THIRTY-EIGHT million sufferers world-wide, 8,000 deaths a day, five deaths every minute... it's almost 20 years since HIV and AIDS first hit the world's headlines.

And the statistics are more frightening than ever - especially on the Fylde coast, already labelled the HIV capital of Cumbria and Lancashire.

According to figures published jointly by Lancashire Primary Care Trusts earlier this year, the Fylde not only has one of the highest rate of infection amongst homosexuals and heterosexuals in the North West but it is home to one of the region's highest rates of HIV infection by intravenous drug use.

Also, despite having three of the area's most respected HIV charities - Heal, Body Positive and Archangel 2000 - the Fylde's general HIV levels are higher than many larger local towns and cities such as Preston, Blackburn and Lancaster

In fact the Fylde is behind only Liverpool and Manchester in the North West.

On the eve of World AIDS Day (Wednesday, December 1), a spokesman for Blackpool-based Heal - Mark Jones - speaks out on the spectre of HIV in the Fylde community.

Mark said: "HIV and AIDS have not gone away.

"It's still here, it's still incurable and it still kills.

"This year our workload on the Fylde coast has gone through the roof and there are a number of different reasons for this.

"Firstly people are becoming more complacent about the threat of HIV.

"Forget all the old-fashioned myths that it's a 'gay disease' - whether gay or straight - anybody and everybody can be at risk.

"Back in the 1980s, we all remember the famous advert with the tombstones spelling out the word AIDS.

"Since then the wealth of information has increased, as has the number of people coming forward for testing because people are now no longer of afraid of the stigma.

"But the majority of the population, including local people, are becoming immune to the safety message it carries.

"Also, the breakthrough of anti-retroviral drugs, has encouraged people to take stupid risks thinking they can pop a pill and live a normal life with HIV.

"But the reality is that we are now seeing strains of the virus that have become resistant to treatment.

"We're now in the situation where half of the drugs we use to treat HIV are useless, meanwhile the number of newly diagnosed HIV cases are increasing.

"Hopefully things will turn full circle again and the climate of fear will return to force people to take the threat of HIV seriously once again.

"And that's why - now more than ever - it's important to support World AIDS Day.

"If not, infection rates will continue to rise and we'll never get a handle on the problem."