8,000 selected for AIDS awareness campaign in Vadodara

Vadodara, May 11 (UNI) In order to check the spread of HIV AIDS in rural Gujarat, the State Health and Family Welfare Department under UNICEF funded a project today at a function, selecting 8,000 young men and women for running an awareness campaign in Vadodara district.

Addressing the function, Health Minister Ashok Bhatt said ''Every minute six people get infected by AIDS in the world and more than 25,00,000 children suffer from this disease.'' ''However, the spread of AIDS in Gujarat has decreased considerably since the past few years as National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) has put Gujarat in yellow zone which indicates the lowest number of AIDS cases,'' Mr Bhatt said.

''Gujarat is determined to fight the spread of AIDS in its villages. Apart from Vadodara, we have trained 14,000 volunteers in Surat and Valsad districts in south Gujarat to run AIDS awareness campaign,'' Mr Bhatt added.

UNI