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‘Take Action. No Discrimination’. It’s a simple theme that marks a day of global significance; a day that aims to spark action and drive awareness about one of the world’s most complex and destructive diseases, AIDS. Today is World AIDS Day 2010.

As campaigners across the world unite to increase awareness of HIV and AIDS, Melbourne-based not-for-profit organisation, Youth Projects, is taking a grassroots approach.

Through its Needle Syringe Program, Youth Projects has worked to educate and assist its thousands of clients, through providing safe injecting advice, clean injecting equipment, information on safe sex practices, free HIV testing, and counseling.

It operates across the streets of Melbourne, with mobile outreach services in the Inner West and North West, in addition to its head office site in Glenroy. Youth Projects is also active on social media sites such as YouTube, where its ‘You Should Know’ clips support its education initiatives.

In the last year alone, the Needle Syringe Program has dispensed over 23,000 sets of clean injecting equipment.

From 2000 to 2009, the $71 million spent in Victoria on the Needle Syringe Program resulted in a saving of $224 million in healthcare costs; a net financial saving of $153 million. For every dollar that is spent on the Needle Syringe Program, more than four dollars is returned through the prevention of an estimated 32,050 HIV and 96,667 Hepatitis C virus infections.

Youth Projects is the winner of the 2010 Melbourne Award for Contribution to Community. Last month it received a high commendation in the Victorian 2010 Australian Safer Community Awards.