Adolescents and youths in Chad break down taboos about AIDS
Adolescents and youths aged 10 to 24 are committed to raising awareness about HIV among their peers.
These young people regularly conduct awareness-raising activities in 27 cultural structures as part of a project implemented by the reading and cultural animation centres network (réseau des centres de lecture et d’animation Culturelle - CLAC) funded with support from UNICEF and the Global Fund. They meet with other adolescents and young people of the same age to share vital information about AIDS, prevention, the importance of knowing one's serological status and the possibilities of care in Chad.
Some of these meetings are held at the Baba Moustapha cultural centre in N'Djamena, one of the most popular meeting places for youths in the Chadian capital. At Baba Moussa cultural centre, they can exchange freely, unabashedly and regardless of the taboos associated with sexual health in Chad. They can also conduct educational talks, during participatory sessions led by psychosocial laboratory assistants and counsellors. Adolescents and young people ask questions related to their sexuality, but they also receive advice and information on HIV, a disease that remains scary to many.
"Laboratory assistants and psychosocial counsellors talk to the young people and try to find out the reasons that motivate them to take the test. Many youths are coming to be tested. We do screening in the Baba Moussa Cultural Centre"
So says Isabelle Mekoulnodji Modoum, director of the Baba Moustapha Cultural Centre in N'Djamena. In 2021, in Chad, 2,024 peer educators have reached out to 321,000 adolescents and young people.
Yasmine is one of the 163,658 adolescents and youths who decided get tested following the project's awareness-raising activities. Now aware of the importance of knowing her serological status, the young teenager shyly says "If I have a boyfriend, I will ask him to get tested, and I will also do it so that we are both protected.”
As a result of the project's awareness-raising sessions, 151,968 adolescents and young people took the plunge and were tested. Of these, 0.44 per cent tested positive and can now access care through the project implemented by the network of reading and cultural centres.
