"Give them a sense of responsibility and pride. If we act now especially with the young people, we could have tremendous gain in future," said Shamsuddin Ahmed, Unicef communications officer.

Presenting the keynote paper at a seminar on 'HIV/AIDS threat in Bangladesh', Ahmed said, "Young people are the greatest help for defeating HIV/AIDS. An effective way to reach adolescents is to help them play an active role in prevention campaigns."

He said schools are the hub for such prevention lessons. Education represents the best opportunity not only for delivering crucial information about HIV/AIDS but also for removing the ignorance and fear that perpetuate among the youths about HIV/AIDS.

Unicef Resident Representative Dr Morten Geirsing said, "There is no reason to believe that maintaining good cultural values can stop HIV transmission. In fact, Bangladesh has all the haul marks for a possible HIV epidemic."

He said, "India would be the world's largest burden with HIV infected people soon, and Bangladesh shares a porous border with the country. So let us not sit back and think we are better off than others. It is time we act now before it's too late."

In her speech, Australian High Commissioner Lorrain Barker said, "There is a need for strong political leadership in combating HIV/AIDS threat in Bangladesh.

"It is very important to adopt an integrated approach at the policy level to address the issue and develop partnership consequently."

Organised by the Commonwealth Cultural Society of Bangladesh (CCSB) and Neway Bangladesh (NB), the seminar was also addressed by Prof Israt Shamim of Dhaka University, Syed Sukur Ali, president of CCSB, and N Srinarayan, chairman of NB.