WESTERN BUREAU:DR. YITADES Gebre, Senior Medical Officer in the Ministry of Health, says that there is an urgent need for the tourism sector interests to put on a fast track HIV/AIDS prevention programmes.
He made the statement against the background of what, he said, was Jamaica being marketed as one of the "tourism sex destinations" of the world.
He said major players in the sector needed to fast track their HIV/AIDS prevention programmes among staff and guests, in light of the rapid spread of the disease.
Dr. Gebre referred to sobering statistics of HIV/AIDS in Thailand, that has prided itself on being a sex tourism destination and was slow to act in putting HIV prevention programmes in place.
"In Thailand, where we had about 53 per cent of the population being HIV/AIDS, it's about 2 million persons living with HIV/AIDS," said Dr. Gebre, as he pointed out that it is costing that country US$11 billion to deal with problems associated with the disease.
Dr. Gebre's advice came at a time when experts are predicting that the national losses due to the epidemic is estimated to average more than six per cent of Jamaica's Gross Domestic Product by the year 2005. This six per cent amounts to more than the present government allocation to provide health services for the entire nation.
He was addressing participants at yesterday's workshop on the theme, "The Private Sector in the Fight against HIV/AIDS."
Data from the Health Ministry revealed that St. James currently has the highest AIDS case rate in the island, accounting for 552 of every 100,000 Jamaicans over the last 20 years. The other north coast parishes that are heavily dependent on tourism are Hanover and St. Ann and they have ranked third and fourth with AIDS case rates of 217 and 207 per 100,000 Jamaicans.
Over 22,000 Jamaicans are living with HIV/AIDS and between 1982 and the end of last year, some 8,500 Jamaicans lost their lives to the disease.
As the island continues to grapple with a spiralling HIV/AIDS rate, tourism interests have developed a health policy for the hospitality industry, which among other things, proposes several programmes on tackling the presence of related problems in the sector.
The draft policy is being amended to be circulated shortly to all members of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) for a more intense critique of the document.
This latest development in the hospitality sector was disclosed by Horace Peterkin, vice-president of the JHTA, as he responded to questions from participants in Wednesday's business forum at Sandals Montego Bay hotel. The workshop was jointly hosted by the Private Sector Organization of Jamaica, the Jamaica Employers Federation and the Ministry of Health.
"Aspects of the proposed health policy for the tourist industry were hotly debated at the last meeting of the JHTA, and right now the draft policy is being amended and will be circulated to all members," Mr. Peterkin stated.
He said the policy being drafted recommends an health insurance scheme and other support structures for employees in the sector who might have been infected or affected by HIV/AIDS.
