ACT UP - GER PHILPOTT OF AIDSWISE CALLS FOR MORE GOVERNMENT ACTION

THE THEME of this year’s World AIDS Day, on December 1st, is ‘A Time To ACT’. When I first heard this I wondered if I was dreaming – twelve years into the epidemic, and we’re being told it’s time to act!

As a gay man, who lost his partner to this epidemic ten years ago, the least I can say about this rallying call is that it is somewhat overdue. One of my favourite sayings is ‘No more dreaming. The time has come to awake.’ If this theme successfully wakes up the Rip Van Winkles, whose ‘policies’ on AIDS have studiously ignored the HIV-prevention needs of the gay men of this country for more than a decade, it will be a good thing.

Undoubtedly, this official neglect has led to the 19% increase in reported HIV infection in gay men for the past year. This is the biggest increase in any group for the 12 month period. A perusal of official statements in this country about gay men and AIDS reveals comments such as the following: “gay men have changed their behaviour,” “they are acting responsibly,” and “homosexuals have converted to safer sex practices.” Where did these “official spokesmen” (they were invariably men) get their information?

While some gay men in Ireland were quick to respond to the epidemic, inevitably, due to absence of a political will, HIV prevention information was thin on the ground. Recent research shows that the level of unsafe sexual activity among gay men is a cause of concern. Similarly, the official neglect of the drug problem in this country in the Seventies and Eighties has had the same disastrous consequences for HIV transmission and AIDS among IV drug users as it has for gay men. It makes no sense not to target these high risk groups with relevant and focused information.

entrenched homophobia

The fact that HIV transmission is primarily sexual has brought us to the situation where reported HIV infection, in this country, has sustainedly increased at the level of approximately ten per cent per annum for the past number of years.

These newly reported infections will be the AIDS cases and AIDS-related deaths of the next decade. It is important to learn from the costly mistakes of the past. The powers that be must look carefully at why the present Irish situation in relation to HIV and AIDS is so disheartening.

The lack of a cultural tradition where sexuality is openly discussed and the deeply entrenched homophobia of those who could have made a difference, but did not, can cast some light on the reported 1,421 people with HIV infection in this country. International experience has shown that the successful management of this epidemic requires equal resourcing of prevention work with that of the medical care and management of the disease.

We can look at AIDS in Ireland as a coin, one side representing the care and management of the illness and the other, HIV prevention. Regrettably, the “AIDS coin” in Ireland was split, to the detriment of HIV prevention. This can no longer be left to chance. The Minister for Health, Brendan Howlin has the ability and talent necessary to rectify this situation, by changing the methods by which information on HIV and AIDS is collected, in order to yield data based on age, gender and region, which will better inform the targeted HIV prevention campaigns needed for high risk groups.

There are no rehearsals. He should act without further delay on these issues to effectively limit the further spread of this deadly disease.

• Together with the Dublin AIDS Alliance and the Irish Names Quilt, Tower Records plan to raise AIDS awareness in Dublin by giving out a condom with every purchase on World AIDS Day, December 1st.

Tower will also be asking staff and customers alike to wear a red ribbon, to remind people of all those who have died of AIDS and those affected by HIV and AIDS.

“The fact that Tower Records is open seven days a week until midnight gives us a good reason to stock condoms in-store, and they will be on sale from now on,” a spokesperson commented.

The renowned quilt, created by the loved ones of those who have died from AIDS, will also be displayed at Tower Records for the occasion. There will also be buckets placed in the store for the week running up to December 1st, into which people can put their donations.

• THE NEEDLE Exchanges operated by the Eastern Health Board in Dublin are as follows:

Monday: Baggot St. Clinic 2.30–4.30pm; Wellmount Health Centre 2.15–4.30pm; Aisling Clinic 1.00–2.00pm.

Tuesday: Summerhill Health Centre 2.15–4.30pm; Ballyfermot Health Centre 2.15–4.30pm; Aisling Clinic 1.00–2.00pm; Wellmount Health Centre 2.15–4.30pm.

Wednesday: Baggot St. Clinic 2.30–4.30pm; Aisling Clinic 1.00–2.00pm.

Thursday: Inchicore Health Centre 2.15–4.30pm; Aisling Clinic 1.00–2.00pm.

Friday: North Strand Health Centre 2.15–4.30pm; Aisling Clinic 1.00–2.00pm.

• Carex is the latest brand of condom to hit the Irish market. Already widely distributed throughout the Far East, each Carex condom is individually tested, electronically and by air-inflation, and meets both British and American product standards. The distributors state that part of the price of every Carex condom sold will be donated to AIDS research.