Young Volunteers In Denpasar To Hold HIV/AIDs Campaigns

Denpasar, Dec 14 (ANTARA) - Young volunteers, who belong to Kita Sayang Remaja (Kisara), will organise several campaigns to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. "We want to organise educational programmes for teenagers on reproduction. This way, we will be able to reach out to youths and young adults in the country, who are at risk of HIV/AIDS infections," said Kisara`s Coordinator, I Gusti Agung Agus Mahendra, on Friday. According to him, training and educational programmes related to reproduction will also be conducted for teachers, so that they can impart sex education to their students. Training will be held from December 16 to 23 in two schools, SMA 1 Saraswati Denpasar and SMAN 8 Denpasar. "We will select eight students and 20 teachers from each school to take part in our programmes," he said. According to him, schools play an important role in educating teenagers and young adults. He said training and educational programmes increase the public�s awareness of HIV/AIDS. In addition, they help to reduce the number of HIV/AIDS cases in the country. The data compiled by the Committee on the Prevention of HIV/AIDS in Bali shows that the number of HIV cases in the region have reached 6,504 (from 1987 to August 2012). The data also shows that 271 people die because of AIDS, whereas 219 persons die because of HIV. Denpasar has reported the most number of HIV/AIDS cases in Bali. Denpasar has reported a total of 2,611 cases (40.14 percent). 40.61 percent of the people with HIV are between the ages of 20 and 29. 35.82 percent of the people with HIV are between the ages of 30 and 39. The number of people with HIV is on the rise because people tend to have multiple sexual partners.