RED RIBBON CLUB 

       Red Ribbon Club (RRC) Programme is a voluntary on-campus intervention, aimed at heightening the risk perception and preventing HIV among youth. Red Ribbon Clubs have become a powerful medium to reach out to young people. Spearheaded by the Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society (TNSACS), this programme is supported by the Higher Education Department and demonstrating the importance of inter-sector collaboration to address the issue of HIV / AIDS. RRC empower students in the age group of 17-25, by giving them information and life-skills to protect themselves from HIV/AIDS and changing the most active among them into peer educators.

 Objectives

•       To reduce HIV infection among youth by raising their risk perception through behaviour change communication.
•      To induce among youth the spirit to help and support people living with HIV/AIDS thereby reduces stigma and discrimination against PLHIVs.
•     To motivate youth and build their capacity as peer educators and change agents by developing their skills on leadership, negotiation, and team building.
•     To promote no remunerated voluntary blood donation among youth.

 Activities

Red Ribbon Club programme with the objective of bringing about behaviour change in young minds employs various strategies like:

·         Imparting “Celebrating Life - 10 hours curriculum” to the RRC Volunteers and Programme Officers by trained resource persons.

·         Peer education and leadership trainings to the RRC volunteers

·         College and University/ Directorate level competitions such as oratorical, drawing, quiz and etc.

·         Interactions with positive people, Transgender, Injection Drug users and ICTC Counselors.

·         Exposure visits to ICTC, STI, ART, Blood Bank and HIV Community Centre by the RRC Volunteers.

·         HIV/ AIDS awareness campaigns (Rallies and Outreach activities) during events like International Youth Day (IYD), World AIDS Day (WAD), National Youth Day (NYD), National Voluntary Blood Donors Day (NVBD), World Blood Donation Day (WBD) and International Women’s Day (IWD).

·         Life Skill Education Programme

·         Life skill Education Programme (LSEP) in schools is being conducted through State Council for Educational Research & Training (SCERT) under School Education Department in coordination with Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society (TNSACS) to provide information on HIV/AIDS transmission and prevention in the context of growing up, and for imparting related life skills to students in high and higher secondary schools in the State

·     The aims of LSEP is to knowing about themselves, their adolescence and their sexuality, learning basic facts on HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, understanding the risks involved in substance abuse, developing and reinforcing life skills that enable them to protect themselves, dispelling myths and clarifying misconceptions, finding ways in which they can help fight the HIV epidemic and encourage, positive attitudes towards people living with HIV.

·         The aims & objectives of LSEP

·      To reinforce/support development of behavior that will empower adolescents to make healthy choices.

·            To provide opportunities for the reinforcement of existing positive behavior and strengthening of life skills that enable young people to protect themselves from and to cope with risky situations they encounter in their live.

·            To ensure that all schools provide accurate age appropriate life skills based adolescence education in a sustained manner to adolescents (10-19 yrs) in classes 8th, 9th & 11th.

·            To equip every adolescent with accurate information, knowledge and life skills to protect themselves from HIV and manage Adolescent Reproductive Sexual Health issues and concerns;

·            To effectively integrate adolescence education components in school curriculum as well as in institutes where teacher education courses takes place.

 ·         Activities

·         Life Skill Education Programme with the objective of bringing awareness in adolescent minds employs various strategies like:

·            “Life Skill Education”– A sixteen hours session to the students through trained teachers in the Schools.

·            School/ Block/ District level competitions to the students.

·         HIV/ AIDS awareness campaigns (Rallies and Outreach activities) during important events.

         At present, there are 107 R.R.C Units (annexed) under our Medical University.