Hoshiarpur:- As per the directions of Health Department Punjab and Civil Surgeon Hoshiarpur Dr. Balvir Singh, today on World AIDS Day, an HIV AIDS awareness event and awareness rally was organized at Government Senior Secondary Smart School (Co-Ed.), Ghanta Ghar near Hoshiarpur. On this occasion, MLA Brahm Shankar Jimpa was present as the chief guest and flagged off the awareness rally. 
On this occasion, School Principal Karun Sharma, Seema Saini Vice Principal, Medical Officer in Charge of District De-Addiction and Rehabilitation Center Dr. Jasleen Kaur, Dr. Simran Saini, Deputy Mass Media Officer Ravinder Jassal, Counselor and Event Coordinator Prashant Adia, Counselor Parminder Kaur and Psychologists Sandeep Kumari, Ajay Verma, Virendra Vaid, Roshan Lal, Jatinder Singh, Jasvir Singh, Shanti Devi were also present.
On this occasion, MLA Brahm Shankar Jimpa, while addressing the gathering, said that according to the data of the Indian Health Department, India has vowed to make India AIDS-free by 2030 and only students can make a significant contribution to fulfilling this vow. He shared his views on the importance of such events to educate the youth and to make people take active steps and be alert against the spread of deadly diseases like HIV/AIDS.
During the event, Dr. Simran Saini, a mental health expert, gave information about how HIV AIDS spreads and how it can be prevented. He said that the cause of AIDS is HIV or Human Immunodeficiency Virus. This virus attacks the body's immune system and weakens it so much that the body is no longer able to tolerate any other infection or disease. If it is not treated on time, it later turns into AIDS. 
Currently, there is no effective treatment for it worldwide, but the patient's immune system is kept strong by some medicines. He said that one should not discriminate against an HIV-infected person, because this disease is not a taboo. The trend of drug addiction among the youth in Punjab is increasing day by day, due to lack of information and wrong guidelines among the youth. 
On this occasion, during the rally, the students also raised effective slogans to spread AIDS awareness, prevention and the importance of the right to health.