by RICKY JORDAN

NO ONE SHOULD turn up one's nose or laugh at a "granny" if she asks
about using a condom.

This is the view of Minister of Family, Youth Affairs, Sports and the Environment Esther
Byer-Suckoo, who told Parliament yesterday
that elderly people felt embarrassed to go
to a doctor and ask such questions because Barbadians had "a way
of looking at them funny".

"We have a way of asking, 'What are you doing having sex at your age?' Somewhere in our society we believe that after a certain age
they don't need to be participating in these activities any more.

"But elderly people are breaking those barriers and being involved, but they don't tell anybody," the minister told the Lower House during debate on two resolutions targetting HIV/AIDS
in Barbados.

Byer-Suckoo said the elderly were among those who needed to be tested because they don't know
a lot about HIV and AIDS, having not grown up hearing about it.

She added while birth control might not be an issue for most elderly people, they needed an environment in which they could come forward and ask about protection and prevention.

"We need to be able
to encourage that, and not turn up our noses when granny walks in . . . . I'm
a doctor and when granny comes in wanting to know how to use a condom, you have to keep a straight face and put yourself in that position. Nobody can tell us when we have
to hang up our boots, not as long as you have health and strength," she said.

Noting that healthy practices must be encouraged at any age, she revealed that many elderly Barbadians were practising risky sexual behaviour and therefore opening themselves to the likelihood of HIV/AIDS.

She also pointed to a form of "peer pressure" on mature Barbadians as
a result of popular soap operas and movies that encouraged promiscuity among the young and old.

"We're adopting those lifestyles," she said, noting that HIV/AIDS was
no longer a disease confronting the young, homosexuals or the promiscuous.