Seychellois youths had the opportunity to discuss openly about HIV/Aids in a dialogue which took place yesterday.
The one-day activity, held at the Ceps’ office at Orion Mall, was organised by the HIV and Aids Prevention and Control Programme of the Public Health Authority alongside the Citizens Engagement Platform Seychelles (Ceps), the Youth Health Centre and the Seychelles National Youth Council (SNYC).
The theme for the dialogue was ‘Young people in the national response to HIV and Aids’.
The main objectives of the dialogue were to educate the youths about the disease, emphasise the importance of youth involvement in fighting HIV/Aids and gather knowledge on the aspirations of young people in regards to HIV.
Some 30 youths from different regions on Mahé took part in the discussion which formed part of activities to commemorate the World Aids Day on December 1 and the Youth Festival (December 9-12).
Also in attendance were the chief executive (CEO) of Ceps Marcel Rosalie, Ceps’ ambassador Rose-Mary Elizabeth, the deputy CEO of SNYC Ghislaine Belmont among other key players.
In her speech detailing the objectives of the activity Lyn Arrisol, the health promotion officer of the National Aids Council, highlighted that the youths are a significantly high risk group.
This was followed by an official launch speech by Sabrina Mousbe, the programme manager at the National Aids Council.
She praised the delegates for showing up as it showed that they are interested in their health and other challenges affecting the youths such as alcohol abuse.
After a video presentation, Chantal Melanie from the Youth Health Centre provided some current statistics on HIV and Aids.
In 2015, there were 1.8 million adolescents aged 10-19 living with the disease worldwide.
During this presentation it was discovered that there are 10 adolescents and youths between the ages of 15 and 19 living with HIV in Seychelles, of which three are male and seven are females.
Figures compiled from 1987 to October 2016 shows that 830 HIV positive cases have been detected in Seychelles, 305 cases have developed into Aids, 154 people have died from the disease and 95 left the country after learning their status.
Miss Melanie clarified that fortunately our current statistics still lags behind other eastern and southern African countries but that does not mean it should not still be a cause for concern.
The activity continued with questions and answers, group work and group presentations.
A participant representing SNYC and Les Mamelles district, Daniel Laurence, said the youths should have more access to information about HIV such as its impact on our economy in order to raise awareness on all of the implications of HIV/Aids.
Ronny Arnephy, the health social and education commissioner for Ceps, said they were pleased with the turnout and want the young generation to not just be part of the debate on HIV but be included in the decision-making.
“The objective of this dialogue is to reinforce the importance of the participation of young people in decision-making about HIV and for those in attendance to become very good advocates,” he said.
The day ended with the presentation of certificates to all delegates.
A similar activity will be held on Praslin for the youths on the inner Islands.
Information and recommendations gathered from these discussions will be used in a strategic action plan on HIV/Aids to better target the youths.
Source : Seychelles NATION