IF NOT EXISTS (SELECT  *
               FROM    ENTITIES
               WHERE   ID = $MaxEntityId)
  INSERT INTO ENTITIES (ID,TYPE,NAME)
      VALUES ($MaxEntityID, '$type', '$name')

##</code><code>##

IF NOT EXISTS (SELECT  *
               FROM    ENTITIES
               WHERE   TYPE = $type
               AND     NAME = $name)
  INSERT INTO ENTITIES (TYPE, NAME)
      VALUES ('$type', '$name')

##</code><code>##

################ NOTE: UNTESTED CODE
use strict;
use warnings;
use Win32::ODBC;

my $dB = new Win32::ODBC("DSN=name;UID=user;PWD=password;");
die 'Cannot connect to dB.' if !$dB;

my %tests = ( COUNTRY => 'UNITED_STATES',
              PERSON  => 'FRED',
              PERSON  => 'JOE' );

my ($type, $name);

while (($type, $name) = each %tests) {
  my $query = qq(
    IF NOT EXISTS ( SELECT  *
                    FROM    ENTITIES
                    WHERE   TYPE = '$type'
                    AND     NAME = '$name' )
      INSERT INTO ENTITIES (TYPE, NAME)
        VALUES ('$type', '$name')
  );

  my $rc = $dB->Sql($query);
  die "Query failed: $query ".Win32::ODBC::Error() if $rc;
}