Paulina Quintao – The Secretary-General for the National Commission for Combating HIV/AIDS in Timor-Leste (CNCS-TL) Daniel Marcal has recommended to the government the inclusion of sexual health as a subject in the national educational curriculum. He said this could prevent the people of Timor-Leste from contracting HIV/AIDS.
Speaking at an AIDS prevention function in Fatuhada, Dili, Marcal said young people should understand sexuality and how the reproductive system works.
Increased understanding could lead to lower rates of HIV/AIDS, he said. Marcal said HIV/AIDS was fast becoming a big problem in Timor-Leste, and required the attention of all relevant authorities. Commission F (health, education, culture andveterans' and gender equality affairs) president Deputy Virgilio da Costa Hornai agreed that the education sector should contribute to the fight against this disease.
"We will talk with the Ministry of Education about including sexual health in the school curriculum, so that students can acquire knowledge," Deputy Hornai said.
He said HIV/AIDS posed a serious threat to Timor-Leste as those who were most at risk were those who had the greatest contribution to make to the country. Education minister Bendito Freitas, recognized that sexual education was important and said secondary school was the appropriate time to introduce the subject to the curriculum.
Freitas said while state institutions had a role to play in providing sexual education to children, primary responsibility lay with their families and communities.