APSACS awareness drive for World Youth Day

August 12 has been declared as the International Youth Day by the United Nations to commend the contribution of youth to the betterment of the society and development of countries. This year Andhra Pradesh State Aids Control Society (APSACS), is spreading the message amongst adolescents and youth on life skill education, HIV prevention and voluntary blood donation.

According to APSACS, young men and women in today’s world are more prone to consuming drugs, alcohol and tobacco products due to the change in culture and also peer pressure. They are wasting their time sitting before television and on the internet instead of bettering themselves for the society. They are also becoming amenable for high risk behavior due to peer pressure. Around 40% of population in both the country and the state lies between the age group of 15-30 [adolescents and youth].

APSACS is of the view that if the youth if equipped with life skills, it will have the ability to cope with the pressures and also handle situations which might compel them against risky behavior. They have also planned to launch an HIV awareness rally to educate students about the risks of unsafe sex. Their final objective is to motivate the youth to come forward and donate blood voluntarily. Last objective of the program is to motivate the youth to come forward and donate blood voluntarily in order to save the lives of the people in an emergency, who are in need of blood. Youth are the backbone of the nation.

This year they will also be launching new programmes like AEP (Adolescent Education Programme), Red Ribbon Clubs (RRC) and Nehru Yuva Kendra Sanghatan (NYKS) that will help propagate their objectives amongst the youth in a more effective manner. Apart from the meet they will also have a cultural programme to disseminate correct information about HIV and blood donation. They will also release an educational tele film ‘ Thelisee Theliyani Vayasu’ which will cover life skills.