Sir, - Your editorial "Aids still kills" (December 2nd) warned that "lives are still at unnecessary risk in Ireland and effective preventive education remains very important".
However, the evidence which you cite tells us that by the end of September this year there had been only 311 deaths from AIDS recorded in this State. While all of these deaths are tragic, this hardly amounts to the "epidemic" which doom-mongers were prophesising less than a decade ago.
Furthermore, when one takes into account that the majority of these cases fall into the categories of either homosexual, bisexual, or intravenous drug user, one crucially important factor becomes obvious: for the vast majority of the Irish population, the threat posed by the AIDS virus is minuscule.
This would be a hugely positive message to convey to a public which has been subjected to constant scare-mongering by those for whom the AIDS issue has become a cottage industry in itself. It is time to challenge the politically-correct consensus on this issue.
We can then move on to tackle the broader issues of our anxious and risk-obsessed age, in which everything from AIDS to beefburgers, alcohol, ecstasy, sex, road rage, computer porn, nuclear waste and, yes, wild horses roaming our cities are presented as a grave threat to our personal health and security. - Yours, etc.,
Ballynerrin Lower, Wicklow.