Standard Chartered Mark AIDS Day With Workshop
By Maya Salleh

Bandar Seri Begawan - The Standard Chartered Bank 's will be organising a workshop for 200 higher education students on effective leadership and peer counselling skills on situations revolving around HIV/AIDS.

The workshop is an activity under HOPe (HIV/AIDS Outreach Programme), Standard Chartered Bank's on-going community initiative.

In a press release, Standard Chartered announced that the workshop not only aims to educate the participants on the basic facts of HIV/AIDS but also provide them with the skills needed to apply their knowledge in real life situations.

This came in light ofthe commemoration of World AIDS Day as an opportunity to focus on HIV/AIDS as a deadly epidemic that is exponentially increasing in numbers and is also a global issue.

This year, the theme emphasises the vulnerability of women to HIV/AIDS and the tagline for this year's campaign "Have you heard me today?" seeks to raise awareness about and help address the many HIV/AIDS issues affecting women and girls.

Standard Chartered Bank disclosed an alarming statistic where almost half of the 40 million people living with HIV/AIDS are women. Young women aged between 15 and 24 are three times more likely to be infected with HIV than young men.

According to the recent UNAIDS report 2004, women know less than men about how HIV/AIDS is transmitted, how to prevent infection, as well as how to address discrimination and violence surrounding HIV/AIDS.

The statistics remind people of the seriousness of the situation and the World AIDS Day focuses on the message that much more needs to be done to fight this deadly epidemic.

To continue its commitment in raising public awareness and education, Standard Chartered Bank will be holding a launching ceremony to commemorate this special day.

Hajah Hasnah Haji Azri, Head of Human Resources and Corporate Affairs Division stated, "We will continue to commit our resources to expand our educational services in order to reduce the spread of this epidemic.

Standard Chartered Bank will continue to spread HOPe (HIV/AIDS Outreach Programme) into the community and will help the community in taking a stand in the fight against HIV/AIDS." -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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