Hanoi (VNA) – Bruneians and permanent residents aged 16 and above will receive free HIV testing from December 3-31.

Minister of Health Dato Seri Setia Dr Haji Mohd Isham bin Haji Jaafar said person undergoing testing will obtain the results in just 15 to 20 minutes.

“If the test results are positive, the person will be referred to the Disease Control Division, Ministry of Health for further confirmation and treatment”, he said.

Statistics showed that Brunei had 289 people tested positive with HIV during 1987-2019. Last year, the health authority announced the country had the highest HIV cases with 42 people, 98 percent of whom were men aged 20-34.

According to latest report from the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, the AIDS pandemic has affected 78 million people and killed 35 million others worldwide since the first case was detected 35 years ago. Some 38 million people are living with HIV, and around 5,500 women become infected with HIV every week