World AIDS Day: Rates of HIV infection increase
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 are hosting an Open Day today, from 11am to 3pm. The Open Day will include 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:
- Stamp Out Stigma
- Dublin AIDS Alliance
- Cáirde
- Gay Men’s Health Service
- Open Heart House
- St James’s Hospital
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Thanks for the post. Seems like people are forgetting.
Thanks, lady! Yeah, it’s worrying – I was just thinking the other day of how striking, and omnipresent, the awareness-raising was in the 1980s/1990s.
Also, just saw this on Glóira‘s facebook page:
“We are really delighted this year that we have been asked by St. James Hospital to sing for World Aids Day. Promoting HIV / AIDS awareness is important to us and if you are in the area, you will be able to hear us singing in the Main Hospital foyer on December 1st @ 6:30pm.”
(via)
Wow, a 100% increase in cases reported concerning MSM? That’s really startling. Seems like it’s time indeed for an aggressive awareness campaign, coupled with a continued relentless drive to stamp out that nasty stigma.
I hear you in relation to the problem of stigma. Panti posted a video recently involving British sleb, Connie Huq (formerly of Blue Peter fame) – at first I didn’t know what the crap she was on about, but then a wee penny somewhere dropped (and I don’t mean a small dog in the vicinity of Capel Street):
- http://www.pantibar.com/blog.aspx?contentid=4806
HIV is a nasty disease. Once you get it, there is no cure for it. Safe sex and abstinence is the only way to avoid getting it.
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[...] were released that showed a 42% increase in detected HIV infections in gay and bisexual men. We had a taste of these figures back in December when the increase appeared to be even [...]