New action plan on HIV unveiled

A new national action plan aimed at reducing the rate of HIV and Aids in Ireland was unveiled this afternoon.

The HIV and Aids Education and Prevention Plan 2008 – 2012places a high priority on encouraging HIV testing for all target groups at risk of the disease and maintaining on-going education and awareness campaigns to prevent complacency and ensure accurate information is available to the public.

The action plan was developed over an 18-month period and resulted from an extensive evidence review and a national consultation aimed at identifying priorities, gaps and areas for action over the next four years.

Among its other recommendations are free condoms in targeted health settings, and enhanced services for new communities in Ireland.

Figures reported by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) at the weekend indicate a 7 per cent increase in newly-diagnosed HIV infections in 2007 compared to the previous year. During 2007 there were 362 newly-diagnosed HIV infections reported, compared to 337 cases in 2006 and 318 cases in 2005.

Of the new HIV cases, some 146 patients were heterosexual, while homosexual men accounted for 75 infections. Another fifty-four were intravenous drug users. Although the gender of 23 cases were unknown, 209 were male and 130 were female, with 29 of those pregnant.

Speaking at the launch, Minister for Health Promotion Mary Wallace said the plan was both "timely and necessary".

"HIV is a preventable disease and this plan gives clear guidance on how the Irish system should progress its prevention efforts," said Ms Wallace.

The Dublin Aids Alliance (DAA) welcomed the publication of the plan, although its executive director, Mary O'Shea, said that in order for it to be fully implemented, sexual health needs to be both adequately resourced and ranked higher on the list of health priorities.

"The DAA welcomes and supports the publication of the HIV and Aids Education and Prevention Plan which provides a comprehensive blueprint for how we can reverse the worrying trend of increasing HIV in Ireland," said Ms O'Shea.

"We endorse the plan's findings that HIV prevention programmes must be of a sufficient scale and intensity to be effective and that Primary Care and other community settings should increase the availability of HIV and STI (Sexually Transmitted Infection) screening and testing," she added.

The DAA said that in order to combat rising rates of HIV and Aids, the Government should develop and implement a National Sexual Health Strategy, modelled on the National Drugs Strategy.

It also called for the full removal of VAT from condoms.