CAREC figures on HIV/AIDS not always valid

THE EDITOR: We are now in the midst of the 2005 Carnival season and as usual, gay abandon literally prevails in Trinidad and Tobago. As a nation, we are supposed to be literate, learned and moving towards a responsible future. But are we? From all indications it does not seem so. Approximately 24 years ago HIV/AIDS was identified as a killer among homosexuals in the United States and Europe and soon thereafter among heterosexuals (both sexes) in Africa, and a handful of countries in the Caribbean including Trinidad and Tobago. Since then the HIV/AIDS epidemic has spread first to the Caribbean and to South and Central America and then to Eastern Europe and to Southeast and Northeast Asia.

What is tragic is that it has left a trail of increasing death due to AIDS and related conditions and an increased prevalence of HIV among adults and children of both sexes. More than 50 million people worldwide are infected with the virus presently and about 20 to 25 million have died from AIDS. The statistics are mind-boggling! In the Caribbean the effects of HIV/AIDS are of sizeable magnitude and the governments of the region are downplaying the catastrophic effects of this killer because of many factors. They understandably want to protect the financing and involvement of bread and butter issues. Tourism and economic ventures from abroad and regionally are more important than anything else, including killer diseases of epidemic proportions.

They think by not effectively conducting proper surveys on HIV/AIDS and not properly documenting and reporting the mortality rates in all areas — neonatal, infant and adult, that the disease will gradually disappear and that everything will be alright — a clear case of fooling themselves and the people as usual! Consequently, the information coming out from Caribbean islands as documented by the Caribbean Regional Epidemiology Centre (CAREC) is not always valid and not a candid analysis of the amount of people infected or the number who have died or are dying presently, from this epidemic regionally.

As is known, the Caribbean ranks second in the world with regard to infection rates, and death due to the virus, as compared with African countries and we still do not have clear statistics, notwithstanding the enormous amount of money that is being spent on scientific and developmental social research regionally from international financial donors and regional governments alike. How are we dealing with all of this in Trinidad and Tobago? First of all, there is not sufficient education on the disease in the elementary and secondary schools and also to the general public in Trinidad and Tobago. We have continuously failed to alert and educate our children about the deadly effects of unprotected sex and sexually transmitted diseases (STD’s), given the type of Carnival culture that we continue to propagate.

The lackadaisical attitude of young adults and grown-ups alike to the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Trinidad and Tobago is disconcerting, to say the least. They just do not care. They are probably thinking that it cannot, and will not happen to them. In the year 2000 the number of people infected with the HIV virus in Trinidad and Tobago was within the range of 17,000 to 20,000. In the year 2005 they are telling us that the rates are the same as in 2000 — still 17,000 people infected! Remember that the age group most affected, ranges between 16 to 24 years old. This is the most productive period in young peoples’ lives and by extension what they can give to themselves, their family and towards national development — but do we really care? Unprotected sex is rampant during the Carnival season which is presently upon us and we are not making an effort to bombard the age groups most susceptible, with proper information to be careful or stay away from casual sexual encounters.

Pre-marital sex among youth continues to be very high during this time of the year and statistics at all hospitals in Trinidad and Tobago show an increase in births during the third trimester after each Carnival season. As this disease is no respecter of race or nationality anyone can be susceptible to this killer disease as statistics have shown. The “wine and jam” and “raise yuh hand in the air” mentality which is part of the lyrics of almost every calypso/soca song that you hear during this season is indicative of the cultural irresponsibility that we exhibit not only to ourselves but to foreigners alike. It is imperative that we campaign against this disease not only during the Carnival season but throughout the year as it continues to threaten the productivity and the overall health and well-being of our nation.

DR CHRIS MAHADEO
Port-of-Spain