The State's biggest clinic for sexually transmitted diseases (STD) has recorded a large increase in cases of HIV, syphilis and gonorrhoea. The clinic has introduced waiting lists as a result.
Figures for the Genito-Urinary Medicine Clinic at St James's Hospital in Dublin, show 140 new cases of HIV this year up to the end of August. This compares with a total of 116 new cases for all of last year and 84 for 1998.
There have been 24 new cases of syphilis this year up to August with 27 cases recorded last year, five cases in 1998 and four in 1997.
There have been 72 new cases of gonorrhoea this year up to August at the clinic, compared with 80 cases last year, 65 in 1998 and 44 in 1997.
Dr Fiona Mulcahy, a consultant at the clinic, said it was operating four-week waiting lists for people who wanted to see a doctor regarding an infection because of the increase in cases.
Dr Gerard Sheehan, who runs an STD clinic in the Mater Hospital in Dublin and an HIV clinic in Beaumont Hospital, said he has also seen an increase in cases.
Dr Mary Horgan, who runs the third STD clinic in the State, in Cork University Hospital, said she had recorded 24 new cases of HIV so far this year, while previously it had recorded on average 15 new cases annually.
Dr Horgan said there was an increase in the number of gonorrhoea cases, with 15 new cases up to June this year, 31 cases for last year, 16 cases in 1998 and nine cases in 1997.
The latest official statistics from the Department of Health show 125 new cases of gonorrhoea in 1998, 98 new cases in 1997 and 83 in 1996. The Department recorded 15 new cases of syphilis in 1998, 16 in 1997 and 17 in 1996. These figures include infections diagnosed at STD clinics, by GPs and at hospital out-patient departments.
Last year the Department of Health recorded the highest number of new HIV cases, with 209 diagnoses. This compares with 136 for 1998 and 119 for 1997.
Of the 209 cases, there were 69 intravenous drug users, 59 heterosexuals and 40 homosexuals.
Dr Mulcahy said young homosexuals, young drug users and heterosexuals were the main groups being diagnosed at the St James' clinic with HIV. About 30 per cent of all new cases of HIV were non-nationals.
The new syphilis cases in St James's mostly involved homosexuals, while new gonorrhoea cases mostly involved heterosexuals. None of the new cases for syphilis and gonorrhoea involved non-nationals.
Dr Horgan said the reason for the increase in STDs was a lack of safe sexual practices. "People just think it's not going to happen to them," she said.
Dr Mulcahy said there was a lack of awareness about STDs. She said there was a particular problem with awareness of syphilis, with people thinking it was an old-fashioned disease which no longer existed. "People don't even know where to go if they think they have it," she said.
Mr Paddy Connolly, the director of Cairde, the AIDS/HIV support group, said the Department of Health should conduct a new prevention and education campaign in AIDS/HIV awareness.
Mr Connolly said the Eastern Regional Health Authority also needed to develop its AIDS/HIV strategy. "The ERHA has no defined AIDS/HIV strategy. Twenty years down the road they still haven't responded," he said.
He added that the drugs task forces and the Department of Education needed to become involved in the campaign to target young people at risk of picking up infection. The Relationships and Sexuality Education programme in schools needed to be evaluated on its effectiveness in the area of HIV/AIDS awareness, Mr Connolly said.
"The schools bring us in to do talks because they are often not confident in doing the programme," he said.