PRIME Minister Bruce Golding on Wednesday called for a more robust programme on sex education for children if Jamaica is to be effective in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Golding made it clear that while the $3-billion worth of international funding Jamaica has since received to fight HIV/AIDS was very important, it was even more critical that Jamaicans learn to exercise personal choice in a responsible way.

“We are going to have to desist with this foolish notion that sexual awareness is something we should hide from our children and that they must become adults before we introduce them to topics having to do with sexuality,” Golding said.

The prime minister, who was addressing Wednesday’s Sixth Annual United States Chiefs of Mission Conference on HIV/AIDS at the Terra Nova Hotel in Kingston, said adults will have to start talking to children about sex at an early age.

He suggested that there be a strong partnership between the home and the school, as well as the church and community, in helping to educate children about sex and HIV/AIDS.

The prime minister’s call was supported by Dr Peter Figueroa, chief of epidemiology and AIDS in the Ministry of Health, who told the conference that throughout the Caribbean the percentage of children sexually active under age 15 had increased.

“Many of them are not using a condom or contraceptive when they are having sex and this is a serious problem,” he said.

According to Figueroa, there was a need to get family life and health education into the schools, to include sex education and condom skills.

“While we emphasise abstinence we still have to prepare them with condom skills,” he added.

In the meantime, the prime minister said that through a Pan Caribbean partnership, Jamaica has been able to synergise its efforts, ideas and policy approaches with those of other countries in the region.

But he said it must be remembered that HIV/AIDS is a migratory disease which can travel the world and, therefore, the collaboration of partners will be a critical part of the effort to get on top of the challenges faced by regional states.

United States ambassador to Jamaica, Brenda LaGrange Johnson, said while there has been extensive migration, cultural exchanges and other interactions that enrich the region’s cultures it also provided opportunities for the transmission of HIV/AIDS.

She told the conference that US President George W Bush had reaffirmed his commitment to the fight against HIV/AIDS by announcing his intention to work with Congress to commit US$30 billion over five years, doubling the initial commitment.