treatment front but nothing which should cause Bermuda to be lulled into complacency. There is great danger that announcements of progress against HIV will lead people to take dangerous risks. We must remember that the progress which has been made is by no means a cure and is only that -- progress.

The safest way to avoid AIDS is to abstain from sex but when you choose to have sex then use a condom. There are serious surveys which indicate that far too many heterosexuals still regard AIDS as something which can't happen to them and go on with risky sex. Bermuda's figures indicate that AIDS is very much a heterosexual disease and that Bermuda's women are at risk.

Unprotected sex is dangerous in Bermuda simply because the HIV-AIDS figures are high. In Bermuda 360 people have been diagnosed with HIV and 291 have died of AIDS. They got that way in the first place because of some very early careless behaviour in Bermuda but that can be corrected with care today. Many countries much less well equipped than Bermuda are demonstrating that care and protection can slow the spread of AIDS.

An aggressive AIDS campaign in Thailand has greatly increased the use of condoms, reduced the frequency of drug users sharing dirty needles, and led to more responsible behaviour by young heterosexual men whose infection rate is dropping. The general infection rate in Thailand is down to three quarters of what it was in 1990. In Britain, the number of new AIDS cases is a third down from its peak in 1993.

Medical protection and prevention or a cure for AIDS still appear to be a long way off and millions of people are yet to be infected with the virus and millions are yet to die. There is no room for complacency. The World Health Organisation says that the virus now infects 22 million people.

Any government has the responsibility to continue educating the public on the dangers of AIDS. In some countries economic problems and a lack of political commitment are holding back AIDS programmes and that must not happen in Bermuda.

We must continue the fight against AIDS in the schools and in the media. There should be free distribution of condoms in places where young people congregate and in bars and discos. We have a duty to keep people informed and aware of the continuing dangers of AIDS so that they do not become careless. Combatting AIDS is a question only of health protection.

Governments should also be telling their people what their rights are if they are HIV Positive and what facilities are available for their treatment. New AIDS drugs are very expensive, in excess of $20,000 per year per patient, and there should be some certainty that Bermudians will receive the treatment they need if they are unable to pay or are not insured for such treatment. No HIV Positive Bermudian should be deprived of the best care.