With so much hopeful news on AIDS emerging during the Vancouver AIDS conference, local officials are concerned that Bermuda will become complacent about one of the most powerful diseases the world has ever known.

Recent figures from the Surveillance Unit of the Department of Health indicate there are 746 reported infections of AIDS or HIV on the Island. By multiplying the number by five, a much more accurate estimate can be made which includes those that have not yet been diagnosed with HIV but are already infected.

If this technique explained above holds true, Bermuda could have almost 3700 people carrying HIV, and possibly not even knowing it.

"We are at a complacent stage on our Island right now,'' said Rhonda Daniels, Nurse Epidemiologist at the Department of Health. "People are not scared of transmission and there seems to be a link missing between knowledge and reality.

"No longer is this disease for homosexuals or intravenous drug users, and promiscuous people aren't the only ones catching the disease. All it takes is one time -- one partner.'' Reported HIV cases continue to predominately strike the black community with 87.4 percent of all cases landing in that category. By gender, males outnumber the females with 73.6 percent of all cases reported in males. The age group 30-39 account for 47.7 percent of all reported cases with the age group 40-49 representing 21.4 percent. HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) is the virus that causes AIDS.

The total cases of AIDS to date now register at 348 with 83 percent of those people already dead. Of this number, 89.7 percent are black and 77.9 percent male. The 30-39 age group holds 50 percent of all cases, and most are due to homosexual activity and intravenous drug use. The heterosexual risk factor has grown from two reported cases in 1986 to 16 new reported cases in 1995 amounting to 21.6 percent of all AIDS cases.

Although intravenous drug users count highest in the total number of HIV cases, the numbers have steadily declined from 29 cases in 1985 to four cases in 1995. Numbers in the homosexual/bisexual category for infection have held steady as have the numbers for infections in heterosexuals. AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) is an illness that harms the body's ability to fight infection.

Mrs. Daniels' main concern is the relatively low number of new infections apparently being reported this year. It is suspected that many Bermudians choose to travel abroad for testing to ensure confidentiality.

Reported HIV cases last year totalled 48, but only nine reported cases have been made as of May 31 this year. Mrs. Daniels would like to assure the public that confidential testing can be done, but due to our small community people become scared that they may be recognised.

"Living with HIV is not a death sentence,'' explained Mrs. Daniels. "People are living longer due to the amount of information known about AIDS. In a sense, that is power over the disease. We must now look at the stigma and fear associated with AIDS.

"No other disease has had this effect on the world -- this is the only terminal disease that changes every part of a victim's life.'' Mrs. Daniels pointed out that many people are scared to be tested, or don't even want to know if they have the disease.

"We organise testing at the clinic, conducting pre-test counselling which encompasses the outcome of the test and the options available. If the test is positive, we check personal information and then refer the client to a doctor who administers medicine. We also recommend a diet and look after the mental welfare of a client.

"Bermuda is up to date, our doctors are very HIV/AIDS wise,'' continued Mrs.

Daniels. "We have had great results with a new medicine Crixivan, when mixed with AZT (zidovudine), has resulted in some patients reaching levels where the HIV virus can no longer be detected in their blood.

"But that does not mean the virus is gone, you can never really get rid of it.'' Mrs. Daniels said that the people who work in the AIDS field are "dedicated and genuinely care. We get really stressed,'' she muttered as a distressed look appeared across her face. "It is so hard because we build relationships with these people and they eventually pass away ... it is so sad.'' `Give children a message of safety' "We must educate our young people properly, and bring them up teaching them about AIDS. A lot of the time parents give their children mixed messages, telling the boy to go out and have their "fun'' before they get married. But girls will be called a slut if they act in a certain way. The female's sexuality is suppressed. We must give the children a message of safety and give up on our old ways.

"Talk about AIDS at an early age and let it become an ongoing conversation.

It can't be like sticking your head in a swimming pool and holding your breath until you submerge again, and when you finally come up you say to yourself, I will never do that again. Talk has to be ongoing.'' Joe Gibbons, spokesman for the Allan Vincent Smith Foundation, explained that the main objective of the organisation is to educate Bermudians about AIDS and to create charity in the benefit of the cause.

"Bermudians were ignorant throughout the 80s, they thought you had to be gay or a drug-user to catch the disease. Things have changed and the myths do not hold true. The community has been left behind because there was nowhere to go for confidential information and testing, the Department of Health was slow to respond but now it's doing an excellent job.'' Mr. Gibbons agreed that there is a real fear in Bermuda of being tested due to confidentiality. "When a test comes out positive, you can lose your life insurance, mortgage and financial support, so many people go away where records are not available and where the people do not know who you are.'' "Families deny the problem due to lack of communication. We must get the community to accept AIDS as a major disease of the 90s,'' continued Mr.

Gibbons. "The problem is the conservative aspect of Bermuda, you cannot talk about AIDS without discussing sex, and conservative people just don't like talking about sex.'' The Alan Vincent Smith Foundation tried a support group run by HIV- infected people which had reasonable success, but the conservative attitude on the Island did not help the programme. "There are not too many people on this Island who will stand up and admit that they are HIV positive.'' The Alan Vincent Smith Foundation also opened an AIDS hotline which has been manned since 1993. "The calls are falling off now,'' said Mr. Gibbons. "We never received the amount of calls we would have liked. Bermudians are very suspicious, they think we have number readers on our phone lines when the truth is we really do not want to know who calls us, we just want to help and assist with problems and questions.

"Most of our calls come in from people in the age group of 20-29 years old,'' said Mr. Gibbons. "The calls are split between male and female. We would like to increase the number of calls and are implementing some advertising campaigns for the summer and fall.

"Over Cup Match we will be distributing condoms at various events and bars.

The package will look like a book of matches with a condom and some information inside that encourages safe sex and promotes the help line.'' Mr. Gibbons is shocked at the lack of AIDS education in the public schools.

"There is ignorance in the sexual matters of young people. If they are not taught properly then they cannot be blamed. With children having sex at younger and younger ages, we must teach responsibility or abstinence.'' Hillary Soares of Agape House works with the terminally ill AIDS patients who are usually between the ages of 30-39.

"They are young people, and they have a strong will to survive,'' said Mrs.

Soares in her calm and soothing voice. "You never know if they will make it or not, we never give up. We try to create a calm, comfortable, warm and loving environment to take the stress away from their lives for a while. There is always a grey area with each patient where we don't know how they will respond. We had 18 AIDS missions last year, and sent seven of them home.'' The Hospice's main provision is symptom control, a solution to distress, where spiritual care and family support are provided. Each patient is urged to solve unfinished business problems such as the drawing up of wills.

"With each patient we try not to focus on illness, we focus on the wellness of a person,'' Mrs. Soares continued. "If someone is 10 percent well we will help them thrive on that ten percent and not the 90 percent of sickness.

"We do not let people die slow deaths, we support them and get them out of bed with medicine and caring, so that when they are ready to die, it is a quick process, not a drawn-out one.'' explained Mrs. Soares.

"This job is one where you grow and mature every day. You learn to grow up quickly in this challenging environment. There is never a routine individual, you learn from everybody as they pass through our doors.'' The Allan Vincent Smith Foundation office is open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Monday through Friday in Chancery Lane. A nurse is on duty inside and will assist anyone with questions. The AIDS hot-line number is 295-0002.