HIV/AIDS video for schools

In commemoration of UNAIDS World AIDS Day,  the Community Action Resource (CARE) and the Embassy of the United States of America held a handover ceremony of a documentary on HIV/AIDS entitled “Live and Let Live” at the old fire brigade building yesterday.

Six hundred copies of a documentary on HIV/AIDS are to be distributed to schools, according to Hazel Manning, Minister of Education. “The high quality video production which is being provided to our schools can be a more than useful tool in our renewed efforts to limit the effects of the condition,” she said. The documentary highlights the personal experiences of students who may have known someone suffering from the disease and contestants of the Ambassador’s verse and song competition — “Reducing the Stigma of HIV/AIDS,” held in February.

According to Roy Austin, US Ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago, the US Congress had authorised $2.4 billion in assistance to AIDS affected countries this year. “The US government already contributes to HIV/AIDS control programmes in 75 nations, and through this initiative, is launching intensive programmes in 14 of the most severely affected nations of Africa and the Caribbean,” said Austin. The documentary will be shown at the National Library in Port-of-Spain, next to the youth section of the Main Library, from today through December 12.