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Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 12 Nov 1986

Vol. 369 No. 9

Written Answers. - AIDS Disease.

21.

asked the Minister for Health the steps which have been taken to date by his Department and by each health board in the State to warn people as to the circumstances in which AIDS can be contracted; and if he will finance a nationwide advertising campaign to warn the general public of the danger of the AIDS virus.

62.

asked the Minister for Health if, because of the widespread anxiety about AIDS and the epidemic of the disease currently sweeping Europe, it is his intention to introduce a campaign of public education and information so that the general public can be totally informed about the disease in a factual manner and to overcome and allay the public fears about the disease; if he intends to initiate a public campaign; if he will identify when this will commence; and how he proposes to ensure the information is brought to the public's attention.

63.

asked the Minister for Health (a) the number of people who have died from AIDS in this country; (b) the number of people who have been infected by the AIDS virus in this country; (c) if all cases of AIDS and all cases of persons infected by the AIDS virus are notified to his Department and, if not, the reason; and (d) if it is intended to make the disease notifiable.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 21, 62, and 63 together.

Advice to the public about AIDS is available in all health board areas through general practitioners, public health clinics, the Sexually Transmitted Diseases Service, the National Drugs Advisory and Treatment Centre at Jervis Street Hospital and in a leaflet published by the Health Education Bureau which is being circulated by the health boards.

In addition my Department's deputy chief medical officer, with special responsibility for AIDS services, continues to make himself available to the media, for interview, with a view to disseminating information about AIDS to as wide a public as possible.

A booklet on AIDS prepared by my Department has been circulated to all doctors in the country to ensure that they are in a position to advise the public. My Department circulate health boards with the latest information from WHO to enable them to keep their advice up-to-date.

There have been 12 cases of AIDS in Ireland to date, of which seven have died (two of these seven cases died abroad). The latest figures show 502 positive tests for HIV antibodies. I am satisfied that the Department's detailed monitoring system ensures that a comprehensive register of cases and suspected cases is maintained. Numbers of positive tests are also reported from the virus reference laboratory, UCD as an integral part of our general strategy relative to the prevention of the spread of this syndrome.

I am currently considering what further effective steps might be taken to control the spread of AIDS in this country.

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