An increase in Aids cases in Northern Ireland is partly down to infections picked up by foreign travellers, it was claimed today.
The volume of HIV and Aids cases is expected to increase significantly and sexual health consultant Dr Raymond Maw said official figures under-estimated fresh diagnoses by about a third.
Most heterosexual people have been exposed to the virus outside the UK but homosexuality has also been blamed.
A total of 65 new cases were diagnosed in 2007. The tally has been increasing since 2001.
Dr Naresh Chada, senior medical officer at the Department of Health, told a conference at Stormont sexually transmitted diseases posed a major challenge.
"Some of the preliminary figures for 2008 suggest that there would be quite a considerable increase on the previous years but those won't be official until the end of the year," he said.
"It is difficult for us to say why those figures are going up. There seems to be a mixture of issues, one of the continuing infection of men who have sex with men but there is also an increase in heterosexual HIV."
Approximately 250 people are receiving anti-retroviral therapy which can cost over £1 million from the drugs budget.
Dr Chada added: "Compared to other parts of the world and in the rest of the UK our rates of HIV are somewhat low but it is very much on the increase.
"HIV/Aids is a huge burden in terms of actual resources that are used."
The Department's funding for genito-urinary treatment was branded a "sticking plaster" by Dr Maw.
He said: "We just have not had the investment in sexual health services and this is known by everybody from the Department of Health down.
"We have had some recent investment which is welcome but it is certainly not adequate to meet the needs of our population and it is considerably less than has been given in the rest of the UK."
Marlene Kinghan from the Children's Commissioners' office said a number of services were not fit for purpose or covering the level of need.
We currently have four (genito-urinary) clinics however combined they are open for less than 40 hours per week, some which operate on an appointment system others on a drop in basis," she said.
"How are young people, some of whom who are still in full time education, expected to access a clinic that is only open three hours per week during the day?
"The approach to delivering relationship and sexual education is neither comprehensive nor consistent in schools across Northern Ireland.
"Research on this issue shows the quality of sexual education depends on the school the young person attends and indeed the approach taken by individual teachers."
PA