AGAINST the backdrop of startling data showing that HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections are now the number one cause of death for both men and women in the 30-34 age group, Sandals Dunn’s River, in conjunction with the centre for HIV/AIDS Research Education and Services (CHARES), is today staging an educational workshop on the disease at the hotel’s club house in Mammee Bay, St Ann.

The workshop, scheduled to start at 10:00 am, is geared for all age groups, with special focus on adolescents.

Methods of presentation, the organisers say, will be mainly interactive, with the use of video, posters, handouts and role-play.

Today’s workshop is in keeping with Sandals Dunn’s River’s efforts to provide a social service to the community in which the hotel is sited.

In the past, it has staged workshops on a range of health issues and regularly stages free health clinics in some of the more remote districts in St Ann.

The organisers say they expect this morning’s workshop to generate significant interest in the parish, given the increasing numbers of Jamaicans who are now affected by HIV/AIDS.

Last month, the Observer reported that of the estimated 24,000 people infected with HIV/AIDS in Jamaica, only 6,088 at the end of December 2001 had been reported, which means that there are thousands of people who are HIV positive and do not know it and may be spreading the disease to others.

Officials point out, too, that with Jamaica having just over three per cent of all new AIDS cases in the Caribbean each year, the island has the highest rate of infection in the region. If this is unchecked, Jamaica, over time, will catch up with the worst affected countries.

Local health and social scientists say the causes of HIV/AIDS in Jamaica are varied and complex, not least being multiple sex partnerships and early engagement in sex. For example, a health ministry survey has shown that the median age for the initiation of sex for boys is 13, while for girls it is 14.

The inconsistent use of condoms by Jamaican men has also contributed to the spread of HIV/AIDS. According to Government data, 23 per cent of men and 33 per cent of women who have sex with people who are not their regular partners do not use condoms.

“These figures are even higher among youth,” the government’s strategic document said.

Another significant cause of HIV/AIDS is sex with prostitutes, which accounts for 19 per cent of all AIDS cases, while drug use accounts for another 6.6 per cent.

Jamaica’s high unemployment rate, at just under 16 per cent but substantially higher for women, the experts say, helps to drive the AIDS epidemic by inducing lifestyles, such as prostitution and drug use, which are conducive to the spread of the disease.