Udupi welcomes Red Ribbon Express

The Hindu

Udupi, Feb 20 : The Red Ribbon Express, which arrived to create awareness on HIV/AIDS, got an enthusiastic response from people, especially students at the Railway Station here on Friday.

The Red Ribbon Express, which started its journey from New Delhi on December 1, 2009, has visited 35 places. Udupi, besides being its 36th destination in the country, is its 11th and last destination in Karnataka.

The train will be here till Saturday evening. It would then leave for Kasaragod in Kerala.

Inaugurating the campaign, MLA Raghupati Bhat said that it was necessary to create more awareness among people about HIV/AIDS.

People should be compassionate about persons who had contracted HIV/AIDS and encourage them to lead normal lives.

MLAs Lalaji Mendon and Gopal Bhandary, Zilla Panchayat president Gladys Almeida, vice-president Santoshkumar Shetty, president of Udupi City Municipal Council Dinakar Shetty, District Health and Family Welfare Officer Ramachandra Bairy, District Surgeon Dayananda Nayak and AIDS Control Officer H. Ashok were present.