"visionary.'' Information officer for the Caribbean Epidemiology Centre (CAREC) Mr. Leslie Fitzpatrick, who is visiting the Island to look at how Government agencies and the local media manage AIDS information and issues, said Bermuda is way ahead of other CAREC-member countries in that it has set up a hospice - Agape House - for people with the deadly disease.

"There are good mechanisms in Bermuda for the AIDS support system,'' he told a group of journalists, Government Information Services officers and health officials at a luncheon at The Princess hotel yesterday.

But, he added, most governments in small countries could not afford the costs of maintaining a hospice and the drugs required.

"There are charitable, non-Government organisations that can help,'' he said.

"But it is a matter of commitment. Nobody wants to get involved.'' Mr. Fitzpatrick, who warned that the interest in AIDS awareness could decline in Bermuda as it has in other countries, listed several traps which could lead to complacency. They included: insufficient targeting information to help HIV-infected persons cope with their illness; failure of national authorities to harness the resources of HIV-infected persons in the information process; insufficient information targeting parents to help them communicate with their children on issues relating to HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases; and a lack of collaboration between the media and health care professionals.

"The media can bring pressure to bear on issues that will influence policy makers to give a higher profile to this damaging disease,'' said Mr.

Fitzpatrick who has worked in the news media and Government Information Office in Trinidad where CAREC is located.

"If it is profiled high enough, it may influence people with money to do something about it.'' Since joining CAREC in 1987, he has focused his attention on organising workshops to bring health professionals and the media together to understand and address AIDS issues.

Mr. Fitzpatrick stressed that instead of ostracising HIV-infected people, the media and government agencies should seek to use these people in the education process.

"Education is the only effective tool of reducing AIDS infection,'' he said.

"The HIV-infected person is perhaps the most useful person in education.

Those who have to face the hostility of society are the ones who should be brought into the education system.'' Mr. Fitzpatrick also stressed the importance of parents networking with each other to "have some kind of handle on the relationships being established by your children.'' "Talking about abstinence is fine,'' he said, "but we have to start talking about prevention mechanisms for those who are sexually active.'' After meeting with Bermuda's AIDS task force, the HIV Resource Team from the Health Department and Government Information Services' director and staff, Mr.

Fitzpatrick plans to compile a report of areas in which Bermuda needs technical assistance to upgrade its AIDS services.

He said CAREC will respond to these areas and, if needed, provide trainers and consultants for Bermuda.

Mr. Leslie Fitzpatrick.