Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 7 July 2004
222 Mr. S. Power asked the Minister for Health and Children his policy in reducing the incidence of HIV in view of the 10% increase in the number of cases here in 2003; the way in which this increase compares with previous years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20610/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe National Disease Surveillance Centre recently published HIV figures for 2003. There were 399 newly diagnosed cases in 2003, representing a 10% increase on 2002. This brings the total number of cases of HIV infection diagnosed to the end of 2003 to 3,408.
Of the 399 newly diagnosed cases where exposure category is known, 221 were heterosexually acquired. This compares to 232 in 2002 and 173 in 2001. There were 75 new diagnoses among men who have sex with men, MSM, during 2003. This compares with 46 newly diagnosed HIV infections during 2002 and 71 in 2001. There were 47 newly diagnosed among IDUs during 2003 compared to 50 in 2002 and 38 in 2001. Of the 399 newly diagnosed cases, 202, or 50.6% were male and 196, or 49.1%, were female. Information on gender is not available for one of newly diagnosed cases.
The report of the National AIDS Strategy Committee, NASC, which was published in 2000, makes a range of recommendations for dealing with HIV-AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections, STIs. My Department through the National AIDS Strategy Committee and its sub-committees on education and prevention, surveillance and care and management is working to implement these recommendations.
In relation to HIV and other STIs, our first line of defence must be education and awareness. In this regard the National Health Promotion Strategy 2000-2005 acknowledges that sexuality is an integral part of being human and healthy sexual relationships can contribute to an overall sense of well-being. A strategic aim of the Health Promotion Strategy 2000-2005 is "to promote safer sexual health and safer sexual practices among the population."
Education and prevention measures are co-ordinated by the health promotion unit of my Department within the context of both the National Health Promotion Strategy and the report of the National AIDS Strategy Committee 2000. In fulfilment of objectives and recommendations set out in these strategies the health promotion unit is involved in and supports a range of initiatives and interventions aimed at preventing and raising awareness of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. The following are some examples of the current priorities.
In the school setting, my Department is working in partnership with the Department of Education and Science and the Health Boards to support schools in the introduction and delivery of Social Personal and Health Education, SPHE, at both primary and post primary level. Relationships and sexuality education is an integral part of this curriculum and remains a key priority for this work with schools.
In the out of school setting the health promotion unit of my Department works in partnership with the youth affairs section of the Department of Education and Science and the National Youth Council of Ireland to implement the national youth health programme. The aim of the programme is to provide a broad-based, flexible health promotion-education support and training service to youth organisations and to all those working with young people in the non-formal education sector. Within the context of this programme, a training initiative called Too Hot to Handle is offered to youth workers which addresses the issues of relationships, sexuality and sexual health with young people.
A national public awareness advertising campaign has been established to promote sexual health which is aimed at men and women in the 18 to 35 age group to increase awareness about safe sex, HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. The overall goal is to increase safe sex, reducing the incidence of HIV, other STI transmission and unwanted pregnancies among young people in Ireland. The campaign runs in third-level colleges, places of entertainment, such as pubs, clubs, discos and youth clubs. This national programme has been running for several years and a new and revised campaign is currently being implemented by the health promotion unit, which has greatly increased the number of venues targeted.
My Department and the Crisis Pregnancy Agency are conducting a national survey of sexual knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of adults living in Ireland. This survey is a direct response to documented rises in HIV, STIs and unwanted pregnancies in Ireland and offers the prospect of increasing our understanding of the pattern of health behaviours in the area of sexual health and their relationship to both attitudes and beliefs and socio-demographic characteristics of individuals. Such a survey will: provide robust information in the area of sexual health that will feed into the planning and development of services, sexual health policies and strategies; assist with more efficient allocation of resources; and, provide quality baseline data for future surveys of sexual knowledge, attitudes and behaviour to monitor change over time and allow for long term planning. The collection of national information on sexual knowledge, attitudes and behaviour is an important first step in assisting individuals, organisations and policy makers working in the area of sexual health promotion to plan and work towards meeting the sexual health needs of people living in Ireland. The health promotion unit also produces a range of awareness-raising leaflets on HIV, STIs and safe sex practices which are available through health promotion departments in each health board.
In addition to this ongoing work within my Department, a number of other important initiatives are underway which should go a long way to improving the overall sexual health of the population. Both statutory and non-governmental bodies are working in partnership to improve sexual health and promote safer sexual practices; a number of health boards are implementing sexual health strategies, with dedicated human and financial resources allocated regionally. Also health boards and voluntary organisations have in place targeted initiatives aimed at the drug using population and MSM.
Almost €5.5 million additional funding has been provided to health boards since 1997 to address the treatment of HIV-AIDS and other STIs. This has resulted in a substantial increase in the facilities in place. At present there are seven consultants specialising in the treatment of HIV-AIDS-STIs. Five of these are in Dublin — one of whom deals with children — one in Cork and a recently appointed infectious disease consultant in Galway.
The care and management sub-committee of NASC visited hospitals and health boards involved in the provision of services to people with HIV-AIDS and STIs. The purpose of these visits was to identify gaps and make recommendations for the future direction of treatment services. The report of the sub-committee is currently being finalised. My Department will continue to closely monitor the position in relation to HIV-AIDS and other STIs.
