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THE National Aids Council (Nac) will this week host the Bulawayo High Schools provincial quiz competition in a bid to educate pupils about the HIV and Aids pandemic. The competition come at a time when the province recorded 5 797 sexually transmitted infections (STIs) cases in the first quarter of the year while an estimated 45 000 people died last year of HIV related diseases and 1,2 million people are living with the virus in the country.
A total of five schools that won the district level competitions in their respective districts would battle it up in the competition and the winner will proceed to represent the province in the national competitions.
In an interview recently, Nac Bulawayo provincial Aids coordinator, Mrs Sinatra Nyathi said the competitions were meant to raise awareness on HIV and Aids. “We targeted high schools because some of the pupils are now sexually active and our priority is to promote abstinence as they are younger to engage in sexual activities. However, we also educate them on how to prevent the transmission of STIs and HIV and Aids,” said Mrs Nyathi.
She said the competitions were also meant to reduce HIV and Aids stigmatisation within schools.
“We realised if we imparted HIV and Aids knowledge to the pupils they will be able to make informed decisions on their sexual lives and as well change negative attitudes they might have on people living with the disease,” said Mrs Nyathi.
She said their desire was to educate every pupil in the country and the competitions would also be cascaded to primary schools.
“The winning high schools Luveve, Lobengula, Founders, Pumula and Christian Brothers College will compete at the provincial level on 4 July at the Large City Hall and the winner will proceed to represent the province in the national competitions,” said Mrs Nyathi.
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derick.khumalo