GHT News

500,000 petition against Uganda's anti-gay HIV-hate law

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:04:16 +0000

Half a million people signed a petition delivered to the Ugandan Parliament Speaker Edward Ssekandi on March 1 opposing the proposed law that would jail gays for life and punish men with HIV with the death penalty.
The petition came from HIV-positive Anglican priest, Canon Gideon Byamugisha, along with other religious leaders and HIV activists, including former Anglican Bishop Christopher Ssenyonjo.

"In the interests of safer, healthier, more peaceful, and more prosperous lives for all Ugandans; we as Aids Service Providers, pastors and spiritual mentors of all Ugandans are calling for the withdrawal of this Bill from Parliament," the petition read in part. "We are united in opposing this Bill because if passed into law it threatens the health, peace and well being of Ugandan citizens and goes against the Ugandan Constitution."

The Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009 would
• jail for life anyone convicted of the ‘offense’ of homosexuality,
• punish ‘aggravated homosexuality’ – which means anyone who is HIV-positive and has gay sex -- with the death penalty,
• forbid the ‘promotion of homosexuality,’
• lock up gay-rights campaigners, and
• jail people in positions of authority for up to three years for failing to report within ....

Asylum - Human Rights Ignored

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:32:32 +0000

A new report for the Equalities and Human Rights Commission lays bare the UK government’s abuse of the human rights of asylum seekers and refugees living here, including many who are living with HIV. People seeking sanctuary in Britain are denied vital healthcare whether they are in detention centres or living in the community, the Equality and Human Rights Commission has found. Hundreds of rape victims, people living with HIV, and traumatised children are missing out on treatment and basic medical help.

Institutional failures

The report, from the University of Kent, warns "There is evidence of an institutional failure to address health concerns about asylum seekers in detention. More specifically there are concerns about children's health, mental health, treatment for those with HIV and access to female GPs, especially for women who have suffered rape and sexual violence."

Asylum and medical charity workers said the findings confirmed the experience of hundreds of refugees. A spokeswoman for Medical Justice said: "Sadly and unsurprisingly, findings of these failures accord with what our volunteer doctors have been seeing on the hundreds of occasions they have visited immigration detainees and seen their medical notes."

Time for action

This EHRC report sets out problems of poor ....

Positive Men’s Sex Rights

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:08:31 +0000

Calls to improve the sexual health of gay and bisexual men living with HIV across England were made at the national gay men’s sexual health conference that has just ended in Sheffield. George House Trust put up a strong case for improving the sexual health support provided for all men living with HIV.

Top experts
The conference heard from four George House Trust experts, including young gay Positive Speaker Craig, who came out about having HIV to thousands at the Manchester Pride Candlelit Vigil. In five out of the six conference sessions, our experts led the way. The conference heard that meeting the sexual health needs of gay and bisexual men living with HIV is critical, about positive prevention (involving positive men in reducing onward HIV transmission), calls for widespread campaigns to stop HIV stigma among gay men, and for the greater use of positive speakers to challenge stigma and empower men living with HIV.

And positive men too
We’ve been campaigning about these for years. Our efforts are paying off, but improving things across the whole country is slow because we can only persuade and encourage other organisations to do the right thing. At last, CHAPS has ....

HIV Services Survey

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:38:26 +0000

HIV charities are keen to hear how useful their services are and what you expect. Positively Women, NAZ and Positive East have a quick survey for you – and there’s a matching survey for HIV organisations.

There are very simple quick questions about you and then it gets straight down to two questions about how useful HIV community services are to you.

The survey ends on 31 March and people living with HIV who use services can take part here

Organisations - If you are a HIV organisation the survey to complete is here

Psychologists and Confidentiality

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:46:08 +0000

A 20 page booklet of guidance from the British Psychological Society advises psychologists working in the NHS how to deal with HIV confidentiality where people may be exposing their partners to HIV. The guidance – ‘Criminalisation of HIV Transmission – guidelines regarding confidentiality and exposure’ has best practice guidelines, sections on dealing with police enquires and on disclosing information to partners, and what the various codes of ethics and types of professional guidance say.

These guidelines on HIV confidentiality and disclosure were developed to help clinical psychologists where HIV-positive clients have not disclosed their status to their sexual partners and there is a significant risk for HIV transmission. They have also been developed to assist clinical psychologists when clients believe they have contracted HIV under these circumstances.

This 2009 booklet costs £4.70 to people who are not members of the British Psychological Association.

Women for Positive Action

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 15:02:50 +0000

To mark International Women's Day (Monday March 8th) Women for Positive Action are launching a series of tools to raise awareness of the challenges facing women living with HIV/AIDS today. Women for Positive Action (WFPA) is led by a broad coalition of healthcare professionals, women living with HIV and community representatives from Europe, Canada and Latin America. The free educational web slide kits are to support health care professionals and women living with HIV across the globe, and are in English and Spanish.

The educational slide kits are available free here

The slide kits are

HIV, conception, pregnancy and contraception,
Emotional wellbeing of women living with HIV,
Women and clinical trials in HIV,
Women and HIV testing, and
Supporting the patient–healthcare professional relationship.

"Women living with HIV face many challenges … including depression, guilt, isolation, discrimination and body image concerns" said Sharon Walmsley, Director of HIV Clinical Research, University of Toronto, Canada. "The new WFPA resources will encourage education and stimulate communication between women with HIV and those who care for them". The educational resources include information on current best practices and research, in ....

Instant HIV tests at Superdrug

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 13:53:42 +0000

Superdrug have started selling the £79 InstiTest, which gives a HIV result in just 60 seconds from a tiny fingertip blood sample. Nurses will offer the confidential HIV test in their Piccadilly central Manchester store and at other stores in Brighton, Edinburgh, Croydon, Cardiff, and Newcastle. Trials show InstiTest is 99.96 per cent accurate.

People who get a positive test result are referred to an NHS clinic for the result to be double checked and so people get to see a HIV specialist quickly. They will even make the appointment for people.

Before the test the nurse and patient discuss the process and the nurse will obtain full consent for the test. The registered nurses have had training in the use of the HIV test kit and on patient assessment, and experience in counselling in sexual health. All testing is confidential – no identification is required just to take the test and get a verbal result, though they will ask for your name and birth date. If you want a written note of the result then identity will be checked with photo ID.

Most HIV tests are free and provided at NHS sexual health clinics or in some community settings, for instance LGF run ....

Tell Your Living Story

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 10:54:21 +0000

Terrence Higgins Trust is looking for gay men with HIV to share their stories online on their What Next? website for gay men recently diagnosed HIV positive.

The What Next? website is looking for gay men to keep an online diary, whether you’ve been diagnosed recently or living with HIV for longer. Part of the website includes videos and diaries describing men’s personal experience. Want to share yours?

What they are looking for is the story of what you’re up to and how you’re getting on in about 500 words, once a month, and they will then post this on the What Next? website for you. You will need to agree to have your photograph on the site.

If sharing your experiences online interests you, or you would like more information, please feel free to contact Stephen Adair at Terrence Higgins Trust or call him on 020 7812 1783.

Gay and Positive Support Online

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 10:32:51 +0000

Terrence Higgins Trust runs a regular online support group for gay men living with HIV on gaydar.com. Here, positive men can talk to other men with HIV, share experiences of life with HIV, get support and answers to questions around HIV or sexual health.

