Sonia Gandhi flags off 'Red Ribbon Express'
New
Delhi,
Dec
1:
Congress
president
Sonia
Gandhi
today
flagged
off
specially-designed
seven-coach
'Red
Ribbon
Express'
that
will
traverse
across
the
country
spreading
AIDS
prevention
messages.
Flagging
off
the
train
on
World
AIDS
Day,
the
UPA
Chairperson
said
the
campaign
was
a
battle
for
those
afflicted
by
AIDS
and
''it
can
and
must
be
won''.
This project will help bring to the mainstream the fight against the disease, she added.
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''AIDS
is
a
major
public
health
concern.
No
single
thing
has
had
such
an
impact
in
the
world.
Men
and
women
in
the
prime
of
their
youth
have
been
lost
to
this
disease,''
Ms
Gandhi
said.
Railway Minister Lalu Prasad, who was also present on the occasion, announced that his ministry will also run another train for the same purpose.
The train will raise awareness about HIV, promote safe behavioural practices and fighting the stigma and discrimination attached to the blood-borne disease.
During its year-long journey, the train will cover over 27,000 km covering 180 stations holding programmes and activities in over 50,000 villages.
Two exhibition buses and cycle caravans will also be travelling with the train and they will cover the peripheries of the districts reaching out to millions of people.
UNI