Zee News
 
New Delhi, Jul 25: Seeking to take the battle against AIDS to rural and semi-urban areas, the Health Ministry is finalising the preparation for flagging off a train that will reach out to 60,000 villages across the country.

"Though we have launched AIDS awareness campaign in villages also, this is for the first time that the ministry is embarking on a massive scale to take the battle to semi-urban and rural areas on train", said a senior Health Ministry official.

The purpose behind running the train Red Ribbon Express to contain AIDS is multi-fold. Besides launching a massive awareness campaign, educating people about AIDS and providing treatment, the ministry wants to mobilise as many youths in rural areas in its fight against the killer disease as possible, the official added.

In a yearlong exercise, the train will start from Kanyakumari in December and return to the same spot after criss-crossing the entire country.

The train will have seven air-conditioned coaches equipped with hi-tech gadgets. There will be facilities like counselling, examination and medicare, restroom, kitchen and an auditorium. There will be doctors, paramedic staff and volunteers travelling in the train.

With the number of AIDS cases touching nearly three million, the train would give an impetus to the battle against AIDS by covering almost all states, including the most vulnerable states like Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, UP and Bihar where there will be more stoppages.