If there's no convenient support group for HIV+ gay men in your area, or getting to a group is too much, this could be a very useful way to meet and talk with other positive gay men, and to find answers to your questions from well trained staff.

THT online staff offer confidential, non-judgemental support and information. As it's on gaydar you can chat publicly and send private messages like normal, but in the group you can also message THT workers to ask for information, advice and help.

Online groups can be useful to anyone whether you are newly diagnosed or you have lived with HIV for years.

Group date : Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday evenings
At gaydar, log in, then click on chat rooms and search for the community room calledTHT - HIV+ Groupwork chat room

The THT - HIV+ Groupwork chat room is open on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday evening from 5.30pm ....

Twitter - Parliament Group

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 16:42:08 +0000

The Parliamentary Group for HIV has launched a Twitter stream, so you can follow their activities and interests. The All Party Parliamentary Group on AIDS brings together MPs and peers interested in HIV.

Follow their tweets here

Sex Education - 'Faith' Win

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 14:44:06 +0000

Ed Balls today defended the right of faith schools to teach that contraception, abortion and homosexuality are all ‘wrong,’ while campaigners accused him of "betraying" children in faith schools and capitulating to the faith lobby by watering down new laws on sex education. The debate about sex education in schools matters because it affects what young people are taught about sexuality, relationships and HIV. They will get more contradictory messages - the national curriculum and contradictory faith teachings.

The Schools Secretary said that schools should be allowed to teach their pupils about sex and relationships in accordance with their own religion when the new law makes sex education compulsory. From next year teaching about sex and relationships will become a compulsory part of the national curriculum and parents will also lose the right to remove their children from the lessons once they are over 15.

But now Mr Balls has tabled an amendment to his Children, Schools and Families Bill, which completes its passage through the Commons today, reinforcing the right of faith schools to teach about issues such as contraception, abortion, homosexuality and civil partnerships in a way that reflects their religious character.
David Laws, the Liberal Democrat schools spokesman, ....

HIV+ Gay Man Returns - to Jail

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:51:32 +0000

A gay man who fled to France after being convicted for recklessly infecting his former boyfriend with HIV was arrested when he returned to the UK for cancer treatment. Mark James, 50, was on the run from police for three-and-a-half years after becoming the first gay man in the UK found guilty of "recklessly" passing on the virus.

Hounslow, London police arrested him in a hospital bed in Brighton on February 10th, where he had gone to receive treatment for an aggressive form of lymphoma.

4 years 2 months

Mark James, who had lived with the man who became infected in Brentford, London, was sentenced on the 12th February at Isleworth Crown Court to four years and two months. He had pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm before he fled the country. Judge Jonathan Lowen said: “During the three-and-a-half years while you roamed out and about, you represented a substantial risk of serious harm to members of the public were you again minded to commit the shocking crime to which I sentenced you in your absence on August 4th, 2006. The victim of your offence has suffered a great deal of extra anxiety and stress, and I have been told ....

Test and Treat to End HIV in 40 Years

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:22:21 +0000

A global public health strategy for testing and treating everyone with HIV is now being considered.
Health officials are considering a radical shift in the strategy against HIV that would see everyone tested for the virus and people with HIV then put on a lifetime course of drugs. The strategy, which would involve testing most of the world's population for HIV, aims to reduce the transmission so much that HIV would die out completely over the next 40 years.

Brian Williams, professor of epidemiology at the South African Centre for Epidemiological Modelling and Analysis in Stellenbosch, said that HIV transmission could be stopped within five years with the use of antiretroviral drugs (ARVs). "The epidemic of HIV is really one of the worst plagues of human history," Williams told the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in San Diego. "I hope we can get to the starting line in one to two years and get complete coverage of patients in five years. Maybe that's being optimistic, but we're facing Armageddon."

Two years of trials now
Major trials of this universal test and treat strategy are planned in Africa and the USA and will affect whether this becomes ....

HIV Advice for Employers

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:36:53 +0000

Advice for employers on dealing with HIV at work has been published by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. It includes a case study from Standard Chartered Bank. The company starts with a basic HIV education and awareness programme which has five key themes

• what is HIV and AIDS?
• what is risky behaviour and what is safe?
• prevention
• importance of testing
• positive living.

They provide this HIV education for all employees in three ways

• face-to-face education
• online e-learning module
• internet animated web-learning.

The company has a HIV policy with these key features :
• Non-disclosure: HIV positive staff are not obliged to disclose their status and there is no pre-employment screening.
• Non-discrimination: the company does not tolerate any form of discrimination or segregation.
• Prevention: the company supports preventative behaviour and confidential testing, including free or nominal price access to condoms for staff.
• Care: the company provides care and treatment of any employee living with HIV and up for four members of their family.
• Education: all staff must complete the HIV e-learning programme on joining the company and repeat it every two years. They are also ....

Late Diagnosis in Parliament

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 10:13:35 +0000

Watch a BBC video of a parliamentary debate about the late diagnosis of HIV in Westminster Hall held on Wednesday, which was led by David Borrow MP.

More than half the people diagnosed with HIV in the UK are being diagnosed late - seriously reducing their health and life expectancy.

NW England – the late diagnosis hotspot
The late diagnosis rate varies dramatically between PCTs in England, but NW England has the countries highest rate of late diagnosis. The figures can be distorted when the numbers diagnosed in some PCTs are very small, and North Lancashire has twice the national average rate (62% were late diagnosed), but the numbers diagnosed here are low.

Far more worrying is Manchester, because it has by far the largest number diagnosed every year in the region and last year it had the largest number daignosed late in the region last year, 54 out of 142 people: 38% diagnosed late. But this is next door to Manchester's twin city Salford, where just 23.9% were late (11 out of 46). It is difficult to understand how living on one side or the other of the River Irwell can make such a difference.

In the debate, Mr Borrow, who chairs the All Party Parliamentary Group on AIDS, also said many people with HIV were reluctant ....

HIV and Children Booklet

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 15:40:54 +0000

HIV & Children, NAM’s easy to read booklet is now updated and freshly available. It tells you all about HIV treatment and care for HIV-positive children.

Like all NAM's booklets it’s free to people with HIV

Or read them online

or download the booklets as PDFs from them direct

Taking ddI? – See Clinic

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 15:26:30 +0000

People taking ddl, and there are very few, should talk with their HIV doctor. A rare, but serious, liver problem is a possible side-effect of taking ddl, a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI), that is also known as didanosine and Videx. In the USA, non-cirrhotic portal hypertension has now been officially listed as a potential side-effect.

Non-cirrhotic portal hypertension can be a very serious. Pressure builds-up in the portal vein in the liver. It swells up a bit like a balloon. This could burst causing serious bleeding and even death.

The portal vein is the large vein taking blood from several major organs to the liver - from stomach, intestines, spleen, gallbladder, and the pancreas - so it's big and important. Swiss research showed that the sole risk factor for non-cirrhotic portal hypertension in patients with HIV was treatment with ddI.

ddl not used often - because of side effects

ddl is not used much now because it can also cause other long-term side-effects. But it remains an important drug for some people. In the USA they now recommend doctors and patients decide together if the benefits of taking ddI outweigh the possible risks.

Side effects

For more information on treatment side-effects you may find the NAM Side-effects ....

Lancaster HIV Support

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 15:40:59 +0000

Lancaster has a monthly HIV support group meeting in the town centre once a month on Thursday evenings. It's a place for social contact, information and advice, and sharing your experiences with others.

