New website on HIV/AIDS geared to Guyanese youths
Stabroek News
October 12, 2002
The Guyana HIV/AIDS/STI Youth Project has launched a special website to provide young people with the information that they need on the dreaded disease.
The website, www.guyanayouth.com, was launched on Thursday at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) office, 262 Earl's Avenue, Subryanville.
What do you get when you hug an HIV person? Why do people wear red ribbons? Are you at risk for contracting HIV?
These are some of the questions and many more the group is proposing to answer on its new website.
According to a release from the youth project, the website is geared towards helping the many Guyanese youths who have access to the Internet.
It said that the website offers a "safe place" where youths can learn about HIV/AIDS, access information and get answers to difficult questions without dealing with the stigma and discrimination that often accompany the disease.
Eight non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are involved in the project which offers games, quizzes, facts and photographs, the release disclosed. It also seeks to offer cyberspace as a new medium for education, prevention of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections, care and support. The ultimate goal is promoting changes in behaviours that put Guyanese youth at risk for transmission of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections. The release noted that 75% of HIV/AIDS infections are among persons between the ages of nineteen and thirty-five.
A five-year project which is in expansion mode, it began in May of 2000 and is supported by USAID and led by a steering committee, with representatives from the eight NGOs and USAID.
In addition, the project gets technical assistance in behaviour change communications and care support from Family Health International's Arlington Virginia Institute for HIV/AIDS which has brought on board a local team of experts in communications, graphic art, and website design to assist each NGO in reaching their full potential.