Hoshiarpur- As per the guidelines of Acting Deputy Commissioner Hoshiarpur Ashika Jain IAS, under the leadership of Dr. Swati Shihmar, Deputy Medical Commissioner Hoshiarpur and in the presence of Dr. Jasleen Kaur Medical Officer Incharge De-Addiction Center and Principal Dr. Ramandeep Kaur, World AIDS Day was celebrated at Mother Mary Institute of Nursing, Nasrala by District De-Addiction Rehabilitation Center. The theme of this year's World AIDS Day has been "Overcoming Barriers, Bringing Change in AIDS Response", under which a special program was organized to make the students aware.
During the program, Dr. Swati Shihmar DMC gave detailed information to the students about the causes of HIV/AIDS, its prevention and treatment. He said that HIV testing, counseling and treatment are available completely free of cost in government health institutions of the district. He said that testing and counseling for infection are done in ICTC centers and regular treatment of HIV positive patients is provided in ART centers.
On this occasion, Dr. Jasleen Kaur also made the students aware about removing misconceptions related to HIV/AIDS, eliminating social discrimination and adopting safety measures. Counselors Parminder Kaur and Prashant informed about the physical, mental and social effects of drugs and also informed about the services available for prevention and treatment of drugs.
During the program, a poster making competition was organized among the students, in which the children prepared posters related to AIDS awareness message. In the competition, Harleen Kaur won the first place, Ramandeep Kaur the second place, Karol Sidhu the third place and Naresh Singh the runner-up.
At the end of the program, the attendees were appealed to prevent HIV/AIDS, adopt a safe lifestyle and spread awareness in the society.