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Poland AIDS
AIDS emerged as an issue in Poland later than in the
West--
partly because of communist suppression of statistics,
partly
because the epidemic apparently reached Poland later. In
1991 the
government officially estimated that 2,000 Poles had been
infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV),
whereas an
independent health expert put the figure at 100,000. This
statistical discrepancy reflected Poland's late start in
testing
the groups at highest risk of infection. Narcotics addicts
were
endangered particularly because the drug in widest use in
Poland
was administered and distributed by syringe, one of the
most
potent means of HIV transmission. Early efforts to control
the
spread of HIV were hampered by public ignorance and
superstition;
in 1992 about 70 percent of Poles believed they could not
be
infected, while many believed that water and mosquitoes
were
carriers. The total lack of sex education programs in the
schools
(the Polish Catholic Church forced their removal after the
communist era) and the disinclination of political and
religious
leaders to address the issue publicly further hindered
prevention
efforts.
Twice in 1991, World Health Organization (WHO) teams
evaluated the Polish situation and proposed a program to
combat
the spread of AIDS. The teams advised that, to prevent the
disease from spreading from high-risk groups to society at
large,
information on the epidemic be given maximum dissemination
to
certain less visible groups that were likely victims of
the
second phase of the disease. The most urgent target groups
were
the prostitute community--whose numbers in 1992 were
estimated to
be as high as 180,000--and their potential customers. At
that
point, however, a comprehensive information program was
impossible because the country lacked trained workers and
money
for training programs. Other obstacles were lack of modern
diagnostic technology and poor hygiene in public health
facilities. In 1991 WHO allocated a small fund for a
three-year
education and prevention program in Poland.
Data as of October 1992
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