BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC):

A top health expert has warned Barbadians about the HIV/AIDS infection rate and the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes in the country.

Sir George Alleyne, the United Nations Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS, said the rising number of new HIV/AIDS infections could push Barbados into a position where it was unable to cope with the situation if strategies were not implemented to deal with the situation.

He said interventions that could be used to reduce the spread of the diseases included programmes to spread HIV/AIDS messages through the use of peer pressure and through the targeting of the most affected groups such as commercial sex workers.

Speaking to health stakeholders as he presented his findings of the Caribbean Commission on Health and Development at the Sherbourne Conference Centre, Sir George, a former director of the Pan American Health Organisation, also called for dramatic change to lifestyles to reduce the incidence of lifestyle diseases.