Dili, 17 April 2026 (Media Democracia) – The President of the National Institute to Combat HIV/AIDS, Public Institute (INCSIDA, I.P), Daniel Marçal, informed that as students we need to pay attention to ourselves regarding risks, especially from HIV/AIDS disease.
Daniel Marçal said, one important objective of the awareness activity is to fight and make efforts to convince people to get a blood test quickly and not give time for HIV/AIDS to stay long in our bodies. When the virus stays long in our bodies, the possibility of turning into AIDS means it can take your life.
“He said the media’s voluntary spirit continues to strongly support the work to share information with people to get blood tests quickly, because AIDS is a risky behavior. Don’t be afraid to draw blood because if the result is not good for our lives, then we all cooperate together hoping many people have a volunteer spirit to test blood, because blood testing brings benefits. INCSIDA informs health, the media, and anyone that this training is good for us. In Timor, people have already died because they were not interested in blood testing. When they get sick and go to clinics, health posts, and health centers, only then do they find out it’s not HIV/AIDS, so recovering from the virus is not easy, because we can lose life quickly from this virus.” said Daniel Marçal in the UNPAZ Hall Tuesday 14/04/2026.
He reaffirmed that in Timor-Leste now, when talking about HIV/AIDS, many people still do not pay attention or give importance to this problem, but actually this problem is very important. There is no cure. You can say do it then take medicine, but no expert has discovered a cure for this yet. So the medicine today is us together here sharing information, the medicine is each of us preventing it ourselves. One requirement for basic needs that each person does for the circulation of the HIV/AIDS virus is sexual relations.
“Don’t be afraid, don’t be ashamed. If you want a long and healthy life when you get HIV/AIDS or AIDS, you must get a blood test quickly. It’s not forced, it’s better to get a blood test at a Health Center because there must be a big possibility for this virus, so it can be detected early to prevent it from appearing in others. Medicine, our government has prepared it. HIV/AIDS medicine from the Ministry of Health has already been placed in municipalities and now placed in health posts and sucos for our friends who are sick. It is better that health takes responsibility. So we ask friends who have this disease not to wait for health workers to bring medicine to us, otherwise in the end you lose your life and who do you blame. Now some health personnel bring medicine everywhere, if it’s like this it’s not good because later people affected by HIV/AIDS will wait for health to bring medicine. If you don’t take medicine, that’s an opportunity for multiplication of the HIV/AIDS virus in your body, which is very dangerous. It’s better to do health treatment on ourselves.” He Added
He further reaffirmed that youth in school should study well. If you are not ready to become a mother and father, then you need to take care of yourselves from the devil that dominates us, because many women have already left school due to pregnancy, sometimes afraid of parents and friends, so they make decisions to ruin themselves and sometimes ruin the child too, as we see in reality on Facebook and others.
“He asks the younger siblings sitting on the school health bench to prepare so you can become good doctors, but the material obtained is not yet enough to save people in the context of transmission prevention. This seminar is very important to transfer some important words: you must be careful. Even though with HIV/AIDS now we see transmission routes are through blood and sharp objects, the majority is transmitted only between a woman and a man. So HIV/AIDS does not carry a separate color, only when we have entered the virus do we know. In Timor-Leste in 2025 there were 2,560 cases that we know of. Sometimes going to work abroad identifies one or two, so some before going to school abroad need a letter from health.” said the INCSIDA Director.
In the same place, Felizbela Amaral de Oliveira, Representative of the Rector of Universidade da Paz Adolmando Soares Amaral, said she is very grateful to INCSIDA and also UNPAZ’s public health master’s program which collaborates very well, so thanks for this awareness activity.
“Awareness is very important and also for our students who are part of UNPAZ, it is very important because we know that youth are the authors of everything but it is also important for them to protect themselves from diseases that are growing in Timor-Leste. As we know, HIV/AIDS, we all follow that in Timor-Leste there are already over two thousand cases. This is not a small thing but a very big thing. Therefore, INCSIDA’s program is very good to bring our youth to be able to prevent themselves, because the future of the nation is in the hands of youth. As university leadership, we are very grateful for INCSIDA’s program working together with UNPAZ’s master’s program.” said Felizbela Amaral.
We talk about HIV/AIDS disease as a contagious disease that has no treatment. Even if there is treatment, it is not to end it but the virus takes a long time. The message to our students is we want to be healthy to look at our future which is good, back to each of us, we must protect ourselves first when protecting others, said UNPAZ Representative Adolmando.
On the other hand, Oracia Tolentina Brites from Universidade da Paz, Nursing Department, as a health student, greatly appreciates INCSIDA for this awareness.
“When we get training like this about HIV/AIDS disease, because this disease is very risky for us humans in Timor-Leste. Now we see in our nation it also presents with HIV/AIDS where cases are very strong. With this, as a student I’m proud to hear information like this so that we can fight to reduce our population from HIV/AIDS. As students in the health area, how we fight the training we receive, we want to spread it to populations who lack information so they can prevent HIV/AIDS in our own country. HIV/AIDS disease, we know, is a virus that attacks immunity, through sexual relations, through needles that we use, through us people contaminating each other.” she informed.
The message to the entire population is to prevent HIV/AIDS better, because HIV/AIDS is a very risky disease for us, one that we carry until death. There is treatment but it is not to cure totally, but as treatment to only reduce the risk for us. So take care of your health, don’t have sex recklessly if you have sex with your partner.
Report By: Trainees Juliana and Bakhita
Photo By: Nelson Ferreira