“Celebrating-life” -A Workshop organised by the AIDS Control Society at Zonal Hospital Dharamshala

Dharamshala, March 13, 2019: Chief Medical Officer Kangra Dr GD Gupta said that with the hormonal and psychological changes, boys are more likely to exhibit behavioural problems like aggressive behaviour, such as fighting and bullying; and girls are more likely to suffer emotional problems such as anxiety and depression. Dr Gupta was speaking in district level training on “Celebrating-life” organised by the AIDS Control Society at Zonal Hospital Dharamshala. Different aspects of the challenges being faced by the youth were discussed at this district level training. Dr Rajesh Guleri, District Health Officer said, “Young people are more vulnerable to sexually transmitted infections than adults & girls more than boys.” He added, “In the present era, we are witnessing a phenomenal advancement in technology. Technology has influenced the way we think about life and threatened interpersonal human relations. Friends are now inside the computer, chatting on the net, creating society with growing numbers of self-centred individuals oblivious to the society around.” At the “Celebrating Life” Training workshop for Principals of colleges of Red Ribbon Clubs, participants were engaged in creating solutions to the challenges they face, incorporating youth development through approaches like self-awareness, promoting responsible behaviour, building capacity of the youth through open dialogue. Dr Rajesh Guleri, District Health Officer stated that youth is the critical phase of career building, lack of responsible behaviour and tendency to experiment, inability to cope with stress can lead to experimentation with drugs and loss of vision in life. He stated that the trained youth will become role models among the youth and further communicate with their peers to promote informed & responsible choices, setting one boundaries, gender sensitivity, be Bold” to talk about HIV AIDS & say “NO” to negative peer pressures. Vijay Kumar resource person deliberated on difference between infatuation/ attraction, and love. Nikhil Sharma resource person enhanced self-esteem & confidence of youth with the commitments- “I value myselfent “I Care about Everyone” & “I enjoy my rights with responsibility”. Dr RK Sood, District AIDS Programme Officer shared that the Red Ribbon Club training aims to empower youth with knowledge, skills, resources & opportunities to enhance life-skills, so that youth can take informed & responsible healthy choices. The trained will further interact with young people to inspire their peers to “be Bold” to say NO to negative peer pressures, shared. 33 faculty from colleges, universities and technical institutions around the district , which participated in the Celebrating life workshop are listed below:- Colleges participating in the workshop Govt College Dharmshala, Govt College of Teaching Education Dharamshala, DIET Dharamshala, Guru Dronacharya Nursing College Yol, Govt. Polytechnic College Kangra, Govt College Shahpur, Gian Jyoti Institute of Bed Education Rajol, Govt College Nagrota Bagwan, I.T.I DHAULADHAR Ichhi ,NIFT Kangra, Pandit Sant Ram Govt College Baijnath, Govt College Indora, WRSGC College Dehri, GGDSD College Rajpur ,ITI Saliana Vill Saliana,NSCN Nursing college Palampur, ITI Palampur, Captain Vikram Batra College Palampur , Govt College Naura, Govt College Haripur, Govt Degree College Dhaliara, Govt Degree College Rakkar, Govt. Degree College Nagrota Surian, Govt. Degree College Jawalamukhi, RC College of Education at Dhanot, MSCM Govt Degree College Thural , Rajiv Gandhi Engineering College Nagrota Bagwan, Ayurvedic College Paprola, Laureate Institute of Pharmacy Kathog, KLB DAV College for Girls Palampur, College of Pharmacy Nagrota Bagwan, Awasthi College of Education Dari, Shaheed Surinder Singh Govt Industrial Training Institute Jawali.