The Secretary of State for the National Commission for Combating HIV/AIDS Timor-Leste (CNCS-TL) Daniel Marcal said Timor-Leste residents were at high risk of contracting the virus as little is known about it within the community. 
Another factor contributing to the risk was that it is easy to enter and exit the country at communities in Bobonaro, Suai and Oe-cusse districts with border passes.
A culture that forbids people to talk freely about sexual education and a religion which condemns the use of condoms also contributed to the problem, he said.
Ministry of Education data from 2003 to 2013 show 408 HIV/AIDS diagnoses registered.Marcal said up to 1000 other cases may not have been registered.
He said institutions such as government, the church and the civil society should come to a consensus about how to tackle the HIV/AIDS problem.
He said as long as institutions could not agree how to address the problem, youths would be at risk of the virus.
Youth Agostinho Ximenes said in this era of globalization, Timor-Leste was at risk of HIV/AIDS as many youth choose to stay in lodgings rather than stay with their families, leading to wide spread sexual activity.
He said economic factors also influenced rates of HIV/AIDS transmission, therefore education was important so at-risk individuals would understand the risks to their health when making decisions about their sexual health.
Dili District National Health Director Agostinha da Costa said Dili had the highest rate of HIV/AIDS transmission.
Since 2003, 339 cases had been registered, he said.
He said people must take it upon themselves to help prevent the spread of the disease as the Ministry of Health could not do so on its own as transmission was dependent on people’s behavior.
