More then 50 youth formed a human chain in the centre of Marneuli painting the AIDS ribbon to honour those who have been affected by the AIDS pandemic and to remind society about the issues that people living with HIV and AIDS face on Candlelight Memorial Day last week. This event was part of a large campaign initiated by World Vision's Public Health/HIV and AIDS Programme (PHHA) all over Georgia.

Activities varied from street demonstrations to theatre plays, from east to south and west Georgia. For many youth it was the first chance to express their solidarity with people living with HIV and AIDS - some of whom participated in the public awareness campaigns all over Georgia for the fourth year running.

'I did not have much information about this disease and how real this problem is for my country. Today I want to tell people to be more tolerant to people with HIV and AIDS and not to think about this problem as something that never touches them', said Giorgi, 17, who is a peer educator in Marneuli.

'This day is very important for our programme, as it gives us the opportunity to talk about people with HIV and AIDS, about the difficulties these people face such as discrimination, lack of assistance and financial and psychological problems and to emphasise what happens when these are neglected', said Tinatin Suladze, World Vision program coordinator.

One of the most effective ways of raising awareness and drawing attention to HIV and AIDS is through street demonstrations, organised in different cities where participants distributed informational leaflets to passer-bys.

World Vision Georgia is the first and only international non-governmental organisation that works directly with people living with HIV and AIDS through its PHHA programme. The programme aims to raise awareness about HIV and AIDS, and reduce the risk of transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among mobile populations and wider communities by increasing knowledge about the transmission on HIV and AIDS and STIs and increase the use of preventive measures.

World Vision also supports the family members of people living with HIV and AIDS. This month more then 20 families received hygiene kits and medicines for children. 'This is a huge support for me. I know that these people care about us, and in this situation when there is a lack of assistance from others, I know that in case of emergency I can count on their help', said 34-year- old Eteri, who received gifts from World Vision, for herself and for her daughter.

World Vision has trained more than 90 youth peer educators and 69 medical personnel in target regions; established Health Care Cabinets in eight key cities countrywide; held 2,000 face-to-face consultations and 1,500 hotline consultations; opened dialogue in rural communities on taboo health-related issues; and supported more than 100 people living with HIV and their family members. In total, the programme helps more than 40,000 people in southern, eastern, and western Georgia.

By May 1 2009 a total of 1,983 HIV and AIDS cases had been registered in the Infectious Diseases, AIDS & Clinical Immunology Research Centre of Georgia, including 1,490 men and 493 women.

The majority of these are aged between 29 and 40. Some 2,010 people have been reported to have developed AIDS in Georgia. Some 340 patients have died and 384 patients are in the process of treatment.

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