Eighty Year 10 students from Berakas Secondary school (SMB) attended the Brunei Darussalam AIDS Council (BDAIDSCouncil) HIV Awareness Programme for Peers and Youths (HAPPY) recently.
BDAIDSCouncil President Iswandy bin Ahmad addressed the students on HIV, including teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
HAPPY is a youth-led project and an interactive programme that combines audio and visuals activities to pass on the message to the youth, including messages adapted to local settings, according to the BDAIDSCouncil. Representing the council to facilitate the programme was HAPPY project coordinator Siti Kailene Jazlan Kashfi as well as the volunteers from the HAPPY team.
During the talk, she shared the latest statistics on STIs and teenage pregnancy by highlighting the age and gender dominating the statistics.
She added that these figures can be lowered by applying abstinence as part of the effort to keep youth from risky behaviours that may lead to contracting of STIs, getting pregnant out of the wedlock or early marriage. – James Kon
