Our Reporter
Dimapur, Nov. 4 (EMN): ‘Next to Blue Moon’ (N2BM) band from Dimapur emerged as the winner of the 10th zonal district level multimedia campaign band competition held with theme “HIV Prevention Starts With Me” at Town Hall on Friday.
The competition was organised by the Nagaland State AIDS Control Society (NSACS), government of Nagaland with an aim to spread awareness on HIV/AIDS through music.
The winning band received a cash prize of INR 25,000.
The winner and the 1st runners-up band from each zone will be selected to compete in the grand finale at Kohima on Nov. 22, while the winner of the grand finale at the state level will represent NSACS at the 4th North East Multi Media Campaign proposed to be held in Sikkim.
At the zonal district level multimedia campaign Dimapur band competition, Code XXVII and Pineapple Express band were adjusted as 1st runners-up and 2nd runners-up respectively and received a cash prize of INR 15,000 and INR 10,000 each.
While delivering significance of the Multi Media campaign, District Supervisor of District AIDS Prevention and Control Unit (DAPCU), Orenthung Ngullie said that the campaign aims to capitalize on the popularity of music among the youth to create HIV awareness among them.
Ngullie added that this Multi-Media Campaign is a special package provided by National AIDS Control Organisation since 2009, especially for the State AIDS Control Societies of the north-eastern states so as to create HIV awareness among the youth.
Ngullie mentioned that the main aims and objectives of the campaign is to create fast visibility for the issue of HIV/AIDS and also to reduce the level of stigma and discrimination by demystifying HIV/AIDS while encouraging safe and responsible behaviour among the youth.
State programme officer of PATH, Temjennungsang said that Nagaland is the second highest HIV prevalent state in the country and added that few years back the epidemic was fuelled by injecting drug use, however today the main route of transmission is sexual route.
Temjennungsang said that HIV/AIDS among the youth is a bigger problem than many believe it to be while stating that HIV is having a significant impact on young people, among whom the rate of new diagnoses is very high and the largest percentage of new infections occur among those aged between 15 to 24 years.
Showing concern, Temjennungsang said that nearly half of young people with HIV do not know they have the virus because of low perception of risk, low rates of testing, low rate of condom usage, number of sexual partners, substance use and inadequate sex education, etc.
He urged the youth to understand the risk and know how to stay protected and get education about the basic facts about HIV transmission, testing, and prevention.