For the first time ever, special lessons on HIV/AIDS prevention are taught in schools in Moldova
By Tanya Bunduchi “I have never thought I can ever get infected with HIV. My friends, my colleagues, everyone I know think the same... Until today we have been certain that we are not exposed to this danger in any way”. Andrei Efros, a handsome 18-year-old young man, is a student of the 12th form at the Theoretical Lyceum of Magdacesti village, near the Moldovan capital Chisinau. Andrei is one of those circa 400 thousand teenagers who have participated in the Special Lesson on HIV/AIDS Prevention organized for the first time in all schools of the Republic of Moldova. The lesson has been organized by UNICEF and the Ministry of Education and Youth with the support of the Ministry of Health on the occasion of the World AIDS Day. “We, the teenagers, are vulnerable to HIV and AIDS because our parents avoid talking to us about sexual relationships and protection”, says Andrei. “Many young people are not aware of the danger of HIV and AIDS because of lack of information on this subject. It is good to talk about HIV prevention at school”. “I simply and openly explained my students how the HIV virus gets into the human body, how it destroys the immune system, and how a person with AIDS dies in horrible pains at a young age…” Over 5,000 teachers informed upper-form students about the ways of HIV virus transmission and tried to motivate teenagers to give up risky behaviors and adopt a responsible and healthy lifestyle. “I simply and openly explained my students how the HIV virus gets into the human body, how it destroys the immune system, and how a person with AIDS dies in horrible pains at a young age…”, says Margareta Guzun, a teacher at the Theoretical Lyceum of Magdacesti. “Children cannot find out about all these things from their families because their parents are either embarrassed to talk about it, or are abroad and do not communicate with them often”. This is the reason I have spoken with my students like a mother, I have warned them and have given them arguments, which I hope will convince them to protect against HIV by saying “NO” to drugs and unprotected sexual relationships, as well as by avoiding risky situations that can lead to infection. “I had prepared for the class by using information in the guidebooks”, says the teacher.
Children have the right to know and have access to information about HIV and AIDS, which corresponds to their age. Children must gain knowledge that will help them protect themselves against HIV…” In order to prepare and carry out the Special Lesson on HIV and AIDS Prevention, UNICEF and the Ministry of Education and Youth have developed two guidebooks: one for students and the other for teachers, which contain essential information on the HIV virus and AIDS. The teacher’s guide is light blue, the color of UNICEF’s logo, and contains suggestions for the lesson. The student’s handbook is yellow, red, and blue, the colors of the Global Anti-AIDS Campaign, and includes a quiz on HIV and AIDS. Information materials have been distributed to each pre-university institution, to each student and teacher on the basis of an agreement signed between UNICEF and Posta Moldovei (Moldova Mail). According to Ray Virgilio Torres, United Nations Children’s Fund Representative in Moldova, UNICEF supported the organization of a Special Lesson on HIV and AIDS “because many young people have got infected because of lack of information. Children have the right to know and have access to information on HIV and AIDS, which corresponds to their age. Children must gain knowledge that will help them protect themselves against HIV”. “The Special Lesson on HIV and AIDS prevention we had at school made me realize that HIV and AIDS were everywhere around us…” A study conducted by UNICEF on knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of young people with regard to their health and development shows that young people are not informed or have wrong information about sexual health, which makes them vulnerable to HIV. One out of three young people is sure that it is not possible to get a sexually transmitted disease as a result of a sexual intercourse. Only half of young people consider that faithfulness and condom can protect them from HIV and only 8% of young people in the Republic of Moldova know about all the ways of virus transmission and have no prejudices that would expose them to the risk of infection. Even if they have heard about HIV and AIDS, young people do not identify themselves with this risk and often tend to get involved in unprotected sexual relationships: only 35 out of 100 young people have used condom during each sexual intercourse. And this happens in the situation when most of the infected people (60%) are aged between 15 and 28. Within the past years, not only drug users have been getting infected with HIV, but also sexually active people who do not protect themselves. The lesson on HIV and AIDS lasted for 45 minutes, during which students asked questions, analyzed specific situations related to the risk of infection, imagined what they would have to lose if they got infected with HIV and AIDS. “The Special Lesson on HIV and AIDS Prevention we had at school made me realize that HIV and AIDS were everywhere around us. I am the one responsible for my health and no one else. I want to be healthy. I want to have a future and this is why it is worth to protect myself. I already know how to prevent infection”, said Andrei Efros at the end of the lesson. Chisinau - 29 November, 2007
|
