There was a 34 per cent increase in the incidence of HIV among heterosexuals last year, with people born in sub-Saharan South Africa accounting for almost 77 per cent of these new cases.
According to the figures published by the National Disease Surveillance Centre (NDSC) yesterday, there were 364 cases of HIV in Ireland in 2002 - a 22 per cent increase on the previous year.
Heterosexuals accounted for 63.5 per cent of these cases, compared with a figure of 13.7 per cent for injecting drug users, and 12.6 per cent for men who had sex with men.
HIV has been traditionally associated with the gay community and injecting drug users. But last year there was a drop of 37 per cent in the number of gay or bisexual men contracting the disease. However, the number of infections in intravenous drug users increased by 32 per cent in the same period.
Women now outnumber men in contracting HIV. Some 54.4 per cent of newly diagnosed cases were female last year and the vast majority of these were heterosexual.
HIV is still a young person's disease, with more than 80 per cent of new cases falling into the 20 to 40-year-old category. Eight children were diagnosed with HIV last year, while 119 babies were born to HIV-infected mothers in 2002.
The high number of people from sub-Saharan Africa who contracted the disease was not surprising, according to Ms Mary Cronin, NDSC public health specialist.
It mirrored the epidemiology of HIV in other Western European countries and was not unexpected, given that 70 per cent of the world's HIV cases are found in sub-Saharan Africa.
Dr Cronin said the number of infections among intravenous drug users and men who have sex with men tended to fluctuate from year to year. "The figures should be interpreted with caution, as it remains to be seen whether the trends will be sustained."
She said it was important to remember that the figures were reliant on the number of diagnoses reported, and this depended on patterns of HIV testing and reporting.
Some 12 cases of AIDS were reported to the NDSC last year, bringing the total number of AIDS cases in Ireland to date to 731. The NDSC believes the real figure is likely to be higher, due to the delay in reporting AIDS cases.
Again, heterosexual accounted for the greatest number of cases (58 per cent).
There were four AIDS related deaths reported in 2002, bringing the total number of AIDS related deaths to 369.
Dr Cronin said that the figures highlighted the continuing need for appropriate prevention and treatment services for all risk groups. She also urged people to listen to the safe sex message.
Mr Batt O'Keeffe, chairman of the Oireachtas health committee said he would raise the HIV issue with the committee in the autumn. The increase was a wake up call, he said, and issues such as safe sex would have to be placed in the public domain.
Labour Party deputy leader Ms Liz McManus called for an AIDS strategy and said the Minister for Health and health authorities would have to give a "significant response" to the problem.
