NYARUGURU – A three-month sensitisation campaign against HIV/Aids was, last Thursday, concluded with a call on the youth to protect themselves against the virus.The call was made by Nyaruguru District vice Mayor in charge of Social Affairs, Angelique Nireberaho. "Our efforts in the fight against AIDS are not concluded with this campaign. We will keep sensitising our youth on ways of protecting themselves,” she told The New Times.The theme of the campaign, which kicked off on December 8, last year, was  "Youth, let us join efforts in protecting ourselves and others against HIV/Aids for a brighter future.” The campaign included HIV/Aids awareness drives in secondary schools, media campaigns and debates among the youth at the village level, among others."We discussed with the youth the various measures to take in order to curb the disease and we hope to see young people adopting them,” Nireberaho said.Statistics, released last year, by the Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC) indicate that HIV prevalence among the youth aged 15-24 years is estimated at around 1.0 per cent. Globally, youth now make up the largest percentage of the world’s population but unfortunately, the group is the most vulnerable to HIV/Aids infection, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Statistics from the organisation indicate that, worldwide, about 6,000 young people are infected with HIV every day while 50 per cent of HIV transmission takes place among those aged between 15 and 24 years.