Government urged to supply free condoms

A MEMBER of the Government’s AIDS Strategy Committee has called for condoms to be provided free to ethnic minority groups and homosexuals.

Paddy Connolly, who is also chief executive of Cairde, a national support service for adults and children infected by HIV and AIDS, said the Government was ignoring the growing health problems of these high-risk groups.

National Disease Surveillance Centre figures show that the number of HIV cases has risen from 119 in 1997 to 299 in 2001.