A story carried in The Torca last Sunday reported that prostitutes known to be infected with Aids are operating in Malta from our open centres for illegal immigrants. This is not something any of us can afford to be calm about. And before I hear cries of racist, I want to calmly go through what is happening and its eventual consequences. Yes, some Maltese people have Aids too. Yes, some have died from Aids, mainly I understand drug users and homosexuals, or a combination of the two. All this is worrying. We certainly should not stigmatise any of these groups because they have been unlucky enough to get Aids. They deserve all our compassion, and the best healthcare we can give them.

But we cannot naively allow them, or anyone else to carry on infecting the population

And we cannot accept that people who arrive in this country illegally could infect the general population simply because we do not want to know whether they are infected with Aids or not. Can it really be true that we do not screen this combination of illegal immigrants and genuine refugees when they arrive? What’s wrong with a blood test to determine if they are HIV positive, or carrying anything else that is highly contagious?

I know some of you will say that’s their tough luck if they visit a black prostitute. But many of the men who pay for whores, of whatever colour, are married, or have girlfriends, or have both, as is increasingly the case in this immoral society, multiple hidden relationships and all that goes with it. So it is not only the man having sex with the prostitute who can get infected, but also his wife, and/or girlfriend and all else he comes into contact with. Do we care?

Aids is killing Africa. It is not a joke. We have illegal immigrants coming from countries that have a high percentage of Aids carriers. Can we afford to ignore this element? Are we seriously saying that if a black woman or man arrives in Malta, and is actually known to be an Aids carrier, we close our eyes to the fact that they’re working as prostitutes. WE choose to close our eyes to this?

The journalist from it Torca rang what could have been the pimp who spoke Maltese but sounded foreign. He first asked for Lm5 and later for Lm15. The journalist asked for the woman allegedly known to be an Aids carrier, and that was the price.

It’s enough to make your hair stand on end. Apparently we only test for T.B. when we do test, but surely those we find to be Aids carriers are the last people to be in open centres, particularly if they are prostitutes? Compassion is important but commonsense is paramount too, and I do hope regular screening and appropriate action is taken when people infected with Aids arrive here. It may only be 20 people out of the 2000 who are here, but we have to be very vigilant, as Aids can spread like wildfire, as has happened in Africa, and is now happening in some parts of Eastern Europe.

Mind you, some of our men must just be plain suicidal. A person close to me just returned from Bulgaria where he was unlucky enough to be friendly with a group of well-known men out to drink, whore, and have a good time. There were main roads where whores, literally clad only in panties and transparent vest tops sold their wares. Sadly, these men do not realise the huge risks they are taking. Sadly, most of these people have wives or girlfriends who do not know what is happening.

I am saying all this because I don't want to victimise a few black women who are whoring in Malta. There are plenty of others from Eastern Europe who are here too, and yes I suppose health checks are necessary everywhere. Rather than this uncontrolled prostitution, I would rather see licensed brothels where prostitutes have to wear condoms, have to have regular health checks, and pay their taxes..

But it seems we can’t consider putting health before morality. It seems our innocent wives and mothers, girlfriends and daughters will have to go on getting infected with all manner of sexually transmitted diseases. Sadly, some of these women only find out when it’s too late, and then they are too ashamed to admit the truth. Maltese women do not easily admit to being raped.

How high must our sexually transmitted disease rate have to climb before we put health before false modesty and morality? Why oh why aren't we working hard to keep our low Aids rate instead of aiding Aids to spread here? Or do we think we're impervious?