Mumbai Mayor Ritu Tawde flags off Red Run 2026 to raise HIV and AIDS awareness among students

Mumbai Mayor Ritu Tawde on Sunday said promoting healthy lifestyles and greater health awareness among young people was essential to building a healthier society as more than 500 college students participated in the lsquoRed Run 2026rsquo marathon organised in Mumbai to spread awareness about HIVAIDSThe 4km marathon was organised by the Mumbai Districts AIDS Control Society MDACS under its lsquoRun To End AIDSrsquo initiative The event began at 7 am on Sunday with Mayor Ritu Rajesh Tawde flagging off the run and addressing participating students and citizensldquoA healthy and empowered young generation is the future of the country and an active lifestyle and health awareness are the need of the hour to ensure a healthy societyrdquo Tawde saidStudents take part in HIVAIDS awareness campaignThe event brought together more than 500 college students as part of efforts to increase awareness about HIVAIDS among young people in Mumbai More than 200 employees of the organisation along with National Service Scheme NSS volunteers were deployed along the marathon route to facilitate the eventTawde said Mumbairsquos efforts to address public health challenges required participation from citizens and young people in addition to administrative measuresSpeaking about the role of the Mumbai Districts AIDS Control Society she said the organisation was working on HIVAIDS prevention and awareness across the city She added that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC was focused on providing public health services alongside civic and infrastructure facilitiesldquoThe Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation is consistently committed to providing not only civic and infrastructure facilities but also quality and efficient public health servicesrdquo Tawde saidMayor calls marathon more than a sporting eventTawde said the marathon should be viewed as an awareness initiative rather than simply a competitionldquoToday some may win and some may learn but more important than winning is coming together and running for a noble cause and taking the message of awareness to society We must all adopt the mantra of lsquoHealthy Youth Healthy Cityrsquordquo Mayor Ritu Tawde saidThe event was organised under the guidance of Dr Rakesh Gupta Additional Secretary and Director General of the National AIDS Control Organisation NACO New Delhi and BMC Commissioner Ashwini BhideAdditional Municipal Commissioner City Prajakta VermaLavangare MDACS Project Director and Municipal Deputy Commissioner Public Health Sharad Ughade Executive Health Officer Dr Santosh Gaikwad Medical Superintendent of Acworth Leprosy Hospital Dr Amita Pednekar MDACS Additional Project Director Dr Vijaykumar Karanjkar and Deputy Director Umesh Ghuge were among the officials presentWinners to represent Mumbai at national competitionThe winners of the Red Run 2026 competition were felicitated at the event The winning runners will represent Mumbai at the nationallevel Red Run Marathon competition to be organised by NACO in Bihar in October 2026The event also included the felicitation of students who performed well in a quiz competition conducted under the Adolescent Education Programme implemented by MDACS in municipal schoolsThe schoollevel round of the quiz was held on August 12 2026 followed by the semifinal and final rounds on September 11Red Ribbon Clubs active in colleges and schoolsAs part of its continuing HIVAIDS awareness efforts MDACS is currently running awareness activities through Red Ribbon Clubs in 190 colleges across Mumbai Similar programmes are being conducted in 250 municipal schools