THIS year, 48 people in Trelawny were infected with the HIV/AIDS virus, bringing to 280 the number of residents infected to date in the parish.

Dr Rao Pannado, medical officer of health (MOH) for Trelawny, said this represents a 6.3 per cent increase over the number of reported cases in 2001, but a reduction in last year’s 23.3 per cent increase over the 2000 figure.

Trelawny is ranked seventh among parishes with the highest rate of infections.

In addition, Pannado said the parish also witnessed a 24 per cent increase in Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) during the year.

He was addressing a recent meeting of the Trelawny Parish Council

And while commending the Trelawny Health Department and the Parish Aids Committee (PAC) for a job well done in implementing healthy lifestyle programmes in clinics in the parish, Pannado remarked that it was mostly women and girls who attended these clinics.

It was not clear from the figures provided by Pannado how many Trelawny women were included in the 48 new HIV/AIDS cases.

However, the Trelawny Health Department, as part of its public education campaign, went into the schools and conducted sessions on teenage pregnancy, attitude change and character building, among other topics.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) also launched extensive islandwide campaigns encouraging the practice of safe sex in a bid to stem the spread of the deadly disease and other STIs.

Meanwhile, Pannado who has been serving Trelawny since 1998, will be leaving to take up the post as MOH for St James early next year.

He will have his work cut out for him as St James currently has the highest infection rate. One in every 30 pregnant woman in that parish suffers from the disease, while one in every 50 pregnant woman in St Ann is infected.

But Pannado told JIS News that he intended to put new strategies in place to reduce the spread of STIs in the tourist capital.