For A Possible Future

NGOs rush in where governments are either too callous or too ill-equipped to tread. But each of them has to draw its own roadmap for success

Sex education is empowerment

The figures are unnerving. Asia accounts for 70 lakh HIV positive patients. Worse, as many as 36 lakh are in India alone. And since 50 per cent of all HIV positive cases are detected among the youth, it is imperative that the under-20 age group be treated as the focus area for prevention of the AIDS epidemic.

The persuasive pediatrician Sunil Mehra, who reels off these figures, believes there is sufficient data available to suggest that adolescents need to be addressed more than any other age group. Most NGOs, however, focus on children, adults or other special groups.

That