their behaviour.

That was the message from a special AIDS conference this week. The four-day meeting at St. Brendan's Hospital was aimed at boosting understanding of people with AIDS.

It was for residents whose work brings them into contact with people suffering from AIDS or infected with HIV, the virus which causes it.

Organisers included nurse epidemiologist Ms Rhonda Daniels, public health charge nurse Ms Gaylia Landry and visiting Canadian expert Ms Pat Matusko, who runs a government AIDS programme in Winnipeg.

Ms Daniels told The Royal Gazette : "Slowly but surely we're bringing people round to understanding that this disease is not going anywhere until you do something about it.

"You can't rely on politicians or health workers to do something about it.

"It can't just be Government's problem any more. Resources are very limited and we need more input from people in the community.

"We haven't worked out the financial cost of caring for people with AIDS. The disease has the potential for really wiping out the economy.'' People had to understand that AIDS could affect people like them, she said.

"More people have to realise it's not the person on the street corner who is homeless, or the young women out there selling herself for drugs or to stay alive.

"It's people in the offices and churches and schools and wherever you look.

AIDS is there.'' Conference organisers agreed attitudes to people with AIDS needed to change.

"Society tends to take a moral approach and to judge,'' said Ms Daniels.

"Although there are moral issues involved with AIDS, it's a disease and so we do have to approach it from a health point of view.'' Ms Matusko said: "We must eliminate discrimination based on illness. If you had a heart attack and were unable to work, some allowance would be made for you.

"But people with AIDS are stigmatised and so are their families. "This is because we're dealing with things that are very, very personal, like sexual activity and illicit drug use.'' Other illnesses could result from certain activities, she said. Smoking could lead to lung cancer and taking no exercise could lead to obesity and related diseases.

But people with those illnesses were not judged the way AIDS victims were. She added: "We so often look at the infected person as the one to be dealt with, but that's not so.

"If we all took responsibility today we could literally stop the spread of HIV, but we choose not to.

"We choose not to abstain, we choose to inject, we choose not to wear a condom. We can do it and we choose not to. So we can't blame each other.'' A similar seminar was held in 1990 for health officials and Government employees. This week 17 people from a wider range of professions attended.

Ms Matusko said she noticed a difference since her last trip to the Island.

"In the last four years I've noticed how many ordinary citizens have experienced HIV in their own lives. Everyone knows someone.'' The fight against HIV infection had be carried out by a united community, she said. Rows between supporters of abstaining from sex and supporters of condom distribution did not help.