James Kon
Some 112 Year 11 students from St Andrew’s School attended the HAPPY programme conducted by the Brunei Darussalam AIDS (BDAIDS) Council at the school premises yesterday.
BDAIDS Council President Iswandy bin Ahmad addressed students to raise awareness on HIV, including knowledge on teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
HAPPY is a youth-led project and an interactive programme that combines audio and visuals as well as interactive activities to pass on the message to youth, including messages adapted to local settings, according to BDAIDS Council.
Iswandy shared the latest local statistics on STIs and teenage pregnancy, highlighting the age and gender dominating the statistics.
He added that these figures can be curbed by applying abstinence as part of preventing youth from involvement in risky behaviours leading to the infection of STIs, getting pregnant out of wedlock, or early marriage.
