Knowledge about prevention of A.I.D.S. high

Press, 22 November 1989, Page 9

Knowledge about prevention of A.I.D.S. high

By

NIGEL MALTHUS

Getting people to stop unsafe sexual practices is like persuading smokers to give up cigarettes, says a Christchurch A.I.D.S researcher, Dr Jane Chetwynd. Dr Chetwynd, a senior lecturer in the department of community health at the Christchurch School of Medicine, co-ordinated a national survey about A.I.D.S. The survey, requested by the Health Department to gauge the effectiveness of its publicity campaigns, found a high level of knoweldge of how to prevent the spread of the disease, Dr Chetwynd said. Of the 1090 people surveyed, 94 per cent knew to use condoms, 96 per cent knew not to share hypodermic syringes, and 71 per cent knew that anybody could catch A.I.D.S.

Among, those who were sexually active, however, only 6 per cent used condoms “always”and only 4 per cent used them “often.”

It was like a smoker knowing how bad cigarettes were but not having the right motiviation, attitudes, and skills to bring about a change in behaviour, Dr Chetwynd said.

“It is not true that we are sojnehow ‘behind’ the epidemic,” she said. New Zealand had - had 154 cases reported to the end of last month, of whom about half had died.

The problem in preventing its spread was the “AJ.D.S. iceberg.” Apart from the few with the disease was a huge hidden reservoir of people in the com-

munity who had the virus and could give it to other people. Dr Chetwynd was one of several speakers at a Medical Research Expo which drew an audience of several hundred people to the Christchurch Town Hall last evening.

1 She and others outlined the wide variety of medical research being done in Christchurch. A film, in the James Hay Theatre underlined the message, while members of the public packed the Town Hall foyer to view static 1 displays. The event was hosted by the Canterbury Medical Research Foundation as part of its. membership drive, and as an opportunity for researchers to publicise the relevance of their work to health care. ••••■!;

The foundation is the biggest source of funds for health research in Canterbury, having donated about $1 million over the last three years. “There is much more demand than we have funding for. We rely entirely on public donations, legacies, and bequests,” the foundation treasurer, Mr Brian Stokes, said. The foundation had nearly 1000 members, but was aiming for 5000 over the next two years.

The Dean of the Christchurch School of Medicine, Professor Alan Clarke, emphasised the theme of the evening that health was everyone’s * responsibility, and that quality research was vital. ‘ ' Much of the research done in Canterbury was internationally recognised, he said.