Unite the Positives in the Rainbow held an HIV education campaign at Open'er Festival targeting young people. According to NIZP-PZH data, one in three people diagnosed with HIV in 2016 is under 30, and three in four are under 40.
Games, gadgets, modern technology and social media - the Positive in Rainbows unification team showed at the Open'er Festival in Gdynia that professional counselling and prevention of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections can be interesting and accessible. During this year's edition of the festival, through counselling, educational games and materials distributed - leaflets, gadgets and condoms - Pozytywni w Tęczy wanted to reach a minimum of 20,000 people with their prevention message. This is the fifth time the organisers have invited Unite to the NGO zone. Funds for the campaign came from a grant awarded to Unite in the Positively Open competition and funded by Gilead Sciences Poland.
- We will be in mixed pairs at the education stand, so everyone will be able to estimate their HIV risk without restraint, talk about how to act safer and take part in games. We are planning a number of activities which, while entertaining, will impart knowledge and skills to prevent infections, including a competition on how to properly put on a condom, as well as making up slogans together to promote safer sex, which we will publish on our Facebook and Instagram profiles," Anna Omiecińska, the project coordinator, said in an invitation to her point.
- Too many people are becoming infected with HIV. The fact that last year nearly 75 per cent of new infections were detected in people before the age of 40 is striking. Education about HIV and AIDS is badly needed and much remains to be done on this subject. That is why we have once again organised the Positively Open competition, in which we reward the best HIV prevention projects - explained Paweł Mierzejewski, coordinator of the Positively Open programme.
- Last year in Poland, an average of three people found out every day that they were infected with HIV, and one of these three people was under the age of 30. If they take treatment in time, they can live for many years. Unfortunately, for every infected person who knows, there are another one or even two who have no idea that they are living with the virus. We hope that the increased availability of educational projects will translate into an improvement in these statistics," concluded Michał Kaźmierski, CEO of Gilead Sciences Poland, which has provided grants of over one million PLN for educational and preventive projects since the start of the Positively Open competition.
Source: Pozytywni w rainbow, poradnikzdrowie.pl and opener.pl