Brochures published in Arabic, English and Urdu

Abu Dhabi: The United Nations Development Programme with the support of Red Crescent Authority and the Ministry of Health has published brochures in Arabic, English and Urdu for distribution as part of a countrywide awareness campaign on HIV/Aids.

The brochure, which features 10 important facts about HIV for people to know, are being distributed to the public throughout the country with the help of social and community organisations, health departments, clinics and educational institutions.

The UNDP launched its ongoing campaign at the beginning of last year. It also coincides with the Unicef (United Nations Children Fund) $1 billion (Dh3.67 billion) five-year global awareness campaign launched in mid-December.

The Unicef focus is on stopping transmission of the virus from mother to child, providing paediatric support related to the disease's prevention and protecting vulnerable children.

The UNDP campaign includes seminars and distribution of literature. A training workshop was also organised for journalists on highlighting the problem.

Taghreed Haider, of HIV/Aids Focal Point UNDP, said: "The United Nations Development Programme in the UAE has initiated a project in partnership with the UAE Red Crescent Authority (RCA) and the Ministry of Health to tackle development of an awareness programme and strengthen the same centred on HIV/Aids issues throughout the country.

"The project aims at strengthening the capacity in terms of number of staff and possibly a specialised HIV/Aids programme, specifically within the Ministry of Health and the RCA and for youth organisations and NGOs."

A series of 12 workshops on HIV/Aids prevention were conducted for government high schools in cities. "A total of 395 students were trained of which 207 were female students. In addition, a total of 174 teachers, social workers, nurses and parents attended these workshops," she said.

Prevention
UN brochure to spread awareness about HIV/Aids include: