chaudhary said Bhilwara has high migrant population because it has textile, dyeing and printing industries. Workers from here also migrate out to Mumbai and Gujarat. “Bhilwara, therefore, is a high-priority district,” he added.
Out of 43,425 people living with AIDS in Rajasthan, 2,357 are in Bhilwara, shows RSACS data.
RSACS wrote to the college education department on September 5 for opening new RRCs in Bhilwara colleges. The letter said that it is important to check the rising rate of HIV/AIDS in the district and to protect and keep the youth away from the infections. “As per the HIV infection rate received from the district it has come to notice that the infection is increasing in the district,” said the letter.
“Under the new action plan of National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) for 2019-20, the state government has approved red ribbon clubs in 15 colleges of Bhilwara district,” the letter added.
The officials said that since the district has a high in and out migrant population, as per the NACO guidelines, it is important to take preventive measures in the state especially among the youth.
Dr Chaudhary said it has come to notice that the migrants may develop high-risk behaviours which include unprotected intercourse with multiple partners.
“Also the people who inject illegal drugs may be at a high risk. Therefore, as per the NACO guidelines, there needs to be preventive measures in place to check spread of HIV/AIDS infections. Therefore, to keep the youth of Bhilwara away from such infections, we asked the college education department to establish RRCs in government colleges,” he said.
Commissioner of college education department Pradeep Kumar Borad sent a circular to Bhilwara government colleges on Thursday for setting up RRCs at the earliest. “Each college will appoint a nodal officer to run the club,” said Borad.
RSACS officials said that another programme, ‘Migrant Health Campaign’, will run in eight high-risk districts – Bhilwara, Chittorgarh, Dungarpur, Udaipur, Jalore, Pali, Rajsamand and Sirohi.
Officials said the programme will begin on October 14 to create awareness among the migrants in these districts.