Phil Hogan
Question:54 Mr. Hogan asked the Minister for Health whether he has satisfied himself that primary care services are getting through to persons who have been infected with the HIV virus.
Written Answers. - HIV Patients.
I am satisfied that there should be an increasing emphasis placed on the role of the primary care system in the delivery of programmes and services for persons with AIDS and HIV. With the availability of early-intervention therapies and increasing survival times of infected persons, care and management provided through the primary care system is becoming increasingly important.
This was reinforced in the measures adopted on 13 April, 1992 by the National AIDS Strategy Committee in relation to the Care and Management of persons with AIDS/HIV.
These included measures aimed at strengthening the role of the primary care services in this area. As an immediate first step towards developing a primary care service to respond to the evolving epidemiology of AIDS/HIV in Ireland, I have asked the Eastern Health Board to establish, as a matter of urgency, two Satellite Clinics for the treatment of persons with HIV/AIDS. These clinics will be run by General Practitioners and will provide a range of risk reduction services, such as methadone maintenance, condoms and needle exchange, as well as counselling and testing facilities. The Clinics will work closely with Community Drugs Teams also being established by the Board to implement the recommendations of the National Coordinating Committee on Drug Abuse. I have made a special financial allocation to the Eastern Health Board for the clinics and the Drugs Teams.
As part of the development of these services a Protocol is being developed by my Department, in conjunction with the Irish College of General Practitioners on the Care and Management of HIV infected people by General Practitioners based on information being obtained from a project being funded in Mercers Health Centre.
In addition, the Department and the Irish College of General Practitioners liaise on a routine basis to ensure that the primary care system plays an effective role in this area and a nominee of the ICGP has been appointed to the National AIDS Strategy Committee.
In addition to services provided by general practitioners, the Health Research Board is funding a primary Dental Care project aimed at detecting and caring for the early manifestation of HIV, which can occur in the mouth.