The meeting dates and times for 2010 are now all arranged. The North Lancashire HIV+ Social Support Group meets every second Thursday of the month from 7pm to 9pm.

Every 2nd Thursday each month, at 7 - 9pm

The dates for 2010 are

Thursday 11 February
Thursday 11 March
Thursday 8 April
Thursday 13 May
Thursday 10 June
Thursday 8 July
Thursday 12 August
Thursday 9 September
Thursday 14 October
Thursday 11 November
Thursday 9 December 2010.

The group is open to everyone living with HIV regardless of age, gender, sexuality, race or nationality.

To find out more about the group and where it meets in central Lancaster, please call

Sue 07825 207 024

Peter 07855 342 732

or email

Late Diagnosis Gets Earlier

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 15:29:14 +0000

Late HIV diagnosis will be sooner after infection, and a new stage of HIV infection, ‘advanced HIV disease’ is proposed for the UK.

‘Late diagnosis’ is fuzzy and confusing – it means different things depending on who you talk to. The boundary line of when diagnosis is late has also been shifting over time. UK experts are now saying we need to end the confusion and bring things up to date so we all talk about and mean the same thing. They looked at thousands of people diagnosed in the UK, their CD4 counts and what became of them.

Late diagnosis matters. Many people are diagnosed late and starting treatment late means you don’t get the full benefit of HIV treatment. People diagnosed late are more likely to get HIV illnesses and die sooner than people who start treatment at the best time. And people diagnoses late are more infectious and therefore more likely to pass on HIV without realising this.

The 'new late' : any CD4 below 350
A CD4 count of 350 is when most people in the UK should start treatment. The UK researchers now say that anyone diagnosed with HIV with a CD4 count below this 350 has a late diagnosis. In the ....

2 Lancashire HIV Jobs

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 13:27:11 +0000

SHIVER (Sexual Health HIV Education and Reponses), and CLASS, which are both part of Drugline Lancashire, have two HIV jobs to offer. One is in Blackpool, the other in Preston. They say these are a unique opportunity to develop support for those living with and affected by HIV in Central Lancashire and Blackpool, offering a partnership approach with existing services and also harnessing the skills and experiences of those living with and affected by HIV.

SHIVER Project Worker (Blackpool) Ref. BPPCT/001, funded until March 31st 2012 by Blackpool PCT, £26,325.96 salary 35 hours per week (including evening shifts)
Central Lancashire HIV Voluntary Sector Provision CLASS Project Co-ordinator (Preston based) Ref. CLHIV/01, funded until March 31st 2011 by Central Lancashire PCT and Lancashire County Council Social Services, £26,325.96 salary 35 hours per week (including evening shifts)

They are looking for people with a relevant degree and/or comparable counselling/adult training qualifications. The people appointed require excellent listening, counselling, communication, supervision/support, presentation/training, monitoring /reporting, case working and administrative skills. They expect up to date knowledge and understanding of HIV and Sexual Health and ideally have experience of working with volunteers. People appointed need to be able to work in a flexible way and have confidence in individual ....

Get Health Insurance for Isle of Man or Channel Islands

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 10:45:37 +0000

Anyone travelling to either the Channel Islands or Isle of Man, especially people with HIV, should get health insurance. The UK government cancelled the deal with the Channel Islands in April last year which allowed UK people to use the health service on the Islands free. From April 1st this year the deal is cancelled for people going to the Isle of Man.

EU health travel cards won't help

EU travel cards won’t work in the islands either, which are not part of the UK, nor part of the EU.

Anyone needing health care will either have to have health insurance or have to pay the full cost. The only treatment you will be able to have without insurance is at an Island hospital Accident and Emergency department but this will not include hospital admission to a ward.

Travel Insurance for people with HIV - links and click through to Next page for more

Source

Nine standards for sexual health

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:51:51 +0000

New standards for sexual health services aim to give everyone quality care wherever people live.
The launch of the new standards, including a leaflet version, “Standards for the management of sexually transmitted infections (STIs)” the first of their kind, come from the Medical Foundation for AIDS & Sexual Health (MedFash) and the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH). Leading professional groups involved in STIs and the Health Protection Agency have given them support.

Patient service quality leaflet too
The nine standards - a guide for all health staff and NHS commissioners - cover all aspects of STI management, from diagnosis and treatment to infection control. Importantly there is a leaflet for patients, explaining the quality of care you have a right to expect, such as being offered an appointment within 48 hours, and ‘open access’ to services (meaning you can use the service without needing to see your GP first).

Dr Immy Ahmed, former president of BASHH and Project Clinical Lead for the standards said:
“Through increased investment and innovations, significant achievements in STI services have been realised in recent years. These new standards represent a consolidation of best practice and the challenge now is for commissioners and ....

Keep Free Prescription Promise

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:29:25 +0000

UPDATED 26 January - further information

Gordon Brown promised at the labour party conference in 2008 to end prescription charges for people with long term conditions like HIV. Over a year later people are still paying. Now the Prescription Charges Coalition of 20 charities has called on Gordon Brown to keep his promise.

‘Prescription charges are a deeply unfair burden on people with long-term conditions — those who need medicines the most for day-to-day quality of life', they say in their letter. ‘Patients should not be prevented by an NHS charge from accessing treatment to improve their quality of life.'

Time is short because of coming election

The charities said they hoped that the government would be able to find a way to implement this policy as soon as possible. Time is short – new regulations need to be tabled within the next month or the general election will shut the door to reform.

Join the campaign and email your MP

Email your MP here and back the campaign – it’s easy to help.

first source
another report

Gay People in Legal History

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 14:27:38 +0000

LGBT History month is in February and the Ministry of Justice with the National Archives take a historical look at 'LGBT in Justice.'

It's a presentation about the history of laws used against the LGBT communities from The Buggery Act 1533, the reform proposals in the 1957 Wolfenden Report, the first reforms in the Sexual Offences Act 1967, up to this year's proposals in the Equality Bill, now being debated in Parliament.

After the presentation, you will have a chance to say what you think about how the courts and tribunals in England & Wales deal with LGBT customers.

When and Where?

It's on Wednesday February 10th 1.30-4.00pm and Thursday February 11th 10.30am-1pm at the sparkling new Manchester Civil Justice Centre, in Spinningfields, off Deansgate, Manchester.

Manchester Civil Justice Centre 1 Bridge Street West, Manchester M60 9DJ
Map

They are keen to welcome representatives of local LGBT support groups to help the Ministry of Justice understand better how to support people who are LBGT.

Book a place

To reserve a place please contact: Jan Warner 02920 678363 or email

download their flyer

Living Proof Weekends 2010

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 16:47:22 +0000

Living Proof Weekends are run by National Long Term Survivors Group (nltsg), for people who have been diagnosed with HIV for at least five years. The weekends normally cost £170 but some free places are available – for anyone living in the Stockport Council area, and the Elton John Aids Foundation helps other people on low incomes. Other Councils may also be willing to fund places from their AIDS Support Grant budget.

NLTSG organises four “Living Proof” weekend retreats each year in rural Staffordshire – which is around 50 miles south of Manchester.

The weekends provide a safe environment for people to come together to benefit from peer support, share experiences and discuss issues that are affecting them. There are discussions and workshops which people at the weekends decide what to discuss, and these are then facilitated by professionals.
Complementary therapists offer a wide range of treatments throughout the weekend and usually one of the facilitators is a trained counsellor. All activities are optional.

