UNSAFE sex, homosexuality and prostitution have combined to push up the rate of HIV/AIDS infection in Jamaica, prompting health officials to renew an urgent call for greater use of condoms.

Ironically, while the health ministry reported that condom sales had climbed to 10 million a year, up from 2.5 million, it acknowledged at the same time that not nearly enough Jamaicans were using condoms during sex.

“We continue to see an increase in infected cases,” head of Epidemiology and AIDS in the Ministry of Health, Dr Peter Figueroa, lamented yesterday at a regional management meeting called by the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) to address issues surrounding the disease, at the Hilton Kingston Hotel, New Kingston.

Figueroa did not give the figure for new infections, saying that it was being tallied for release later this year. But it will add to the current estimates of 25,000 cases of HIV-infected persons.

However, Figueroa suggested that to stanch the increase in new HIV infections, condom sales would have to hit 15 million a year, or five million more than the number sold last year.

He said that 80 per cent of persons had contracted the disease through multiple sex contacts, with a high prevalence of HIV infection among men who had sex with men, accounting for 33.6 per cent of cases; and a 9.6 per cent increase in infections among female sex workers, bringing the proportion of infections from commercial sex work to 25.6 per cent.

Figueroa was also worried that as Jamaica was seeking to deal with the problem of human trafficking, it had created another, as some sex workers had gone underground, following the closure of a massage parlour.

“We used to be able to reach some of the girls there, but now it is closed and we don’t have access to them anymore,” he complained, adding that it was getting harder to reach the girls because commercial sex was taking on new forms.

Figueroa also noted that among the factors driving the spread of the disease in Jamaica were sex at an early age, and to a lesser extent, drug use.

“The median age at first sex is declining,” Dr Figueroa said. “Boys are now beginning at age 15 and girls by age 17.”

He further explained that 50 per cent of older school children were sexually active, creating the need for a national policy to allow for schools to put in place meaningful policies.

“It is nice to put people on treatment and that is easy, but when it comes to prevention we have not a clue,” he told the meeting.

Figueroa accused the politicians of being afraid of addressing the issue of gender inequity and reorientation of gender roles, but noted that the regional response had also failed to achieve a number of the set goals to halt the spread of HIV.

Some of the challenges included the slow progress with HIV policy and legislation, as well as the continued stigma and discrimination, said Figueroa.

“HIV prevention and intervention are inadequate despite the progress made. Political declaration is no commitment.”

He observed that Jamaica, like some of its other Caribbean counterparts, was still struggling with issues of discrimination, as well as HIV testing at the workplace.

“We want to have the population tested, but we don’t want business to use it to prevent persons from working,” he said, disclosing that among the priorities for this year to combat the disease, would be the development of strategic planning and coordination and expansion of HIV rapid testing.

“We have established many private labs for people to walk-in and get tested,” he said, arguing that the current mandatory HIV testing for persons admitted to public hospitals should yield big results.

Figueroa said that although mother-to-child transmission had been reduced from 25 per cent to 10 per cent , there were still those who were slipping through the cracks. “Because of stigma, they don’t want to identify themselves when they come in to have their babies,” he said.