Yunnan youth learn about AIDS
12/10/2005 16:42
Cai Hongmin, 22, stepped into a "classroom" in Kunming for the first time
since he left high school four years ago, this time to learn about
HIV-AIDS. Together with 11 young men and women - all considered "high risk" -
he sat in a room off a quiet street, listening to a policeman talk about AIDS -
myths and realities, dos and don'ts, how to protect themselves. All the
"students" come from the Xiaochangcun district in Kunming, capital of southwest
China's Yunnan Province, the area worst-affected by HIV-AIDS in China. Most
of them were jobless or worked on and off as security guards, restaurant or
beauty salon staff, waiters or waitresses. They represent a group that could
likely go astray without proper social guidance. The lecture was part of the
"Youngsters Life Skills Training Program," initiated last October with support
from UNICEF. "We hope they can use the knowledge in real life," said UNICEF
AIDS program officer Xu Wenqing. "Girls can say 'no' to sex, boys can say 'no'
to drugs. And they can tell doctors 'better give me medicine rather than an
injection,' or at least, 'use clean needles,"' said Xu. The lecturers are not
regular teachers, but policemen from the Yunnan Police Officers Academy. Dai
Fuqiang, who used to train local policemen and school students about the dangers
of taking drugs and how to detect drug use, said he can combine his knowledge of
drugs with anti-AIDS education. Yunnan Province, bordering the world's
biggest drug production base - the "Golden Triangle" - has nearly 30,000
HIV-infected people and 1,223 AIDS patients. Drug use accounts for 51.4 percent
of the transmission. UNICEF's Xu said young people are the most vulnerable
group and also the most crucial in preventing the disease from spreading. He
said 79 percent of those with HIV in China are under the age of 39. Dai, the
policeman-teacher, asks students which is a high-risk behavior or danger:
intravenous drug use, shaking hands with an HIV-infected person, sex without
condoms or a mosquito sting? At first they're silent, then the discussion
gets going. Cai Hongming, the new "student," has attended several
discussions. He most likes the role-playing about situations that may
transmit HIV/AIDS. They play ordinary citizens, drug users, prostitutes or the
families of HIV-infected people. "Teaching young people life skills to stay
away from HIV/AIDS has been successful," said Xu from
UNICEF. (Xinhua)
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