The weekends run from Friday evening to Sunday afternoon, with members arriving from 3.30pm on Friday. They expect everyone to be present by 5:45pm for the opening circle.

Living Proof Weekends in 2010

26 – 28 March

Scotland - Convictions for HIV Exposure

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:20:15 +0000

UPDATED Friday 26 February : He was sentenced to 10 years jail.

The first ever conviction anywhere in the UK, just for exposing someone to HIV without passing on HIV, has happened at the High Court, Edinburgh, in Scotland. The law in England and Wales is different and does not allow prosecutions for exposing someone to HIV.

A 41 year-old man pleaded guilty to four charges of ‘culpable and reckless conduct’ after being accused of not disclosing his HIV status to four women between 2003 and 2008, only one of whom became HIV-positive. There have only been two earlier cases in Scotland, both for actual transmission of HIV.

The case has been widedly reported in both Scottish and English media. While reports on BBC Online, the Scotsman, and STV.tv were somewhat neutral, tabloid coverage has been typically stigmatising, including today's Scottish Sun : "HIV fiend is lowest of the low" ; Scottish Daily Record calls him a "callous predator"; and the UK-wide Daily Express: "HIV rat facing prison for infecting his lover'.

Most of the articles focus on the fact that the 28 year-old woman who became HIV-positive was diagnosed during routine prenatal screening. She subsequently chose to end her twin pregnancy. (With diagnosis and ....

Birmingham HIV Homes Plan

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 14:49:14 +0000

Birmingham plans to build specialist HIV housing for people living with HIV. The Birmingham plans are for site in inner city Small Heath. It will provide 17 two-bed flats, six short-term beds and a larger family unit.

Council officials have agreed the princiiple and hope it will be up and running by next January. Like the Camelford project for a respite centre in North Cornwall, this will also use a capital grant from Department of Health AIDS Support Grant to fund the building of the new housing.

A report to Birmingham City Council’s adults and communities overview and scrutiny committee, said:
“The adults and communities directorate have obtained a capital grant from the Department of Health, which will be used to build the innovative respite care facility to support the future complex health needs of a diverse and vulnerable HIV community. This will enable continued independence and enhance the quality of life. As people are now living longer with HIV, subsequently, there is an increase in numbers affected by physical disability and later life issues. The HIV team will monitor complex health issues via practice support, advice worker meetings, and any increases in packages of care, delayed discharges and readmissions to hospital.”

The new ....

Help Haiti Earthquake HIV Healthcare

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 14:11:30 +0000

Organisations providing HIV treatment and care in Haiti need urgent donations to support their earthquake relief efforts. They already have a lot of experience providing health care in Haiti, and need to do far more because of the extensive damage caused by last week’s devastating earthquake.

HIV worst in Caribbean

Haiti has by far the worst HIV epidemic in the entire Caribbean region.

Partners in Health has worked in Haiti for nearly 20 years, and has over 100 doctors, 600 nurses and 4000 employees in Haiti working from 10 Partners in Health hospitals providing relief services to those affected by last week’s earthquake. They urgently need donations and medical volunteers; visit StandwithHaiti for further information.

Partners in Health developed a pioneering HIV treatment programme in Haiti, which demonstrated that it was possible to deliver antiretroviral treatment successfully in one of the world’s poorest countries.

MSF has been operating in Haiti for 19 years and has great experience in HIV and TB care. Now it focusing on running its three hospitals with operating theatres in Port au Prince to perform urgent, lifesaving surgery. Find out how to donate here.

HIV clinic director was meeting Prime Minister when earthquake struck

Weill Cornell Medical College ....

Refugees and Housing

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 11:46:09 +0000

Refugees in Manchester can have their say about the housing-related support needs that should be included in the new five year Supporting People strategy for the city of Manchester. There is a consultation meeting in Hulme, Manchester on Tuesday 9 February in the afternoon.

The housing-related support needs that refugees identify will directly affect what services will be provided for the next five years.

Where, when

The consultation with refugees is on Tuesday 9th Feb at 2.30pm and will be held at

The Routes Project, Unit 1 and 2, Cornbrook Enterprise Centre, 70 Quenby Street, Hulme, Manchester, M15 4HW.
Map and directions here

You need to book a place and they only have space for 10 people.

Travel expenses and shopping voucher
They will pay travel expenses and give people who attend a £5 ASDA voucher.

As well as this focus group for up to 10 people, the consultant running the meeting can talk to people individually after the group session instead if you prefer.

Booking a place
You need to book a place – there is space for only 10 people
To book a place contact Jen Richardson at The Routes Project
Email or phone Jen on 0161 835 ....

UN to Uganda - Scrap Anti-Gay Laws

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 15:12:16 +0000

The UN's top human rights official has called on Uganda to drop its proposed anti-homosexuality law that would impose the death penalty on gay and lesbian people with HIV, among others. Navi Pillay, the UN's high commissioner for human rights, joined a growing chorus condemning the bill as discriminatory and called for homosexuality to be decriminalised in the country.

"The bill proposes draconian punishments for people alleged to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered – namely life imprisonment, or in some cases, the death penalty," she said. "To criminalise people on the basis of colour or gender is now unthinkable in most countries. The same should apply to an individual's sexual orientation."

Bill fails human rights standards
Pillay called on the Ugandan ¬government to put the draft bill on hold because it breaches international human rights standards. ¬Pillay said Uganda had a generally "good track record" of co-operating with human rights mechanisms but the bill "threatens to seriously damage the country's reputation in the international arena".
The UN said Uganda's parliament may discuss the bill as early as this week. It has provoked criticism from western governments and gay rights groups and protests in London, New York and Washington.

President ....

Key Man for HIV Dies

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 15:05:39 +0000

Sir Donald Acheson, who has died aged 83, was chief medical officer (CMO) between 1983 and 1991. He’s widely recognised as the key policymaker at the start of the UK's drive against HIV. He helped the UK to set a liberal and enlightened example for other countries.

The shock of the emergence of a deadly new epidemic, HIV, is only equalled by the shock, in retrospect, of Acheson's success in persuading Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government to adopt a liberal approach to tackling the sexually driven disease.

It involved massive health education programmes, in parallel with detailed plans to accurately track and combat the spread of HIV.

No to compulsory testing and notification

He persuaded ministers to drop plans for the compulsory HIV testing and for making it a compulsory notifiable disease – on the grounds that it would deter people – almost all of them gay men- from seeking help, as earlier exercises with sexual epidemic campaigns had experienced.
The focus was on harm reduction not prohibition. Safe sex rather than no sex. He even obtained Conservative consent to what was, in effect, a scheme which condoned illegal drug use – needle exchanges for drug addicts, which had demonstrated their success in dramatically reducing ....

Asian Gay Men's Survey

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 13:38:56 +0000

The findings from an Asian survey of men who have sex with men, who mainly live in East and Southeast Asia, has produced results very similar to the UK’s Gay Men’s Sex Survey. Nearly 8000 gay men took part. A quarter of the men were from Singapore, 13% from Malaysia, 8% from Hong Kong and 6% from mainland China, six per cent from Thailand and about 3% each from Indonesia, the Philippines and Taiwan. There were also significant proportions from Japan, South Korea and Vietnam. 20% of the men live in the USA, Australia and the UK.

Any differences between the behaviour and sexual health needs of Asian gay men in NW England and those men in this Asian survey will hardly matter in NW England. This is because gay men's behaviour in the UK and as revealed in this Asian survey shows very little difference and because the numbers of Asian gay men in NW England diagnosed with HIV is so very small.

