Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the presentations made by Mr. Mulligan, Ms Seery and Mr. Brady. At the risk of being repetitive in talking about the national sexual health strategy, it is important to promote awareness among the general public, as well as the target groups. Mr. Brady said people who were born in the 1960s and 1970s would remember the 1980s quite well. Clearly, it was a difficult time to be gay in this country and many other parts of the world, given the stigma attached to the gay community in the context of HIV and AIDS.

Ms Seery pointed to the diminishing impact of public awareness. I suppose people lose sight of the risk factors. In promoting the sexual health strategy it is equally important that we do not reinvigorate attitudes in terms of the stigma that can be attached to people. The dilemma is that if one actively promotes awareness by advertising and one is not careful, one can also enhance the stigma and make life more difficult for individuals. I hope, therefore, that the we will be conscious of this in implementing the national sexual health strategy.

Our obligation at this committee is to promote a healthy sexual lifestyle and healthy lifestyle in general. In doing so these figures are disturbing, to say the least, especially when one looks at the age profile published by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre. There was a time when a lot of people from sub-Saharan Africa would have featured in the increased HIV figures, but those figures have dropped off dramatically. We now have an issue with people born in this country contracting HIV. It is evident, therefore, that our message is not getting through as much as we would like it to.

Mr. Brady asks what we can do. I am concerned about this, as I said last night in the context of mental health services. We all have great confidence in the local family GP. However, I sometimes think the family doctor may be the last person a young person with a mental health issue or who may feel he or she is at risk of contracting HIV would want to go to. That is because the GP is also his or her mother's and father's doctor. In close knit communities this can be a barrier and some people will not cross that threshold. I have experience of dealing with people who believe they cannot go to their family doctor about such matters. In that context, clinics and outreach centres are critically important. Equally, most people are unaware that they can have these tests done quickly. Most still believe they are costly, that they have to go through a GP and wait an inordinate length of time. We need to promote the fact that this is not the case. I would encourage anybody to go to his or her GP, but it is a stumbling block, particularly for younger people who will not go to their family doctor for this purpose. If we could do anything to promote awareness of the fact that such tests can be done quickly, easily and efficiently, it would be welcome.

Mr. Brady has said the national sexual health strategy will be resourced and funded, but who will come up with the campaign? That is often the critical part. Will it be undertaken by a professional company that can assess what is the best way to get the message across, or will it be conducted through the Department of Health with its typical campaign which, while getting the message across, can sometimes have other implications, as I alluded to? Let us be honest and say there are certain barriers to sex education in the education system. We must, therefore, be conscious of how we try to get the message across to the peer groups most at risk. There is an obligation on everybody to provide resources for schools and third level colleges for that purpose. We should not always depend on NGOs and advocacy groups such as the ones represented to do it. We should be doing it in conjunction with them and supporting them, rather than expecting them to do it alone.