Penyinar: BDAC youth division

Red ribbon: The Human Chain Red Ribbon during Body Shop's World Aids Day activities at The Mall, Gadong, last year. Organisers this year are looking to break Brunei's record for the number of people in the 'human chain' . Picture: BT fileDewi Mohd Sofri

BANDAR SERI BEGAWANSaturday, November 7, 2009THE Brunei Darussalam Aids Council (BDAC) has announced that it will hold three events to mark World Aids Day, held internationally on Decmeber 1, with the main event being the HIV Awareness Tour Bike Ride.

The theme for this year's World Aids Day is "Universal Access and Human Rights".

"In the US, the ban on (inbound) HIV travellers has been lifted, but (in Brunei) we are working towards no discrimination against people who are HIV positive," said BDAC Vice President Iswandy Ahmad yesterday.

"As we know, HIV positive people here do not want to leave their homes because of the stigma (attached)," he added.

The bike ride will be held November 27, before the main school exam period, at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium. The ride aims to foster education about HIV/Aids in the community and funds for the council's future activities.

It will also address the misconception that HIV/Aids issue is not important or relevant to Brunei. Globally, the number of people living with HIV/Aids is increasing and Brunei is no exception. According to Brunei Ministry of Health statistics, there are 45 people living with HIV or Aids in Brunei with 21 deaths resulting from the syndrome as of December 2008.

"According to the cyclists we've met, there will be around 200-300 cyclists, and we are really looking forward to that. Hopefully, they can fill up the whole stadium," said BDAC President Liyana Latif.

The "ribbon" will comprise people and cyclists sitting on their bikes all wearing red, forming a "red chain" in the shape of the well-known HIV/Aids awareness ribbon.

The bike ride is open to cyclists aged 16 or older. Starting and ending at the stadium, the full 50km route will take cyclists to Sg Akar then along the Tutong-Muara Highway to Jerudong Park and back to the stadium.

The council also announced that it will be resuming its HIV Awareness Programme for Peers and Youth (Happy). The programme was subject to a temporary ban on mass gatherings at schools out of concern of a H1N1 outbreak.

"Three schools have (confirmed) that they will collaborate with us. Happy is back and the difference is that it will be held in mornings, not in afternoons," said Iswandy.

The programme will be held at three secondary schools Saiyidina Husein (November 10), Yayasan Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah (November 17) and Saiyidina Hassan (November 19) targeting around 100 students from Secondary Three and above at each of the schools.

The return of the Happy programme, which comprises talks and activities, will also see the return Dr Ahmad Fakhri Dato Paduka Hj Junaidi, a medical officer from the Disease Control Division of the Department of Environmental Health Services at the Ministry of Health, who has helped conduct previous Happy programmes.

"We are requesting them (the schools) to give us a mix of students from different classes and not just the high achievers from the science stream of classes, for example," said Iswandy.

He added that this was part of BDAC's aims of reaching students from different educational and social backgrounds.

Among the objectives of Happy, apart from raising awareness of HIV/Aids, is to encourage behavioural changes and inculcate family values.

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