Just 0.5% (30 men) among all the 4661 men, women and children diagnosed in NW England in mid 2009 are of ‘Other Asian/Oriental’ ethnicity (that is Asian but not of Indian, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi ethnicity). [Table 3.7] ....

Sustaining African Community Leadership

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 13:51:53 +0000

Sustaining Community Leadership is the theme of the latest issue of the African HIV Policy Network’s Newsletter. It has pieces on

surviving the economic downturn

the importance of Africans and others making their voice heard by voting in the general and local elections (which will almost certainly be on May 6th)

HIV positive people being leaders and making a community impact

Africans disappearing from HIV clinics (by Chris Morley, George House Trust’s policy expert)

Resources and working to improve Faith responses to HIV, (they have more information on their website)

HIV and the workplace – meeting the needs of staff with HIV

Their media toolkit for working with journalists – details and download it from their website

Young people using the web and mobile phones for HIV messages

Fighting HIV stigma

Using SHoutloud to have your say about your local HIV and sexual health services.

This Sustaining Community Leadership issue

Past issues of AHPN's newsletters

HIV and Children Booklet

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 11:58:48 +0000

NAM have a new version of their information booklet, HIV & Children. HIV & Children provides the latest information about HIV treatment and care for children living with HIV.

It's free for people living with HIV in the UK.

Other people can buy a copy from the online bookshop for £1.

Free to read online

It can also be read free online or you can download a free copy as a pdf file you can then print out.

Copies for clinics and HIV organisations
If you work in a clinic or support group in the UK, you can order these booklets for free. Get in touch with Rose for details on 020 7840 0060 or by emailing Rose.

All NAM's booklets

read any booklet online

download any booklet as a free pdf file

Free Computer and Internet for Children

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 10:34:56 +0000

Want a grant from the government of up to £528 for a computer and internet access? Grants are now available for low income families with children living in England who don’t have access to the internet. This includes people on NASS or UK Border Agency Support.

Depending on what you need, you can get up to £528 to spend on a computer (the computer type could be a lap-top, desk-top, or net-book), and the cost of one year’s internet access.

Who can get this?
You need children in school years 3 to 9. This will normally mean children who are from 7 to 14 years old, at a state school.

It’s for families with lower incomes. This means

if your child has free school meals OR

you receive income support OR

you get income-based Job Seekers Allowance OR

you get child tax credit OR

you get income-based Employment Support Allowance OR

you get NASS or UK Border Agency support while claiming asylum (but not section 4 support) [It has to be ‘support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999’]

How to claim

USA HIV Travel Ban Goes

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 10:32:49 +0000

On 4 January the USA travel ban on people living with HIV was finally ended. Notoriously the Dutchman Hans Paul Verhoff was refused entry into the U.S. in 1989 to speak at a HIV conference in San Francisco. Many people then boycotted the 6th International Conference on AIDS in San Francisco in 1990.

What began first as an administrative ban then became law in 1987 (through action by the homophobic republican Senator Jesse Helms) and this was reinforced in 1993.

The travel ban prevented visits to the USA by people with HIV apart from in exceptional circumstances. Officially people with HIV had to apply for a special permission. It was a difficult and slow process and many were refused. The stigmatising nature of the ban was reinforced because your passport was marked in a way which showed you have HIV.

The ban was widely ignored, but often people with HIV were detected by US immigration staff and then refused entry and deported. Others took risks with their health by interrupting their HIV treatment to enter without HIV being discovered.

Washington 2012 International AIDS Conference confirmed

Now the ban has been lifted the International AIDS Society has confirmed that the 2012 International AIDS Conference will be held in Washington ....

Children, Immigration and HIV Training

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 16:06:28 +0000

There are three training and study days for people working to support children and families affected by immigration and HIV.

Immigration and HIV study day
The Children and Young People HIV Network is holding an Immigration and HIV study day, on Thursday 18th February 2010, in London.

The aim of the day is

to explain the official language and systems, and

to provide workers with the information needed to effectively support children and families living with HIV who are inside and outside the asylum system.

There will be speakers from National AIDS Trust, Children's Society and the No Recourse to Public Funds Network.

It’s in central London, at Body and Soul, which is just 5-10 minutes walk from Euston station.
10.30am – 2.30pm on Thursday 18 February
£25 with lunch included

Please book using the attached form, which has more information.

Immigration and Asylum training
The Impact of Immigration and Asylum on children and Young People Living with HIV

York (venue to be confirmed), Tuesday 9 March 2010
9.30 am – 4.30pm
£95 with lunch included

Or in London (venue to be confirmed), Tuesday 23 March 2010, at the same ....

HIV Prosecutions Focus

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 14:49:55 +0000

HIV prosecutions and criminalisation in different countries is the focus of the latest issue of 'Reproductive Health Matters'.

One article looks at how gay men living with HIV in England and Wales have responded to prosecutions. This follows work by Sigma Research in its 2009 report ‘Relative Safety 2'.

Does prosecution in an epidemic make public health better or worse?

42 HIV positive gay men, including some men using services at George House Trust, were asked what they knew about HIV prosecutions and how it may have changed their behaviour.

Only one in three are right about the law
There is considerable confusion among these gay men about the law and mistakes about whether their behaviour is legal or not. 1 in 3 of the men living with HIV were broadly right about how the law affects them. Most of the men were mistaken about the law.

Some of the men have changed their behaviour because of the law and reduced the risk of transmission, by telling partners their HIV status before sex, or in other ways.

Prosecutions have made HIV transmission more likely for most HIV positive men
But for most of the men, ....

Uganda Spins on HIV Death Penalty?

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 12:04:15 +0000

A Ugandan minister says the government will ask the MP (David Bahati - who tabled the proposed anti-gay law as a private member's bill) to withdraw the 'aggravating' clauses that require the death penalty - such as for people with HIV.

Minister of State for Investment Aston Kajara said late on Thursday that the government fears a backlash from foreign investors over the bill, which has provoked criticism from gay rights groups and protests in London, New York and Washington. Kajara says the proposed bill tarnishes Uganda's image.

President Yoweri Museveni has told colleagues he believes the bill is too harsh and has encouraged the ruling party to overturn the death sentence provision, which would apply to sexually active gays living with HIV or in cases of same-sex rape.

Source

But the very well informed Ugandan blog GayUganda says this is largely Ugandan government spin. This blog has links to the text of the draft law.

The blogger appeals for continued pressure from outside Uganda:

'So, please, all out there, do one thing. Continue the heat. Because the battle is being fought in Public Opinion, and political circles OUTSIDE Uganda. Please continue the heat, the pressure on YOUR politicians.

Christians out there, your role is still big. This bill is in ....

HIV blocks and hardens arteries

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 15:52:49 +0000

Even young men with HIV are more likely to have hardening of the arteries than similar men who don’t have HIV. The researchers also found that arterial disease was so severe in 7% of men with HIV that it was blocking blood flow. The longer people have lived with HIV the more likely coronary arteries have hardened and narrowed.

Anti-HIV treatment significantly extends the life expectancy of people with HIV. HIV-related illnesses are now uncommon among people taking treatment but there’s a lot of evidence for a much greater risk of various diseases of ageing, including cardiovascular disease. Hardening and narrowing of the arteries are types of cardiovascular disease.

