Every ministry has Aids-infected people |11 June 2005

"Every ministry has people who are infected," Dr Agnes Chetty of the communicable disease control unit said on Thursday, when giving an example of how Aids is distributed across every sector of the community.

"We know who is infected; people from all walks of life, from all professions, all religious convictions and all ages," she told members of the National Aids Council who met under the chairmanship of President James Michel at Victoria Hospital on Thursday.

"The youngest person infected through sexual transmission is a 14-year-old girl who is also pregnant," she said, when apprising the members on the situation regarding HIV/Aids in the country.

She said most of the people who are infected are working because the country's policies on Aids ensure there is no discrimination against employees on grounds of their sero status.

Only one or two people have had to stop work because they have not yet found fitting alternative jobs after their condition compelled them to quit their former employment," she said.

"For example sailors who need to be on antiretroviral treatment can no longer go out to sea because they need to be near the hospital to receive their treatment," the doctor said.

She said that the Ministry of Health and Social Services carries out relentless efforts to educate the public on a daily basis, even though the efforts are only sporadically reported in the media.

"Some years back we launched the testing of expectant mothers and later introduced antiretroviral treatment of Aids patients, and we have political commitment, as demonstrated by the presence here today of President Michel," she said.