District AIDS Prevention and Control Unit (DAPCU) Kohima along with Baptist High, Kohima conducted a sensitization program on HIV/AIDs and the stigma and discrimination associated with it on August 28, for classes 11 and 12 students.
DAPCU, DPO Sentimongla Tzudir, sensitized the students on the basics of HIV/AIDs, facilities under Kohima district where person tested for HIV could avail free of cost treatment and the services available.
Tzudir lamented saying that “when HIV transmission is poorly understood by people in the general population, it causes people to feel threatened by the mere presence of the disease”. She added that everyone has a role to play in making sure that those affected were cared for, accepted by the community and also create a supporting environment where others at risk feel confident to access prevention services and test for HIV.
The sensitization program was followed by voluntary and free HIV counselling and testing by the Mobile ICTC stationed at the school for the day. Many students voluntarily came forward to test and know their HIV status.