Brunei to hold charity run to promote HIV awareness

Brunei will hold a charity run next month to promote HIV awareness in the sultanate, local media reported Friday.

A total of 550 people have registered to take part in "Red Ribbon Run 2016" in April, exceeding the Brunei Darussalam AIDS Council's (BDAC) target of 500.

Co-organised by BDAC, the charity run seeks to spread awareness on HIV and sexual health, while all proceeds will go to those in need and toward future projects to create awareness.

BDAC spokesperson Dk Nurul Raudah said that for many years, HIV-AIDS has been seen as"an invisible"problem in the country, often just thought of as a disease that occurs as a result of pre-marital sex or high-risk sexual behaviour.

"HIV and AIDS in Brunei are still a stigma. It's not easy to talk about it because it's usually associated with relationships outside marriage. People need to be given the proper information that's beneficial to them so they know what needs to be avoided and how it can be prevented,"Dk Nurul Raudah said, adding that prevention can only prevail with knowledge and awareness.

In a message to mark World AIDS Day last December, Brunei's Health Minister Hj Zulkarnain said 24 new HIV cases had been reported as of December 2015, with surveillance showing a shift in the mode of transmission from heterosexual relationships to"other types of high-risk sexual behaviour."

In his message, the minister said the incidence of new HIV cases had increased over the past three years, with 38 new cases reported from 2012 to 2014.

Statistics also show there has been a total of 110 HIV cases among Brunei citizens and permanent residents since the first case in 1986. Endit