Dominica has recorded an increase in the number of HIV/AIDS cases and health authorities are warning that most of the cases are among the male population. Coordinator of the National Response Programme for HIV/AIDS Julie Frampton said that since the first HIV/AIDS case was reported there in 1987, there were 410 cumulative cases at the end of 2013. "We have a male-dominated epidemic with over 70 per cent of cases being male. So the 410, from 1987 up to end of 2013, doesn't mean that all those people are alive," Frampton said, noting that the age group most affected by HIV/AIDS is between 25 to 49. The Ministry of Health said there were 15 new cases of HIV/AIDS on the island in 2013 and Frampton reported that almost every year more males have tested positive for the virus. "Last year we had fifteen new cases and ten of them were males. What is interesting though, about our new cases now, we see the older age group, out of the 15 of last year, 14 of them were over 30," she said. Addressing a stakeholder consultation meeting for Dominica's National Strategic plan for HIV/AIDS for 2015-2019, which ended yesterday, Frampton said participants should consider whether the correct people are being targeted, "or should we shift our focus, or are the older age group like me saying we're safe and what it is we need to do address that". The consultation sought to sensitise stakeholders on the HIV/AIDS strategic plan and mitigate the negative impacts of HIV/AIDS in Dominica. Permanent secretary in the Ministry of Health Helen Royer said the existence of HIV/AIDS cannot be underestimated as it poses a "serious challenge to humankind as to date there is neither a vaccine, nor a cure for HIV/AIDS". "We cannot sit idle by thinking that it's not our business because HIV/AIDS is a human developmental problem fuelled by many factors". "In Dominica, we also have reasons to be concerned as we have over 410 infected persons at the end of 2013," she said, adding "the Ministry of Health realises that for outstanding success, a multi-stage process would be required and before implementing, all stakeholders must be sensitised to the strategic plan, hence your presence today". The Caribbean has the second highest incident of HIV/AIDS in the Americas, and the size of the epidemic is second only to that of the sub Saharan Africa.