New HIV/AIDS campaign targets varsity students

HUYE–The Ministry of Health has launched a one week sensitisation drive targeting the youth, especially students at the National University of Rwanda (NUR). According to Anita Ahayo, an official from the Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC), the new exercise is set to increase awareness among the youth, especially students, on ways to protect themselves against the pandemic. Activities to be carried out across the week include male circumcision, sensitisation gatherings, sport activities, and Voluntary Testing and Counselling (VTC). The new exercise is part of activities to wrap up an anti-AIDS campaign which kicked off during the World Aids Day last year. The day is celebrated annually on December 1.“We expect to circumcise about 300 male students and young boys in the neighbourhood”, Ahayo disclosed.Circumcision activities will be conducted for free at Kabutare Hospital, within the university campus and at the University Centre for Public Health (CUSP) in Huye town.The World Health Organisation (WHO) has recommended male circumcision as a tool to reduce the risk of acquiring HIV/Aids virus. Studies show that circumcised men have around 60 percent-risk free chances of not acquiring the virus during sexual intercourse.According to Ahayo, there is need to create awareness among students as some of them still engage in unprotected sex.“There are still cases of unwanted pregnancies among girls at this university,” she pointed out, adding that they risk contracting the deadly virus. She, however, pointed out that the campaign will not only benefit students but also the youth within the surrounding communities.The campaign is set to conclude next Sunday. Prime Minister, Dr. Pierre Damien Habumuremyi, is set to attend its closure, according to RBC officials.Speaking to reporters, NUR Rector, Prof. Silas Lwakabamba, acknowledged the need to conduct the campaign.He noted that the fact that some girls had in the past become pregnant is proof that students had been engaging in unprotected sex.“Some young girls come [here] and meet the so called ‘smart boys’ who trick them”,Lwakabamba observed.“[In the past] there have been cases of unwanted pregnancies [and] we believe that students need to be educated.”There were no available statistics of the number of varsity girls who had been impregnated by press time.Lwakabamba observed that the university had launched an initiative dubbed the League Universitaire de Lutte Contre le SIDA (LUCS), to help raise awareness of HIV/AIDS amongst students and staff.“We always tell students that prevention is the first thing [and] we tell girls that getting pregnant is the best way to losing a degree”, Lwakabamba noted.NUR Vice Rector in charge of Administration and Finance, Dr Desire Ndushabandi, insisted that more sensitisation campaigns were still essential as university students are highly sexually active.“We normally distribute condoms and by the time you refill the boxes, they are empty”.“This is a community of young individuals who are highly sexually active”.jean.bucyensenge.newtimes.co.rw