Government hopes to unveil a national AIDS policy in 2004, and to enact appropriate measures to eliminate all forms of discrimination against people living with the disease, Minister of Health Patrice Minors announced.

On December 1 ? World AIDS Day ? Government will be holding a proclamation ceremony at Camden, and a candlelight ecumenical service at the Anglican Cathedral on Church Street to remember those who have died and those who are living with HIV/AIDS.

'Educate, don't discriminate' is the theme the new AIDS strategy and the Ministry of Health and Family Services has joined with AIDS support charities STAR and the Allan Vincent Smith Foundation, to raise awareness of people who are suffering from AIDS.

The AIDS committee is asking people to recognise World AIDS Day by wearing the colour red or driving with their lights on said, Mrs. Minors.

Dr. James Cann, Chief Medical Officer, said the committee will also focus its education initiative in schools, talking about "decision making and the facts about HIV/AIDS."

Bermuda is still one of the countries with the highest HIV/AIDS rates, per capita, but we has seen a decline in the numbers of people infected, he added.

Since the early 1980s, 483 people have been infected in Bermuda. Of that number, as of October 31 this year, 382 people have died from HIV/AIDS, said Mrs. Minors.

She told the House of Assembly earlier yesterday: "This Government believes very strongly in adopting a national AIDS policy because our attitude should not be that AIDS is someone else's problem.

"The truth is, there are people who still face harassment, job loss, isolation, even physical aggression if their secret gets out."