AIDS helpline rings in the changes

Currently commemorating its 10th anniversary, AIDS Helpline Dublin has been supplying confidential information and support to concerned callers since 1987. Ten years on, Irish people are beginning to get the message; the birds and bees are a risky business and dealing with AIDS is a fact of life. "We still get a minority of panic calls," says the helpline's chairman, Terence O'Keeffe, "but the same people would be paranoid about anything. It's in their nature rather than a feature of the disease. Some callers report incidents where they have seen dried blood on toilet seats, but this is unlikely to present a problem, as hypothetically, the virus would be dead and the blood would have to get into a lesion."

Callers have been concerned over the implications of their children coming across syringes. "In each case, the volunteers have to tease out exactly what happened. Usually the syringe would be there so long the virus would be dead," he says. AIDS Helpline Dublin was set up as a voluntary organisation in response to an overwhelming demand for information on HIV and AIDs. "The public were very frightened by reports of people dropping dead in America," he says. "Groups such as the helpline were set up to try to bridge the gap."

Volunteers answered 1,335 calls in 1996, of which 938 were seeking information and support, 357 required referrals to clinics etc and the rest were miscellaneous inquiries.

Concerns are changing. "A trend of awareness has developed," Terence says. "People seem to know that it's not a plague, and more people have become conscious of testing procedures and how to protect themselves."

Some couples might phone with inquiries after they discuss having sex with their partners. For others, the confidential helpline offers practical anonymity in cases where tests are carried out for life insurance and mortgage reasons. Insurance companies will ask a client's regular GP whether their patients have been tested, possibly mitigating against their policy. In more isolated rural areas there is still a stigma attached to the AIDS virus. Callers from Cork, for example, have inquired about Dublin test centres despite the number of venues available closer to them.

The simple act of testing raises a lot of issues. How do you tell your partner if you've been unfaithful? How do you tell a partner about past experiences? These concerns, coupled with the devastation for those who test positive, have opened up the whole area of pre-test counselling.

"People are afraid to tell their parents and family," says Terrence. "They need information on how to handle family affairs and what to hope for from treatment with new drugs. What about the mortgage? Will they have to sell the house? What about their job?"

There are also serious implications for parents whose sons or daughters are on drugs, and have been left to rear grandchildren who could be HIV positive. There might be brothers or sisters in the same situation minding nephews and nieces. Very often they just need support and, as Terence points out, "they can't exactly chat to their next-door neighbour about it. They need advice on how to approach the local school and others."

Callers are sexually active from an increasingly earlier age, and between the ages of 20 and 30 can be surprisingly worried. "The main problem is not ignorance, but unwitting carelessness related to immaturity and the nature of youth," Terence says. Nationwide drinking bouts at Christmas, bank holiday weekends and during World Cup soccer fever are peak times for younger callers reporting incidents they cannot really remember. "Many callers don't know what has happened - let alone whether precautions were used or not," says Terence. "Our main worry with the morning after pill programme is that it indicates no precaution has been taken."

He also warns that complacency among the new homosexual generation could be a problem for those who may not have witnessed or experienced losing friends throughout the scares of the 1980s, although the gay community has been among the most responsible in engaging in constant outreach work.

AIDS Helpline Dublin is cur- rently recruiting more volunteers to its panel. Anybody interested should contact them at 01-872- 4277 as training will commence at the end of this month. The helpline operates 7-9 p.m., Monday to Fri- day, and 3-5 p.m. on Saturdays. A fundraising 1970s-theme table quiz has been scheduled for Octo- ber 23rd upstairs in Mother Red- caps.