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"Take heed"
The
Star (www.thestar.com.my)
(07/12/05)
Children are the missing face of AIDS. Every minute of every day, one child
gets infected with HIV and one child dies of AIDS. Daily, more than 6,000
young people between the age of 16 and 24 acquire the virus. – Unicef
TODAY, HIV/AIDS poses the most danger towards children and young people
above anybody else.
“The world has forgotten that it’s a problem that affects children and young
people more than any other age group,” said Phillip O’Brien, Unicef’s
regional director in Geneva.
Unicef’s new plea of Unite for Children, Unite Against AIDS is as relevant
as any, especially now, with a 3.5 million increase of children orphaned by
AIDS in just two years and more than 2.2 million living with the virus
globally. The move to make this statement now is as timely as ever, believes
O’Brien.
“Stopping AIDS starts with young people, and hopefully the fight will end
with them,” stressed the Irishman, who was in Kuala Lumpur recently to help
kick off the Global Campaign for Children and AIDS (2005-2010) here on Nov
25.
“Young people are much less set in their ways and much more comfortable in
dealing with the strange and the new. They have no qualms about coming out
and saying, ‘Okay, we can talk about this’.”
Of course, HIV/AIDS seems a distant reality wherever there are large holes
in the dissemination of information. The truth is, numbers are at an
all-time high, and Asia has been highlighted as the new focus of concern for
the impact of the virus onto young people.
At present count, there are 15 million children and young people around the
world feeling the devastating effects of HIV/AIDS either through infection
or orphanage, with an estimated 25,000 who are Malaysian.
Unicef’s rallying cry this World AIDS Day is to empower young people of
their role in defeating the spread of the deadly virus. It’s an opportunity
to let the children – who themselves are affected most – lead the way
forward in curbing the pandemic.
“There aren’t large numbers in Malaysia compared to other places, but the
percentage of HIV infection here is growing, and prevention can only be
helped through the dissemination of information that is available, relevant
and conveyed in a way that is appropriate to the age group we’re talking
to,” said Gaye Phillips, Unicef’s representative to Malaysia in an interview
prior to the Kuala Lumpur launch of the new campaign.
Phillips believes that hope lies with young people, and involving them
directly in the education of other young people is crucial in saving this
most affected of groups.
”We must engage them. Young people are often demonised and we’re often so
critical of them. We take the worst example and act as though that’s how
young people are acting. In truth they’re a resource for finding solutions,
aiding prevention and ending discrimination,” added Phillips.
A little bit of empathy goes a long way, but some action to back it up comes
full circle. Form Four student Nur Syakirin Husnal Azhari, from SM Sains
Muar, Johor, was a guest speaker at the campaign’s Nov 25 launch.
She was handed the task after attending a youth workshop Unicef Malaysia had
organised to work with young Malaysians as well as discuss pressing HIV/AIDS
issues.
In her speech, Syakirin delivered perhaps the most telling line when it
comes to the role of young people when she said: “As a young Malaysian, I am
aware that the way I live my life could affect the lives of others around
me. I am therefore responsible for leading a positive and healthy lifestyle
and to keep away from the behaviour that may put me at risk of HIV
infection.”
The 16-year-old’s speech continued: “Like so many teenagers, I look forward
to the day when I become an adult. My friends and I like to talk about
courtship and the time we will have our own children. If we all keep safe, I
hope that my peers and I will be able to produce a healthy new generation,
free from HIV/AIDS.”
“Yes, it’s up to us to lead the way but adults have to trust us and at the
same time guide us,” she expressed later, in an interview after the speech.
“Honestly, I myself don’t really know about HIV and AIDS. And that’s why we
need adults to tell us more, and if possible everything there is to know. We
need the whys and the hows – telling us to ‘stay away’ is not enough,” added
Syakirin, who only joined as a Unicef youth volunteer in October.
Everyone can help halt the spread of HIV/AIDS by just sharing fundamental
prevention information in small ways. To be responsible for your own body
before helping others is also a gesture in itself, believes the teenager.
“Just to take care of ourselves, our families and our close friends is
enough of a responsibility. We don’t need to go preaching to everyone about
what’s right and what’s wrong, but just by taking care of those close to us,
we can change a lot. If everyone lived like this, reaching out to others
(strangers) won’t be such a difficult gesture at all,” she said.
“For our brothers and sisters living with HIV, we must help them, comfort
them and motivate them, but for those free of HIV, we must also take care of
them, so that it doesn’t spread any further.”
Notes: STF -: For World AIDS Day last week, the United Nations Children’s
Fund (Unicef) called for the world’s attention to the real sufferers of
HIV/AIDS – children and young people. IZUAN SHAH has the story.
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