by JUSTIN MARVILLE

LAWS WHICH PROHIBIT homosexuality and prevent healthcare workers from catering to the needs of sexually active under-18 youth must be changed, says senior medical officer Dr Anton Best.

Best, stressing the need to create an "enabling environment for effective public health control of HIV" in Barbados, called for such "obstructive" laws to be adequately addressed and/or new laws enacted.

Addressing the launch of the HIV/AIDSorama event yesterday in the Jackie Opel Amphitheatre at the General Post Office, Cheapside, Best said men who had sex with other men were put at a disadvantage by current legislation, since laws prohibiting homosexuality impeded the implementation of specific programmes for the prevention of HIV among that social group.

He said healthcare workers were prevented from catering to the needs of sexually active youth. "The studies tell us what their risky practices are, yet we are unable to easily access them as we would like," the doctor added.

"They need specific services including provision of medical advice including [the] offering of condoms for protection against HIV an other STIs (sexually transmitted infections)."

In his address, titled The Socio-Economic Impact Of HIV On Barbados, Best said HIV-related projects failed to "address the causes of vulnerability", particularly among women, with studies clearly indicating that more women were being infected by the disease.

The HIV/AIDSorama, conceptualised by administrative officer in the Ministry of Home Affairs William Gittens, was intended to enhance the public's awareness of the pandemic through a series of activities throughout yesterday.