his anguished father appealed in a front-page interview with The Royal Gazette for a massive effort by society in tackling the problems posed by the killer disease.

Now, just over a year after the death of Allan Smith at 43, his family has chosen today, World AIDS Day, to officially launch the Allan Vincent Smith Foundation.

And one of the directors of the Foundation, Mrs. Adrianna Goodfellow, says, "I'm inclined to think that everything happens for a purpose. Sadly, maybe Allan had to die of AIDS in order to get this group started. Without him, it may never have happened.'' Another director, Mr. Joe Gibbons, echoes this sentiment, adding, "I have seen the community ignoring some of the issues that are causing the spread of AIDS and it's time for Bermuda to wake up and join the rest of the world in learning what this disease is all about.'' Mrs. Brenda McLean says, "I am committed to this Foundation because Allan was my brother. If we, as an organisation can help others as we were able to help each other as a family, we will have achieved a great deal.'' The objectives of the Foundation will be established along the lines of the Terrence Higgins Trust, now the UK's leading AIDS service organisation, which was established in 1983 in memory of the English Member of Parliament who died at a time when AIDS was barely acknowledged, let alone understood.

The mission statement of the new Foundation is "to support, educate and advise the people of Bermuda on AIDS and HIV and to prevent their spread through the active distribution and dissemination of materials and information to all groups deemed to be at risk''.

In practical terms, the Foundation hopes to initiate many different services, including education, information services, such as newsletters with updated information on scientific developments and conferences, counselling, a support and `buddy' service, a `helper cell' (to assist with day to day problems such as walking the dog or buying groceries), an information help-line to be manned by trained volunteers, assistance in hardship cases, an advice centre, raising funds and to provide a pool of volunteers to carry out the services provided by the Foundation.

The directors of the Foundation are emphasising their work will be complementary to other service and care givers, such as King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, the Hospice Trust and STAR.

Mr. Martin Smith, who the day after his son, a homosexual, died at Agape House, expressed a wish to "share our experience with the rest of Bermuda in the hope that somewhere, people will see the light, stop prejudice and show compassion'', says that ever since that interview, he has been overwhelmed by the number of people who came forward to talk to him about his son, or about their own problems.

"Allan was a bright, articulate and witty person who had hundreds of friends from all walks of life. When he died, I felt I just had to do something about the taboo that surrounds homosexuals -- male and female -- in Bermuda. People cannot help the way they are born and it was burning me up to see that a lot of people here have a fundamental quarrel with that. But about a month after his death I came to realise that the AIDS problem in Bermuda was far more widespread than just in the homosexual community.'' He adds that this feeling was reinforced as he continued to visit Agape House to visit and comfort those AIDS sufferers who had also become his friends during the long daily vigils at his son's bedside.

"There was one young woman whom I used to go and see who died a few weeks after Allan. I gather she got AIDS because she was a drug addict. There was something so sad about her and the fact that her husband has now also died, and it made me realise that I had to get involved in this whole programme.

There are so many tragedies going on. One mother, and I can't imagine how she coped, had to watch her third son die from this terrible disease.'' His main concern, however, now lies with those who do not have the help and support of loving family members, a fact initially brought home to him by his son's doctor, who had commented, back in 1987 when Allan had just tested HIV positive, that "the big tragedy in Bermuda is that so many families are turning people with AIDS out on to the streets.'' A determination to stamp out this lack of compassion, which he believes is brought about by the stigma and widespread ignorance that still surrounds AIDS, inspired Mr. Smith to volunteer his services to various groups, to tell his family's story and make suggestions as to what the community could do to fight the AIDS problem.

"The first time I spoke to a high school,'' he says with a faint smile, "I had the distinct feeling they were thinking, `what's this old fogey doing here?'. But as I spoke, in very blunt terms, there was gradually an immense silence and I knew I had their attention.'' As he became more and more involved on the speaking circuit, Mr. Smith became convinced that while Government has an important role to play, it will fall to the community to educate and assist with the whole AIDS issue, and that a private organisation seems the most appropriate platform: "I am convinced that one day, medical science will find a way to cure AIDS but that's a long way off and if Bermuda is to turn around the 175 who have already died, we have to find answers in the short term. We can no longer ignore the fact that, like it or not, we live in a very promiscuous society with a high illegitimacy rate, which places Bermuda at a high risk.'' Pointing out that AIDS is now firmly entrenched in the heterosexual community, with approximately 21 percent of AIDS cases being women, seven of whom have subsequently given birth to children, he expresses frustration with the attitude of some church leaders: "They may hold fundamental beliefs but I would say that the AIDS epidemic means that we have gone well beyond fundamentalism. This is not a moral problem -- it's a health problem that affects us all. People with AIDS are not sinners. They are human beings who deserve our love and affection, our help and our understanding. But more importantly, their friends and relatives need educating so that so that they don't come up against the same pitfalls and end up being victims themselves.

There is an urgency in this,'' he stresses.

Quoting recent statistics released by the World Health Organisation, Mr. Smith points out that the incidence of the disease is now increasing, in developed and undeveloped countries, at a rate of around 25 percent per annum: "The implications for Bermuda are obvious.'' Mr. Smith says that his family was "very touched'' when a group of concerned people in Bermuda, who saw the need for a service organisation, came to them with the idea of forming a Foundation in his son's name.

Application has already been made for the Allan Vincent Smith Foundation to become a registered charity and its initial Board of Directors includes Mr.

Smith, Mrs. Goodfellow, Mrs. Brenda McLean, Mr. Joe Gibbons, the Rev. David Chisling, Mr. Marc Thomas, Mr. Paul Dean, Mr. Dennis Sherwin, Ms JoCarol Robinson, Mr. James Thatcher, and Dr. Andrew West.

Mr. Allan Smith THE FOUNDATION -- Seen with parents of the late Allan Smith, Mr. and Mrs.

Martin Smith (front row centre), are Foundation directors, (back row, from left): Dr. Andrew West, Mr. Marc Thomas, Mr. Paul Dean, Mr. Joe Gibbons, Mrs.

Adrianna Goodfellow, the Rev. David Chisling and (front row, from left): Mrs.

JoCarol Robinson and Mrs. Brenda McLean. Missing from the photo are Mr. Dennis Sherwin and Mr. James Thatcher.