Inter Press Service - May 26, 2000
Corinne Barnes

A survey carried out by the Ministry of Health in 1996, the results of which were published only recently has found that many children in the 10-14 age group have little or no knowledge about how HIV p the virus that leads to AIDS is spread.

At the same time most of the children who were interviewed said they saw nothing wrong with 10-year-olds being sexually active.

Forty-four percent of the children in the survey were of the view that their sexual behaviour had nothing to do with the spread of the disease.

Thirty-one percent felt that AIDS was not a big problem in the island, 29 percent felt that young persons having sex for the first time would not be in danger of contracting the disease while 20 percent felt it was impossible for them to contract the disease if they had sexual intercourse with another person their own age.

The survey also found that 21 percent of the population was sexually active by the time they had reached the age of 12. Sixty- four percent of the respondents in the survey had had sex with someone of their own age.

The results of this survey are worrying health authorities who have also been reporting this week that the number of HIV cases is on the rise.

But says, Dr. Yitades Gebre, Director of the Ministry of Health's National STD/AIDS Control Programme, it only means that the Ministry will have to continue its aggressive public education programme.

Since HIV was first diagnosed here in 1982, some 4,196 persons have contracted the disease. Of this number 2,630 are men and 1,566 women.

What the children in the Ministry of Health survey also did not know is that the number of children with the disease is also on the rise. In 1992 there were 10 children with AIDS and by 1996, the figure had reached 47. It now stands at 331. Three times more girls are infected with the virus than boys. Gebre, says this is as a result of the exposure of young girls to older infected men.

And since 1995 the new HIV infection cases in adolescents have doubled each year.

Statistics from the Ministry of Health also indicate that one out of every 100 pregnant women in the island is infected with HIV and one HIV infected child is born every week.

Minister of Health John Junor says the rapid spread of AIDS is now causing a severe drain on government's scarce resources. According to Junor, it is costing the government some 2.4 million dollars per year to treat persons with the disease , of which 1.4 million dollars is for hospital care.

With 33 percent of the Jamaican population living below the poverty line which means they earn less than the minimum wage p 25 dollars per week p many of those who contract the disease are unable to pay for medical care.

"If government is to attempt to give first class treatment to AIDS patients the cost would be horrendous. The reality is that the country does not have the resources to provide health care for AIDS patients or to control the disease," says one man who revealed that he has a friend with the disease.

Meanwhile, although health officials say they do not have documented evidence of the socio-economic status of those living with AIDS, it does appear that many with the disease are casual workers, prostitutes, dancers, people in the construction industry and the tourism industry. The result is that large numbers of those with the disease are unable to pay for the cost of treatment.

But apart from the drain on government's resources, there is also concern that it is taking a heavy toll on the labour force and will have serious implications for the future development of the country.

Reports have indicated that the disease is spreading more rapidly among people in the 20 to 39 age group, with some 58 percent of those carrying the disease falling into this group.

Another study done by the Trinidad-based Caribbean Epidemiology Centre (CAREC) in collaboration with the Health Economics Unit of the University of the West Indies last year, projects an annual loss of 1.5 billion dollars to Caribbean countries within the next decade as more persons in the productive age group contract the disease.

Reports have indicated that the factors contributing to the rise in the HIV/AIDS cases in Jamaica and other Caribbean islands are inadequate health care, lack of education about the disease, the use of illegal drugs and the sex industry.

But if there is one point of encouragement in this scenario, it is that over the last few years, the adult population, at least now have a higher level of awareness of the disease.

"There has been an overall change of attitude by Jamaicans about HIV/AIDS in general. Most Jamaicans believe that HIV is transmitted primarily by unprotected heterosexual contact. This is as a result of continuous mass education and awareness campaign," says Gebre (END/IPS/HE/cb/da/00)
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