The important thing is that there is a campaign. This newspaper would hate to see a very important programme to protect lives get bogged down in inside squabbling. What matters is that the Bermudian public accepts the huge danger of AIDS and works to combat a killer.

This newspaper has consistently supported moves against AIDS and has regularly reported news, local and overseas news, on the magnitude of the threat of AIDS. It will continue to do so. In the early days of AIDS when we moved to warn the public, we were ridiculed as alarmist and some people even derided The Royal Gazette as The AIDS Gazette. But we fought on and we were right.

AIDS is a threat to all humanity.

AIDS is also an equal opportunity killer and seems likely to continue to be a killer. With the exception of those people who abstain totally from sex or those people in a reliable monogamous relationship, all sexually active people are in danger. The crisis can be controlled but it grows because too often people adopt a "not me'' attitude which causes them not to be careful.

The truth is that Bermuda has a bad problem. AIDS, because it is sexually transmitted, is a difficult disease to deal with because facing up to sexually transmitted diseases makes people uncomfortable. The advertising offensive now being launched is a highly praiseworthy cooperative effort.

The Advertising and Publicity Association of Bermuda are experts in their field who have devoted a great deal of time and effort to this campaign. These are the top people in Bermuda for this job. We have to respect their ability to launch a good campaign. Instead, the campaign seems to have been damaged before it even began.

The Association responded to a challenge from the Health Minister and has done its part in a community effort. Only a concerted effort by the entire community will begin to combat this killer. Bermuda has to start by breaking down the stereotypes which provide excuses for unsafe sex.

The stereotypes of who was and who was not vulnerable to AIDS set AIDS awareness and AIDS treatment back ten years. We must get over that. The basic excuses for dangerous behaviour are that AIDS is a gay disease or a drug abusers disease. That leads to unsafe sex by heterosexuals. Unlike other countries, in Bermuda AIDS is and always has been basically a heterosexual disease as far too many women can tell you. The Minister of Health and Social Services has been quoted as being "alarmed'' by the extent of the disease in the heterosexual community. To his credit, he is also generally alarmed by the disease.

Some 200 Bermudians are now counted as having died of AIDS. We know of 237 people who have been diagnosed as having AIDS. There are more. The community must come together against AIDS.