World AIDS Day: Rates of HIV infection increase

By Contributing Writer on Tuesday, December 1, 2009 - 16:59

Editor’s Note: This article was written by the team of gaelick.com, an award-winning Irish website for LGBT-news.

Today, 1st December 2009, is World AIDS Day.

New figures released by St James’s Hospital, Dublin, have shown a significant increase of new cases of HIV in Ireland for this year.

Speaking on today’s Morning Ireland, the executive director of the Dublin AIDS Alliance, Mary O’Shea, explained that 244 new cases were identified since the start of this year by the hospital, a 20% increase on the figures for 2008 as a whole.

That increase is the largest since records began.

Among men who have sex with men (MSM), there has been a 100% increase of new cases in this group. O’Shea stated that there is an urgent need to target treatment and prevention campaigns to this group.

She confirmed, however, that the greatest figures of HIV infection remain in the heterosexual population. Rates of infection among intravenous drug users have reduced.

O’Shea referred to the relentless and graphic ad campaigns of the 1980s, and called for another intensive advertisement campaign, together with the prioritisation of national government health strategy on HIV infection. In particular, she mentioned the HIV and AIDS Education and Prevention Plan 2008-2012. This is in the context of the significant improvement of services to people with HIV, and the effectiveness of anti-retroviral drugs.

The Dublin AIDS Alliance hosted an Open Day today, from 11am to 3pm. The Open Day included information sessions and awareness-raising, as well as countering the stigma and numerous myths around how HIV is spread.

Some organisations dealing with HIV issues: