A return to the sexual health awareness campaigns of the 1980s is needed if young people are to be protected from becoming infected with HIV, according to a leading AIDS activist in the west of Ireland.
The director of AIDS West, Mr Nicholas Fenlon, said the number of people infected by HIV was increasing despite awareness of how HIV was transmitted. He said families, health authorities, the media and wider community must co-operate in creating an open and safe environment of care, guidance and example.
"People who are living with HIV are often living in fear and isolation," he said. AIDS West offers counselling, alternative therapies and peer support to people infected by HIV.
AIDS West recently launched its strategic plan for 2001 to 2004 in Galway which will see the widening of the organisation's mandate to all areas of sexual health and well-being, and the expansion of its current education programme.
AIDS West is the new name for AIDS Help West which was established in Galway in 1987 to provide practical support for people who are HIV positive and to provide support to the families and friends of those affected by the virus.
Launching the strategic plan and the new AIDS West identity, the Minister of State for Health, Dr Tom Moffatt, said it reflected a key recommendation from AIDS Strategy 2000 by dealing with HIV and AIDS in the wider context of sexual health and sexually transmitted infections in the future.
Statistics from the National Disease Surveillance Centre show 342 new HIV cases were reported last year, representing an increase of 64 per cent over the previous year.
Dr Moffat said these figures reminded us that the threat from HIV had not diminished despite a reduction in media interest in the issue, but HIV was now seen as a chronic illness, and not the death sentence it once was.
However, he said it should also be noted that the number of AIDS cases had declined to 21 in 2000 compared with 41 in 1999 and this was probably due to the availability of highly effective anti-retroviral treatments.
"Greater awareness is one of our key weapons in the fight against AIDS/HIV and sexually transmitted infections generally," Dr Moffat said.
He welcomed the fact that AIDS West was focusing on counselling services.
