Hopwood tackles HIV/AIDS education

After concluding a series of alcohol and tobacco education sessions last week, Hopwood Junior High School students this time are devoting 50-minute class period catching up on two of the most dreaded diseases known to man: HIV and AIDS.

Dr. Celia Lamkin, former HIV/AIDS specialist for the Public School System, gave 7th grade students a basic overview of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and the human immunodeficiency virus, in a language commonly spoken by today’s generation of youths.

Using a video documentary incorporating hip music and personal testimonies of real HIV and AIDS victims as a tool, Dr. Lamkin sustained the young audience’s attention as she stressed on the seriousness of the related diseases.

“With kids, you have to use analogies that they can relate with so they can follow the flow of the lecture, especially with a subject that can, at times, be full of scientific jargons,” said Dr. Lamkin yesterday.

The brief lecture was meant to dispel common HIV/AIDS rumors which have spread probably twice as fast as the disease itself.

The expert cleared that HIV/AIDS can not be acquired through mere touching, using public facilities and eating utensils, kissing, or mosquito bites, as some individuals fear.

Dr. Lamkin said individuals can only be infected by engaging in unprotected sex, needle or syringe sharing. An infected mother can also transmit the disease to the unborn child in her womb.

Surprising as it may seem, a significant percentage of today’s youth are still prisoners to inaccurate beliefs of how HIV/AIDS is transmitted.

Education campaigns that aim to battle this knowledge deficiency are being pushed forth by health and humanitarian groups all over the world.

A workshop spearheaded by the American Red Cross last June revealed that youths find more comfort learning about HIV and AIDS from peers than adults.

An expert earlier disclosed that today’s youths are usually more inclined to openly share sentiments on sensitive issues such as HIV/AIDS, or sex to members of their own generation.

In this light, the American Red Cross has initiated steps to shape more youths into becoming peer educators who will be tasked to disseminate vital information on the causes and consequences of the said diseases to fellow teens.

Meanwhile, 1998 statistics showed about 33.4 million individuals all over the world are infected with HIV/AIDS. Of this number, 32.2 million are adults and the remaining 1.2 million are children younger than 15 years old.

In the CNMI, some 38 cases of HIV/AIDS have been recorded since 1983.