By Denise Clarke, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
THE HOPE Hospice in St. James is being overwhelmed by the rising number of AIDS cases in St. James and surrounding parishes, and is fast running out of space to house those stricken with the deadly disease.
Persons suffering with HIV/AIDS are now clamouring for refuge at the hospice, which is full to capacity with about 30 patients now being housed there. A newly constructed four-bedroom addition to existing accommodation, which will offer increased capacity, will be opened next month.
Pino Mafessanti, chairman of the managing committee of the Good Shepherd Foundation, which runs the hospice, said the problem lies with the difficulty experienced in reintegrating the patients with their families once they have recovered. According to him, families often refuse to accept their AIDS-stricken relatives back into their homes.
The hospice, which only accepts those who are seriously ill due to AIDS complications, has had to be turning away an average of two new patients each day.
A HARD TIME
"We have a hard time getting them to come back and get the family member back into the family, because they say, no, we don't have the space for him there, or he is a sick person we don't want to catch his illness," Mr. Mafessanti told The Gleaner. "Unfortunately we don't have the luxury of too many rooms and, as soon as one patient gets better we need to vacate the room and give it to the next patient that is usually outside waiting."
Mr. Mafessanti said more facilities like the Hope Hospice are needed in the parish to accommodate and care for AIDS patients, and added that more could be done to spread awareness about the disease, which has taken the lives of more than 4,000 Jamaicans since it was first discovered in the island in 1982. Figures obtained from the Ministry of Health indicate that for every week in 2002, 13 persons died of AIDS, bringing the total number of deaths in that year to 692. The Ministry also estimates that there are approximately 25,000 persons living with HIV/AIDS in Jamaica.
St. James remains high on the AIDS radar, with the disease spreading in the parish at a rate of 600.6 per 100,000 as at December 2002. One hundred and sixty two (162) new AIDS cases were reported in the parish last year.
Head of the Western Regional Health Authority (WRHA), Dr. Sheila Campbell-Forrester, said the problem goes beyond awareness. She explained that while there is heightened awareness among the public concerning HIV/AIDS and its implications, persons were slow in changing their behaviour to prevent the spread of the disease.
"People are very aware, but it's the behaviour that still is a problem. We still have to realise that it is everybody's business and that each person has a responsibility to define their risks and deal with it," said Dr. Campbell-Forrester, who noted that it might take up to another five years before the extensive education and intervention programmes begin to reap success.
