THE first HIV Awareness 50 kilometre Tour Bike Ride in conjunction with World AIDS Day 2009 will be held on November 27, at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium.

This was revealed by Liyana Latif, the chairperson of the ‘Tour Bike Ride’ and honorary secretary of BDAC during a press conference on World AIDS Day 2009 preparations held at the new Peniyar House in Gadong yesterday.

According to Liyana, the event will also witnessed the first ever Red Ribbon Human Chain on Bicycles where there will be an expected 200 to 300 cyclists covering the whole length of the field at the stadium. A fee of $30 will be charged to participants.

“People from all walks of life (Above 16 years old) are welcomed to participant in this auspicious event, to create awareness of HIV and to foster education regarding HIV/AIDS in the community,” she said.

“We hope to make this year’s event more organised. Our target is not to have a grand event but to make a grand impact in our community,” she added.

In a written statement, Liyana said the objectives of the event are “to be able to address the widespread misperception that HIV/AIDS is not a huge problem, to highlight the fact that globally, more people are living with HIV/AIDS today that ever before and to provide a reminder that the rate of HIV infections are rising.”
The World AIDS day theme is “Universal Access and Human Rights”

that has been chosen to address the critical need to protect human rights and attain access for all HIV prevention, treatment, care and support.

Meanwhile, Iswandy Ahmad, Vice President of BDAC announced the revival of the HIV Awareness Programme for Peer and Youth (HAPPY) after a long break due to HIN1.

The programme will be conducted in three secondary schools staring at SM Saiyidina Hussain on November 10, SM Yayasan Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah on November 17 and SM Saiyidina Hassan Secondary School on November 19.

Among the objectives of the programme is to rise awareness on HIV/AIDS as well encouraging positive behavioural changes among the students and also to inculcate aspects of family values.

lswandy is inviting interested youths to participate the Life Skills Training (LESTARI) 2009 that will be also held at the Hassanal Bolkiah Sports Complex, Berakas from November 12 to 15. The training will be conducted by trained facilitators, which will cover leadership skills, teamwork, discipline and communication in a `fun’ way. Forms are available from 20th November.

Brunei Darussalam AIDS Council through its Penyinar Club gas received the AEAN Youth Award 2009 during the 15th ASEAN Youth Day meeting in Myanmar (5-7 October 2009).

For further enquires regarding the pre-World Aids Day activities call BDAC 2345573 or email at liyana.latif@gmail. com or iswandy.ahamd@gmail.com.