ABOUT 40 youth leaders in the province of Bataan pledged to be advocates in the fight against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and tuberculosis (TB).
The pledge was made during the second leg of the Kilos Kabataan Kontra HIV at TB webinar, a series of webinars co-organized by the Philippine Information Authority (PIA) and the United States Agency for International Development TB Platforms, in partnership with the Department of Health and the Sangguniang Kabataan Federations of Central Luzon.
The pledge was led by Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) Bataan Federation President Precious Manuel, who vowed that they will use their influence to disseminate the correct information about these illnesses.
“I urge my fellow youth to responsibly use the social media platforms they have to empower our constituents,” Manuel said.
In his message, (PIA) Regional Director William Beltran stressed the crucial role of the youth in the battle against HIV and TB.
“We believe our youth can do so much in this campaign. You’ve been very active in a lot of platforms and in a lot of advocacies. We’ve seen our youth capitalize in taking advantage of the good the internet or the social media can provide us. Please use that platform responsibly to your advantage and use it to empower other people through accurate, timely, and relevant information that could save other people’s lives,” Beltran said.
Beltran added that while the government is doing its best to the respond to different healthcare problems amid the pandemic, it needs support in addressing the present situation.
“The government sees our young people as driving forces in at least mitigating all of these challenges. A lot of people have been assisting already our government in terms of responding to COVID-19 in its efforts and initiatives to reopen (the) economy. But we need more, especially our youth, because our youth can really help us continue our battle with other health concerns like HIV-AIDS and TB, which remain threats to our people’s health,” he furthered.