Spot it early and act

Getting cardiovascular disease spotted early means people can get the right treatment and lifestyle advice to help make a difference to health and cut the risk of heart attacks and strokes later.

A USA study published in AIDS used coronary computed tomography (CT) angiography (a scan of the coronary arteries) to look for and carefully measure any hardening of the coronary arteries before any symptoms showed up. It shows how much plaque (fatty and other deposits) line the arteries and how narrow the arteries have become.

It is HIV ....

Gay and Positive in 2010

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 13:25:35 +0000

What’s it like to be a gay man with HIV in 2010? George (29), Leo (21), Tim (45), James (25), Jezz (37) and Ben (29) all talk about the ups and downs of being positive and gay in the latest issue of FS, gmfa’s magazine for NW England. Find out what they thought about HIV-positive guys before they were diagnosed, what it’s like being HIV-positive on the gay scene and their advice for HIV-negative guys.

And in the same issue 23 year old Adam talks about My Life – he’s positive too.

Problem Page - how to react when a positive guy tells you

Sort It Out - the problem page – tackles how to react when a guy you’re about to shag with tells you he’s positive. Positive guys know from experience that half the time undiagnosed men make a mess of this – so here’s advice from readers and a counsellor on how not to embarrass the hell out of yourself with positive guys who trust you enough to tell you this.

Life Tips

There’s life tips in Change for Good – how to make those New Year resolutions stick and live the life you want.

Download the

Midlands HIV Prosecution Stalls

Mon, 04 Jan 2010 17:20:04 +0000

On Christmas Eve the case against a man accused of deliberately infecting a woman with HIV was adjourned for more evidence to be gathered. The man, who lives near Cannock in the West Midlands, was remanded on bail until the week beginning January 25 and will reappear at Wolverhampton Crown Court.

The 42 year old man, a former schoolteacher in Nigeria, is charged with unlawfully and maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm.

However prosecutor Sati Aujla admitted to the court there were difficulties involving the evidence against the defendant and a medical expert had been called in. She said they needed to know whether the strain of the virus that infected the woman was the one carried by the defendant. “A decision will then be made as to whether the Crown pursue with the matter,” Miss Aujla added.

Judge Michael Challinor told the defendant that it was essential the new evidence was obtained.

George House Trust comment

This appears to be another case showing why the police badly need detailed guidelines for investigating complaints about HIV transmission. Charging someone with deliberate HIV transmission (acting in a way intending that someone becomes infected) is unusual - almost every case in the UK ....

NW Gay HIV Stigma and Risks

Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:13:58 +0000

The NW England results of the annual Gay Men’s Sex Survey are now out. ‘Vital Statistics 2008’ gives us the latest information on the prevention needs of gay and bisexual men in the UK and our region.

It also tells us some useful things about HIV stigma across the region, the numbers of men who have never taken a HIV test, and about the numbers who take significant HIV risks.

Blackpool – gay hotspot missing
There had to be 20 or more men in a NHS district (Manchester, Liverpool etc) fill in a survey for results from that district to appear in this report. Unfortunately the gay hotspot of Blackpool only had 17 men fill in the survey, so we can’t say much about gay and bisexual men’s needs there.

Stigma and rejecting men with HIV
This survey asked questions about what undiagnosed men say they would do if a potential sex partner told them he had HIV. Would they change their mind and turn down sex, have sex but be extra careful, have sex just as they planned, or do something else?

Men who said they’d reject positive men are showing strong signs of HIV stigma and discrimination. Across NW ....

Older People and HIV

Mon, 04 Jan 2010 11:23:31 +0000

HIV among older people is coming to attention more and more. More people are living longer with HIV, especially because of effective HIV treatments, and more older people are being diagnosed with HIV - often at a late stage of infection - and other older people are at more risk of HIV.

We've now added some useful 'Older' links to the website to pull together some of the available information, to help interested individuals, service providers and policy makers to act. Most of these materials are from North America, mostly the USA. We will add UK and other European links as useful information becomes available.

If you search our website for key words like 'older' you will find relevant news from the UK as well as other information.

UK organisations - HIV and older people's - are now working on HIV service development for older people. For example in NW England, George House Trust is meeting with Manchester Public Health Development Services to help develop the sexual health strategy for older people.

HIV and older people in NW England

By the middle of 2009, NW England had 950 people diagnosed with HIV over 50. 950 people is 17% of all people diagnosed with HIV in the region. In ten years time this number and the proportion will have very rapidly grown, probably by ....

Drinking Worsens HIV+ Cardiovascular Risks

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 11:57:11 +0000

Heavy drinking increases the risk of cardiovascular disease for men with HIV, a USA study shows. “Hazardous drinking and alcohol abuse or dependence were significantly associated with an increased prevalence of cardiovascular disease as compared with infrequent or moderate drinkers”, they comment.

Even 'light-weight' drinking harms more with HIV

What they mean by 'hazardous drinking' may seem pretty light-weight to men on the gay scene in England. They counted anything over 14 alcoholic drinks in one week as hazardous, and six drinks in a single session, more than once a month, as binge-drinking. At Christmas and New Year many men will be drinking well over these.

They emphasise that the study shows the risks of heart and other circulation disease harm is there for men with HIV, even after they took account of the usual risks.

We already know drinking is linked to several health problems in people with HIV. These include

poor adherence to HIV treatments

liver disease

worsening HIV disease, as well as a

bigger risk of cardiovascular disease.

Among HIV negative people, heavy drinking, binge drinking and alcohol dependency, are well known to cause more heart disease and strokes. ....

Gay Euro-break Risks

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 10:38:52 +0000

A study of HIV rates among gay men in some European cities shows much higher rates of HIV than in England. HIV transmission is a bigger risk for men taking popular foreign city-breaks, because men often let down their guard when on holiday, and it is often difficult to discuss sexual risks, unless you are fluent in other European languages.

The study used anonymous oral HIV tests and a simple questionnaire on the gay scene in Barcelona, Spain; Bratislava, Slovakia; Bucharest, Romania; Ljubljana, Slovenia; Prague, Czech Republic; and Verona, Italy – similar to a study on the gay scenes of Manchester, London and Brighton, a few years ago.

Manchester and Barcelona

In Manchester and the other English cities study we found 1 in 10 gay men had HIV (and around 3 out of 10 men with HIV did not yet know this). In this new European study Barcelona had a far higher rate of HIV – 17%, not far off twice the rate in the English cities. In Verona, Italy, the rate was 12%. However in Prague the rate was 3%. HIV rates were much higher in Southern Europe than in Eastern Europe.

Men reported different amounts of HIV risk taking in the European cities. ....

Women Living and Coping Survey

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 13:54:46 +0000

Women living with HIV are asked to take part in a survey looking into the inner strengths women use for coping and living with HIV. You can help by answering an online questionnaire. You do not have to give your name.

The research is looking to see whether women living with HIV have strengths to help cope better with HIV. How well do women bounce back from the physical and mental effects of HIV?

There is little information on how women cope with HIV in the UK – there is more information on men’s coping ability. They hope your answers will help other women cope better with HIV in the future. They want to help women cope even better.

What do I have to do?
There are a series of questions broken up into different sections – they say it will take about 30-40 minutes in total. It is for women over 18. The online survey is here

It starts by asking basics about you - your age, whether you are in a relationship, when you were diagnosed with HIV, and about any treatment you are taking for HIV. Then they ask about your outlook on life, how much you feel in ....

