Bandar Seri Begawan - Time Health Promotion Centre in Commonwealth Drive, Berakas, will be organising a month-long Aids and Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) awareness programme this December in a bid to curb the increase of cases.

Centre's health facilitator Shahiran Sheriffuddin said such awareness programmes were essential as the number of reported Aids and STD cases in the Sultanate was on the rise.

"I can't recall the numbers but from what I know, the numbers of Aids and STD patients are rising, and this is a worrying sign," he said, adding that statistics on the number of people infected by these infectious diseases were to be released today to mark World Aids Day 2009. Current health statistics show that there are a total of 56 HIV cases in Brunei since the first case was discovered here in 1986.

Shahiran explained that while the number of Aids patients in Brunei was still quite low, they would still have a significant effect on the society.

"Many people still lack information and knowledge on the truth about Aids. So even if only one or two people have Aids they can still be a threat to the society and themselves because Brunei is such a small country," he said.

The same was said about STD patients and teen pregnancies. "We need people to pay attention. We have some cases of teen pregnancies here involving children who are quite young. They are not emotionally ready. Though the numbers are not high, it is still very worrying," he said.

The health facilitator also spoke of the ongoing surveys by the Ministry of Health to determine the behaviour of teenagers in Brunei.

"If (through the survey) we realise that teenagers do not realise the dangers (of unprotected sex) then we are really in trouble," he said.

An adult survey is scheduled to begin soon.

Held in conjunction with World Aids Day, the awareness programme will start off by airing and printing interviews with nonmedical health staff (from a more community-based point of view) on Aids and STDs, as well as interviews with members of the Aids Council about their HIV Awareness Programme for Peers and Youth (Happy) through the mass media during the first week of December.

This will be followed by in-depth interviews with health professionals on the clinical side of Aids, STDs and statistic.

The third and fourth week will cover other aspects of sexual health among teenagers.

This will include programmes on teenage pregnancy, to enable young people to say "no" to sexually promiscuous behaviour while touching on the physical, medical, psychological and social dangers of having children at such a young age.

Held annually on December 1, World Aids Day is an international day held to raise awareness on HIV and Aids around the world.

Aids or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, is a result of the HIV virus attacking one's immune system.

When a person's immune system becomes so weak that it can no longer fight off a range of diseases with which it would normally cope, that person is then considered to have developed Aids. HIV can be contracted through unprotected sex with my carriers, sharing of infected syringes or other injecting drug equipment and through a HIV-positive mother-to-child during pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding.

There is currently no cure for Aids but treatment can keep the virus under control and the immune system healthy. People on HIV treatment can live a healthy, active life, although they may experience side effects from the treatment. If HIV is diagnosed late, treatment may be less effective. -- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

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