Written Answers. - Programme on AIDS.
Brendan Howlin
Question:
75
Mr. Howlin
asked the
Minister for Health
if he will give details of (a) any measures or programme of information on AIDS to be undertaken by his Department this year and (b) the cost of such programmes; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Pat Rabbitte
Question:
76
Mr. Rabbitte
asked the
Minister for Health
if, in regard to his announcement on 27 April regarding a number of initiatives on the care and prevention of HIV, he will outline if any timetable has been set for this programme; if he intends to launch any new advertising campaign to help alert the public to the dangers of HIV/AIDS; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 75 and 76 together.
The urgency with which I view the AIDS problem is demonstrated by the speed with which I have conducted a review of the AIDS Strategy through the National AIDS Strategy Committee, of which I am Chairman, and its four subcommittees.
The Strategy Committee adopted a series of recommendations on 13 April 1992 in relation to the following: care and management of persons with HIV/AIDS; education/prevention; anti-discrimination; and surveillance/ epidemiology.
These recommendations have been circulated for implementation to the health services and relevant Government Departments and on 27 April 1992 I announced that additional funding of £2.5 million would be made available to implement the recommendations, to supplement the amounts already being spent on HIV/AIDS and to enable new programmes and services to be implemented in line with the recommendations.
These new programmes are being implemented as a matter of urgency and I will be monitoring their implementation very closely through the National AIDS Strategy Committee. Towards this end I propose to meet the chairman of the four subcommittees shortly to develop a mechanism for monitoring the implementation of this strategy.
In relation to the measures or programmes of information on AIDS being undertaken this year to alert the public to the dangers of HIV/AIDS, my Department are already engaged in a number of campaigns to achieve this objective. The AIDS educational resource materials for second level schools have been disseminated to all second level schools in the country and the accompanying in-service training programme has been completed. A video for use in educational settings, called "Don't Turn Away", has been disseminated and is much in demand by health educators, teachers and youth leaders.
The Health Promotion Unit of my Department is also engaged in an ongoing strategy called "Convenience Advertising". This strategy brings messages about HIV/AIDS to the public's attention by placing specific messages in toilet and washroom facilities. Messages have been placed in all third level colleges and universities, in many leisure and entertainment venues and in women's health centres and also within the Department of Health. We are currently considering the possibility of extending this campaign. The third level colleges aspect of this campaign was evaluated and showed very favourable rates of recognition and recall in comparison with other media approaches. These messages are rotated so that specific messages about HIV and AIDS can be presented to the target audience. The initial burst of messages focused on giving information about HIV/AIDS and the latest schedule includes more focused messages aimed at preventing the spread of HIV.
The Health Promotion Unit has also given financial assistance to voluntary sector organisations involved in education and prevention initiatives.
A grant has also been issued to the Irish College of General Practitioners to assist with running costs of a conference on AIDS next September.
As a build-up to and to coincide with Irish AIDS Day on May 16th, the Health Promotion Unit of my Department placed a number of radio advertisements which were played on national and local radio stations. Once again these advertisements served to alert the public to the fact that HIV/AIDS is still with us and that the danger has not gone away. These advertisements added impetus to the activities that were planned by the voluntary sector to mark this occasion.
We are also currently considering how to mark World AIDS Day, which is happening on 1 December, and we will have in place a campaign which will once again bring the threat posed by the spread of this virus to the public's attention.
Approximately 400,000 copies of the booklet "AIDS, the Facts" have been circulated by the Health Promotion Unit through health boards and pharmacies. This booklet gives clear information about the virus, its transmission and how prevention is possible. It has been well received as an accessible and readable booklet which gives useful information to its primary target group, the general public.
Spending in 1992, to date, on education initiatives amounts to almost £140,000. This does not take any account of the significant funds which will be spent on the media campaign which we propose having in place for World AIDS Day on 1 December.
All these activities amount to a significant commitment by my Department to help keep the issue of HIV and AIDS in the mind of the general public and to continually alert them by means of exposure to a range of messages in a range of settings to the ever present threat of HIV and AIDS.