Training for Councils - No Recourse to Public Funds

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 15:34:24 +0000

A full day's training for councils on their legal duties to support people and families with ‘no recourse to public funds’ (NRPF) is provided by the NRPF Network along with London’s Islington Council. A significant number of migrants with HIV in NW England are subject to the No Recourse to Public Funds rules. Some NW England councils apply the rules very harshly or refuse to even accept they have any legal duty to assess people or help. Other councils do their duty well.

The training

focuses on good practice in assessing and supporting people with NRPF

provides an overview of relevant legislation and case-law and

invites participants to explore other factors to be considered where immigration status impacts on entitlements to services in the UK.

Since April 2009, there have been 17 of these sessions for councils and voluntary sector organisations across the UK and the feedback is very positive.

The full details of the training days are on the NRPF microsite and any requests or enquiries can be made by email

In NW England councils vary widely in how well they perform meet their legal duties towards people with HIV under these rules.

....

Make Your Position Clear

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 15:00:41 +0000

'Make your position clear' is the message in the new HIV awareness campaign for gay men in the central belt of Scotland.

A Glasgow ad agency was asked to create a memorable campaign that would get men to stop and think about their sexual health and behaviour. It will appear in gyms, doctors' surgeries and on public transport.

Talk about it

The key message 'Make your position clear', aims to show men that they "can and should be talking to each other about their own and their partner's sexual health, and making their stance clear on using condoms and lube and not risking unprotected sex".

The agency said the campaign presented it with "the unique challenge of translating an often highly sexual image and message for use in the public arena, promoting an overall general awareness". The campaign is for the Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Lanarkshire and Ayrshire NHS Trusts.

The campaign website makeyourpositionclear Position #26 the check-out is shown above. Other images in the campaign are

Position #8 - a nude game of Twister, saying

'Whatever position you’re in, it’s a lot safer with condoms and lube. Make them your first pick up.'

Position #18 is a nude take on The ....

NW England HIV in Mid 2009

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 14:02:07 +0000

HIV figures in NW England for the middle of 2009 show a continued rise. The total number of people seeing clinics rose by 9% compared to the middle of 2008. In the first half of 2009 there were 453 new cases (mainly people newly diagnosed) and the total in touch with clinics was 5601. The experts predict that the total seeing clinics by the end of 2009 will be 6211.

Mother to Baby - can do better

There are a lot of details in the latest half-year report. Most HIV transmissions from mother to baby are entirely preventable, as long as women are diagnosed in time and then have the right treatment and care. The national target is for at least 90% of pregnant women to be tested for HIV. Most hospitals in NW England are now above this level and getting even better.

However, in Manchester, where the chances of a woman with HIV having a baby are so very much higher than anywhere else (237 out of every 100,000 women in the city have HIV, compared with the regional average of 45/100,000 women) the 90% target has still not been reached (87.8% are now tested in pregnancy).

St Mary’s Hospital ....

French Gay Men – Half Diagnosed Recently Infected?

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 12:27:39 +0000

Over the last five years, half of the gay men diagnosed with HIV in France were infected in the six months before their diagnosis, researchers report in Eurosurveillance. In the UK, a study in Brighton gave a similar result in 2007, but more recent work suggests the true UK figure is much lower – about 1 in 5 gay men diagnosed were recently infected.

The French study suggests that the rate of new infections among gay men in France is very high. However it could also be due to high rates of testing among some gay men.

After many years in which only AIDS diagnoses had to be reported in France, recently there have been big improvements in the French public health HIV reporting system. Since 2003, HIV diagnosis must be reported. A test to identify recent infections is also now usually performed as well.

Recent infections tests

Testing for recent infections (known as STARHS or incidence tests) looks for antibody markers that change depending on how long ago the infection happened.

There are now around 6,500 - 7,500 people newly diagnosed with HIV every year in France. [In the UK, in 2008, 7298 people were newly diagnosed, 2,760 of them gay men.] The numbers of gay men in ....

HIV Drugs Patent Pool

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 12:02:04 +0000

An international agreement to pool drug patents for HIV treatments has just been launched, putting even more pressure on drug companies to give up their monopoly rights to HIV drugs. The idea is to make low cost treatment far more widely available in poorer countries.

Unitaid, an international drug purchasing facility, voted for the pool in Geneva this week. It was welcomed by campaigners and the British government, which has strongly backed the idea.

Campaigners say millions of lives could be saved by drug companies giving up their patent rights to allow anti-HIV drugs to be produced cheaply by generic manufacturers. It would also allow different companies' drugs to be combined in simple-to-take multi-drug combination pills for people in the developing world.

The rich multi-national patent-holding drug companies would get a royalty in exchange while keeping their exclusive 20-year patent rights in wealthy countries.

'Victory' for developing world
"The Unitaid decision is a huge victory for those in need of HIV treatment around the world," Diarmaid McDonald, the co-ordinator of the umbrella group Stop Aids, said. "It will help to break down the patent barriers which stop people getting the drugs they need to stay alive. Unitaid and the ....

Prevention Needs of Africans

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 15:36:19 +0000

Updated with additional information - The HIV and sexual health prevention needs of Africans living in England are highlighted in a report out today. During late 2008 and early 2009, Sigma Research worked with over one hundred organisations, including George House Trust, to carry out the Bass Line 2008-09 survey.
More than 2500 African people living in England took part.

The main report is in two parts. Part one sets the scene, discusses demographics, HIV testing, sexual HIV transmission behaviour, HIV prevention needs and HIV prevention interventions. The second part aims to identify sub-groups of Africans with high levels of risk behaviours and / or high levels of unmet prevention needs.

More detailed findings for NW England are in a supplement based on the 157 people in the region who took part. Most live in Manchester and detailed figures for Manchester are available. The rest of the region is aggregated together, because fewer than 20 took part from each of the other Primary Care Trusts.
This BASS Line survey and particularly the NW regional figures will help identify the most pressing regional HIV prevention needs of African people, and should help planning, delivering and funding HIV prevention services for Africans.

African ....

Low Income?

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:24:50 +0000

Over the next few days a new section of the George House Trust website will help people with low incomes. It will have sections on

Increasing your income

Cutting Spending

Dealing with Debt

and the help George House Trust offers.

Many people living with HIV have low incomes, some migrants with HIV even have no income whatsoever, and long term conditions usually add to people’s living costs. At the very least there are hospital appointments and often prescription charges to pay.

The Low Income pages will point you to where you can find the information you need to help yourself, and explain the support George House Trust can offer.

You will find Low Income advice and information here. On the website front page it is under All About Our Services

Fighting HIV Stigma

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 12:27:15 +0000

Our website has a whole new page of information and resources about HIV stigma and discrimination to support campaigns to cut HIV stigma.

HIV stigma is a key issue because it affects not only the lives of people living with HIV, but also whether people talk about HIV, how well people take care of their sexual health, whether people get tested, collect the test results (or not), how people cope with diagnosis, decide about treatment, and in dozens of other ways.

HIV stigma is one of the major challenges society faces in dealing with HIV. The better we deal with HIV stigma, the better our chances of supporting people living with HIV successfully and for managing the HIV epidemic here and abroad.

We have trawled the web for the best of what is available and have now added a new page of HIV Stigma Studies and Resources.

