Today, Bermuda joins 191 countries around the world in a bid to "be a force for change'' in the battle against AIDS.

The observances for the 11th Annual World AIDS Day were officially kicked off last Friday in Parliament when Premier Jennifer Smith proclaimed December 1 as World AIDS Day here.

"I Jennifer M. Smith, Premier, do hereby declare the 1st of December, 1998 as World AIDS Day and urge all citizens to take part in activities and observances designed to increase awareness and understanding of HIV/AIDS as a global challenge, to take part in HIV/AIDS prevention activities and programmes and to join the global effort to prevent the further spread of HIV/AIDS.'' Despite the Premier's motivating words, Michael Fox of the Allan Vincent Smith Foundation said that people were actually beginning to become complacent in the battle against AIDS.

"Over the last year, it has been really slow,'' said Mr. Fox. "But with the increase in teen pregnancy, there is a need for AIDS information and condoms in schools. And parents need to talk to their children about sex.

"(People) think that with the new drugs on the market they think that people can now live with the disease.'' Although Mr. Fox conceded that the new combination of drugs on the market did help people lead productive lives, he urged people to continue to exercise good judgment and take precautions when becoming sexually involved with someone.

"In the past people with AIDS looked ill, but now thanks to most of the drug combinations, they look healthy,'' he explained. "You can't tell just by looking at someone that they might have AIDS so you have to ask questions and exercise care when becoming sexually involved with someone.

"AIDS knows no age, race or class. It doesn't care.'' Local statistics released last week appear to support Mr. Fox's stance.

The numbers revealed that more people in Bermuda have been infected in 1998 with AIDS through heterosexual intercourse than any other group.

And local experts warned that the disease was also striking younger people with ten percent of new AIDS sufferers aged 25 or less. This suggests that they were infected with HIV while still teenagers.

This year saw 13 new cases identified -- five were heterosexual cases compared with three homosexual, three bisexual and only one from intravenous drug use.

Drug users made up 40.7 percent of total cases since the Health Department began keeping a record in the mid-80's, followed by heterosexuals at 23.2 percent, and homosexuals at 21.1 percent.

So far this year, 12 people have died of AIDS taking the total deaths so far to 330. More than 90 percent of the total deaths were blacks.

Four of the most recent deaths were due to intravenous drug use, four were from homosexual infection and four from heterosexual.

Worldwide more than 30.5 million men, women and children were living with HIV/AIDS -- with one out of every 100 adults infected.

And the number of sufferers is rising rapidly -- expected to reach between 60 and 70 million within 13 months.

Worldwide more than 50 percent of all new cases involved people under 25.

Mr. Fox hinted that the local statistics on AIDS and HIV might not reflect the actual number of AIDS and HIV cases in Bermuda.

"I think the number may be off here because people are afraid to get tested so they are walking around with the disease and do not know it,'' he explained. "Some people suspect that they may be positive, but just do not want to know for sure and don't get tested.

"And there are people who have died of AIDS but the families refuse to accept it and have the cause of death recorded as something else.'' Mr. Fox also pointed out that the local numbers may be off because some Bermudians get tested abroad and are therefore part of another country's statistics.

"It is easy to get anonymous testing in the US so people are going over to New York to get tested and therefore they are not part of our number,'' he explained. "Testing in Bermuda is not anonymous but it is confidential.'' And he said that there would be little change in the local statistics if anonymous testing was instituted in Bermuda.

"Even if there was anonymous testing in Bermuda I don't think it would make a difference, people still would not get tested.'' Locals can get tested for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, either through their family doctor or at the Department of Health's Hamilton Health Centre in Hamilton.

"People should go to their family doctor because he or she knows your medical history,'' Mr. Fox pointed out.

And he urged anyone who learns that they have HIV or AIDS to contact the Allan Vincent Smith Foundation.

"There is another group that we can put people in touch with, a network of people living with HIV and AIDS,'' he said. "They get together and talk about what they are going through, for example there are certain things that happen to women with HIV that don't happen to men.'' Anyone interested in becoming more involved with the fight against AIDS may want to attend the free HIV/AIDS workshops hosted by The Allan Vincent Smith Foundation and the Department of Health.

The four-week course will provide up-to-date information regarding the transmission, reproduction, progression and treatment of HIV/AIDS.

The free course will be held at the Spice Valley Middle School on Jan. 12, 19, 26 and Feb. 2 1999 from 6 to 8 p.m. To register call the Foundation at 295-6882 between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. or the Community Education Development Programme at 236-0829.

BE A FORCE FOR CHANGE -- The 1998 events for World AIDS Day, being observed in 191 countries around the globe, will focus on the theme `Be A Force For Change'. At last year's events attention was focused on the local AIDS quilt, pictured above.