AIDS commission launches education campaign
While most experts agree that the best weapon in the fight against AIDS is education, no educational “magic bullet” has yet been found that irrevocably changes people’s risky behaviour. That, however, has not stopped people from trying. Jose Sanchez reports on the latest attempt in Belize.
Jose Sanchez, Reporting
In an effort to raise awareness about a disease that is killing more and more Belizeans, the National Aids Commission has commissioned a musical CD. Made in collaboration with the Young Artists Association, the release is titled “Until You Know For Sure.” According to the commission’s co-ordinator, Martha Carillo, youths were involved in the project because teens are the one’s most at risk.
Martha Carrillo, Co-ordinator, Nat’l Aids Commission
“I think that young people listen to other young people, I think that’s one of the most effective ways of communicating information. If a friend talks to a friend they listen more than if an adult were talking to them of course.
Together with UNDP, United Nations Development Programme, we have been working on a training package for young people, specifically for youth groups, schools, out of school youths and so on. And really the package includes a CD, a video and includes a training manual that is used for discussion and so on. The CD is really a preview to those coming attractions.”
Most people believe that AIDS happen only to other people but could never happen to them. Carillo disagrees.
Martha Carrillo
“Well I could tell you that all kinds of people catch aids. Aids does not discriminate, AIDS happens to anyone and to the person we don’t even expect. We do know for a fact that the population most affected in our country are young people and we also know that in Belize, HIV/AIDS is no longer considered a homosexual disease, but it is more a heterosexual disease.
Most recent statistics/estimates is that there is a high possibility that we have about ten thousand to twelve thousand persons living with the HIV virus. This places Belize as we all know already as number one in Central America. Now we’re finding out that there is a big chance that Belize is also number two in all of Latin America, and that includes Mexico, Central and South America. So this is really indicating to us that we are in a very serious situation. We are in a very critical time of our development and I think that it is urgent and it is crucial for everybody to stop, look at what they’re doing, look at what response they have, look at what they can contribute to the national response.”
And that national response couldn’t be made any clearer. Reporting for News 5, Jose Sanchez.
From June twenty-fifth to twenty-seventh, the United Nations General Assembly is holding a special session on HIV and Aids. Belize will be sending a delegation to New York, which will be headed by the Prime Minister.
