Bermudians seeking testing for AIDS and HIV often fear community stigma so much they often go abroad.

Alicia Tallack, the organiser of the annual AIDS Walk Bermuda said this has to stop.

"That has to change," she said. "Think of all the money it must cost for them to go abroad to be tested when they can be tested locally. It is anonymous."

Miss Tallack is currently a student at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada. She is Canadian, and started the walk in Bermuda three years ago while working on the Island.

"I felt it was something that Bermuda needed," she said. "An AIDS walk is such a globally common thing.

"When I moved there in 2007 I wondered why Bermuda didn't participate in one."

She thought that maybe Bermuda didn't need one, but when she investigated she found this was far from the case.

Bermuda Department of Health statistics show that at the end of 2008 there were 288 people in Bermuda living with AIDS and HIV.

Each year around 100 people have participated in the walk that is just a mile long so that people of all ages and abilities can take part. So far the walk has raised about $20,000 for the Star Student fund to help further the education of people infected and affected by AIDS and HIV.

Some of them may have lost jobs due to illness while others may have lost parents due to AIDS. "Our goal is to bring the community together and have people participate in a supportive and accepting type of atmosphere," said Miss Tallack. "That is what it accomplishes."

She said that AIDS awareness and education should be commonly spoken about.

"By people feeling comfortable and participating, it will get them thinking about it," she said.

She said organisations such as STAR do their part to educate the community.

"But I think that really, it is such a global problem," she said. "I don't know if there is enough education anywhere. Obviously, there isn't enough education because it continues to grow and is spread at such a rapid pace. Clearly, people need to be educated more."

She is from Toronto, Canada where AIDS is openly talked about. Compared to Toronto, she felt that it was a taboo subject in Bermuda.

"I think that education is empowering," she said.

When Miss Tallack first started the walk she had some negative feedback.

"People said the community wouldn't accept that kind of thing," she said. "But then once the ball got rolling, it started happening, and we started getting amazing feedback.

"People thanked us. They said the community had sometimes made them feel like an outcast.

"AIDS and HIV should never make someone feel like an outcast. After the first walk people were happy to see how many members of their community actually did support them."

She said it turned out there were many people in Bermuda who were non-judgmental and supportive.

Miss Tallack said the walk is always in need of volunteers.

"One of our goals is to create a strong Bermudian based committee of volunteers," she said. "There are three of us who are working on it."

Other walk organisers include Donelle Bright from New Jersey, who was living in Bermuda at the same time as Miss Tallack, and Caroline Armstrong, director of Supportive Therapy for AIDS persons and their Relatives (STAR).

"This year we brought on an amazing Bermudian, Chiara Nannini," said Miss Tallack. "She is amazing. I want to say a special thank you to her. She has been the on-Island co-ordinator. In addition to Chiara we would like to build a strong Bermudian based volunteer committee."

For more information about AIDS and HIV go to their website at www.aidswalkbermuda.webs.com. For information about where to be tested for it e-mail them at aidswalkbermuda@gmail.com.