Devon Evans, Gleaner WriterHIV/AIDS is on the rise in the parish of St. Mary with the past three years recording consecutive growth in the number of reported cases of the disease, according to Medical Officer of Health for St. Mary, Dr. San San Win.
Dr. Win, in a report presented recently to the St. Mary Parish Council, said that from a total of nine cases of HIV in 1994, there were 31 in the year 2001; 33 in 2002; 43 in 2003 and 51 last year.
This brings the total number of HIV/AIDS cases reported in St. Mary since 1985 (when the first one was discovered) to 360, he added. There have been eight recorded deaths.
She also said that between 2003 and 2004 some 46 mothers and babies returned positive results for HIV.
Dr. Win pointed out that based on the reports coming out of St. Mary, it clearly indicates that every other parish was having their fair share of AIDS cases, as St. Mary was always ranked among the parishes with the lowest number of reported cases.
ISLANDWIDE REPORT
According to Dr. Win, the islandwide report for the year 2003, shows Kingston and St. Andrew recording the highest number of cases, standing at 547; followed by St. James with 226, St. Catherine with 209 and St. Ann at number 4 with 167 cases.
The St. Mary medical officer is advising citizens to pay more attention to prevention, including the proper use of condoms in order to minimise the spread of the disease.
She was concerned about the difficulty the Health Department was having in reaching out to the adult population in the parish, to sensitise them about HIV/AIDS, and promised that further efforts will be made this year to reach out to those individuals.
"If we do not address this problem speedily, the Govern-ment will have to spend a lot of resources in the future on care and medication," she said.
