reports of AIDS in Bermuda.

Recent reports in Trinidad and the Cayman Islands stated that AIDS was an alarming problem in the Island.

But Health Minister the Hon. Quinton Edness and Shadow Health Minister Mr.

Nelson Bascome hit back at the reports, calling them misleading.

Mr. Bascome said that he had read the Trinidad report which said that Bermudians were playing roulette with AIDS. "It seems that AIDS is rampant, everyone is sleeping with everybody and everybody is having their turn with everybody,'' he said.

"What kind of havoc does this play with our principal industry, tourism? Anyone considering visiting Bermuda will look at this and think of bypassing the Island in future.'' Mr. Edness, whose campaign for greater AIDS awareness in Bermuda is mentioned in the Cayman Islands article, is also quoted as saying he found the figures "frightening.'' The Minister made a similar comment in Parliament this week but stressed that Bermuda was no worse than other areas of the Caribbean.

"The reason why Bermuda has a higher rate of AIDS than other small Caribbean countries is because our reporting of AIDS is better than anywhere else in the world,'' he said.

"Other countries are rather lax about reporting their statistics. We do not want to be labelled just because we are being honest.''