18 HIV cases in a week

Urgent action by ministers is needed, warn activists as diagnosis rates soar

HIV campaigners have said Ireland is in ‘uncharted territory’ as a result of soaring rates of new diagnoses of the disease.

Last month, 18 cases were detected in just a week.

The HSE’s weekly figures showed the cases were diagnosed between March 25 and 31, bringing the total number of new cases in Ireland so far this year to 115.

A large proportion of new HIV cases were among people who arrived in the country who were already carrying the infection.

Ireland’s infection rate is almost double the European norm.

Campaign group Act Up is demanding action over a crisis it says has partly been caused by Government ‘neglect’. Compared to other EU countries where rates have been declining, Ireland’s rate of new HIV diagnoses has been rising since 2011, hitting a record high in 2016, with more than 500 cases reported that year.

Will St Ledger, spokesman for Act Up, has called for the crisis to be treated as an ‘urgent public health issue’ and demanded the Government intervene.

He said: ‘On average, there is one diagnosis every 18 hours. In 2016, the HIV diagnoses recorded in 31 countries was, on average, 5.9 per 100,000 people.

‘In Ireland that year there were 508 newly reported cases. That works out at 10.7 per 100,000.’

A prevention drug, PrEP, is available in Ireland, but is expensive at €95 a week and is not yet available on the HSE.

Mr St Ledger believes Government ambivalence has allowed the crisis in Ireland to worsen.

HIV, if untreated, can develop into Aids, a deadly disease which collapses immune systems. ‘Part of the reason for the crisis is because there has been indifference, apathy and neglect in Government agencies and by the wider public when it comes to HIV,’ Mr St Ledger said.

‘We need to start talking about sexual health in the same way we are becoming more comfortable talking about mental health.’

But he added: ‘It isn’t just about PrEP alone. Regular testing for STIs and quick treatment has also played a part in countries where new diagnoses have fallen.

‘Regular access to testing is a problem, because the Government hasn’t supplied the resources for rapid HIV testing.’

He added: ‘This is a crisis... We’re in uncharted territory. We’re seeing historic rates of new diagnoses. It is a public health issue and it needs to be treated as such.

‘We need to see urgent Government intervention.’

During his recent visit to New York, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was greeted by activists from Act Up, who asked when he would make PrEP available on the HSE, to which he replied: ‘In the next couple of months I hope.’

Asked if he supported PrEP being made available and covered under the HSE, he said: ‘Absolutely, subject to the cost-benefit analysis being favourable, which is the same for any medicine.’

The HSE said two brands of the drug were submitted for cost-benefit analysis in June and December last year, but did not say when the reviews would be completed.

‘Regular access to testing a problem’