HIV Stigma Studies and Resources page

If you know of any other useful materials on fighting stigma please tell us.

image credit Together in Positive Thinking Against HIV+ Phobia

EU Warns UK on Equality

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 14:39:38 +0000

The government faces legal action by the European Commission for not doing enough to protect people from discrimination at work. This threatens the Equalities Bill now going through Parliament.

The European commission says parts of UK law, including provisions on sexual orientation and disability, are inadequate. They fail to properly implement several Equalities Directions signed unanimously by European countries way back in 2002. The EU could take the UK government to the European court of justice.

Sexuality : fail
The EU sent the government two official opinions last month, and these include a warning that the law that applies to faith-based organisations, schools and adoption agencies allows far too much discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation.
"This could be difficult for the government," said Robin Allen QC, head of Cloisters chambers. "The extent to which religious organisations are exempt from the rules of sexual orientation discrimination is a particularly difficult issue. The government will certainly resist any strengthening to the current law in an election year."

HIV Class Actions missed : fail
Other parts of UK law singled out by the EU's equal opportunities commissioner include the lack of a ban on "instructions to discriminate", where a person is discriminated ....

Hopeful Microbicide Fails

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 13:56:29 +0000

The first ever microbicide that appeared to work, announced back in February, doesn't protect women from HIV, a much more detailed study has now found. Early this year, preliminary results appeared to show the microbicide was 36% effective at reducing transmission.

A much larger study (with around twice as many people) testing the microbicide shows no difference between women given the microbicide and women given a dummy gel. This placebo-controlled trial involved 9,385 women at six research centres in four African countries and found that the risk of HIV infection in women who were supplied with PRO 2000 gel was the same as a dummy gel.

The trial, known as MDP 301, ran between September 2005 and September 2009 and was carried out by the Microbicides Development Programme (MDP), a not-for-profit partnership of 16 African and European research institutions. It was funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the UK Medical Research Council (MRC).

To date, no microbicide has been shown to be effective against HIV infection.

Women disappointed but more empowered

A South African trial participant commented: “Even though the gel proved not to be effective, we played a role in the fight against HIV. We learnt a lot about caring for ....

Sex with Negative Partners

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 15:50:15 +0000

Having a relationship with an HIV-negative partner is common and we can usefully learn from people who have lived this experience. In NAM's book and website for people living with HIV, namlife, they have added a new section about relationships with people who are HIV negative, because of requests.

The new section on mixed status relationships looks at the common questions and issues for people with HIV.

namlife.org is full of facts and personal stories shared by readers about all sides of living with HIV.

If you are in a relationship with someone who doesn't have HIV (or were in this type of relationship before), and think your story could help make a difference to someone else, then you could share your story and help others.

namlife has sections on

namlife : an introduction

Just found out you're HIV-positive?

HIV, the basics

....

NF HIV Hate in Village

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 17:27:06 +0000

Stickers have been popping up around Canal Street, the heart of Manchester’s gay village saying ‘'National Front. Homosexuality Equals AIDS. The Queer Plague.’

They have been defaced or torn down by locals whenever they are spotted and Greater Manchester Police were called in after several complaints on Monday December 7th.

Taking DIY Action

Josh says “As a positive gay man walking through our community on Canal Street last weekend, I was appalled to find a sticker placed there by the National Front attacking us as a community. The ignorance and prejudice held by the National Front is just shocking, if it wasn't so ludicrous. Looking at the sticker you can clearly see skulls in the red and one of the letters in a shape of a coffin. Why should I, let alone anyone else in our gay community, or even Manchester have to deal with such stigma, discrimination or hatred in 2009? This offensive and disturbing sticker was thankfully defaced by myself and my good friends.”

Kath Morgan, Awareness Raising and Events Coordinator at George House Trust commented
“This kind of ignorant and abusive attitude takes us back to the late 70’s and early 80’s when the gay community came together with other ....

HIV and Human Rights Day

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 13:33:28 +0000

Today is World Human Rights Day. HIV is a litmus test of how well countries promote and protect our human rights.

HIV and Human Rights

As UNAIDS tells us, to empower people to claim their rights, to protect human dignity and to prevent the transmission of HIV, the following rights should be protected so that people will come forward for HIV information, education and means of protection, and will be supported to avoid risky behaviour:

Non-discrimination : protected against discrimination if seek help or are HIV+

Right to privacy : protected against mandatory testing; HIV status kept confidential

Right to liberty and freedom of movement : protected against imprisonment, segregation, or isolation in a special hospital ward

Right to education/information : access to all HIV prevention education and information and sexual and reproductive health information and education

Right to health : access to all health care prevention services, including for sexually transmitted infections, tuberculosis, voluntary counseling and testing, and to male and female condoms

HIV & Human Rights poster used at the Mexico AIDS Conference

What are the Human Rights?

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights emphasises the rights to

....

USA - Treatment as Prevention

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 12:09:13 +0000

The USA has joined the list of countries producing national statements about how effective HIV treatment can make passing on HIV during sex very unlikely.

The USA statement uses much the same evidence as the earlier Swiss, French and German statements on HIV treatment as prevention that we have reported. However, it is a lot more cautious, urging continued consistent condom use.

"In summary, for couples in which one member is HIV-infected, treatment of the infected partner with effective ART and suppression of viral load to undetectable levels should greatly reduce the risk of transmission to the uninfected partner. However, this risk is not eliminated and it may not be maximally reduced at all times due to some of the factors discussed above. Moreover, the likelihood of transmission may be expected to increase with repeated exposures over time."

"In a model which estimated transmission risk in the setting of suppressed viral load (<50 copies/mL) without intercurrent STIs, the number of expected transmission events occurring within a population of 10,000 serodiscordant couples over 10 years was estimated to be 215 for female-to-male transmission, 425 for male-to-female transmission, and 3,524 for male-to male transmissions [31]."

"In a meta-analysis of data from 11 cohorts including 5,021 heterosexual couples observed no transmissions among ....

Breakthroughs in Life

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 17:34:15 +0000

If you feel trapped in a HIV rut, maybe this example of small steps leading to big, welcome changes will inspire you. ‘Rob’ (not his real name) was seeing a George House Trust adviser about employment and other problems at George House Trust, and we suggested he go to the Independent Employment Advocacy Centre. With his employment problems their ‘supported advocacy’ would be especially helpful to him.

‘Rob’ worked at a hostel for people and had asked for an Occupational Health assessment for work because his HIV treatment was changing and this affected his work. One of the advocates from Independent Employment Advocacy Centre went with him and supported him at the Occupational Health Assessment by a doctor, and then helped him successfully apply for Disability Living Allowance and Working Tax Credits.

Working breakthroughs
Nine months on, he was able to look and plan his career. He’s asked Breakthrough’s Employment Team to support him in the career move he really wants. He has become more active in his trade union and put himself forward to be a learning rep this year, and has now been in this role for several months.

He also had an ....

HIV Social Care Personalisation

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 13:50:44 +0000

The Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) wants people to know about the plans for ‘personalisation’ of social care, and that the people who need and want this can obtain it. This includes gay men with HIV - in North West England they are working on a pilot involving George House Trust and LGF (lesbian and gay foundation), Merseyside Disability Federation, Breakthrough UK, Voluntary Sector North West.

What’s personalisation?
Personalisation aims to transform public services. The idea is to empower and help people using social care services to make choices and take control of their support. It is so people can live their lives as they wish, with the support of high quality services that are safe, tailored to meet individual needs and facilitate independence, wellbeing and dignity.

There are various versions of personalisation – it includes systems known as “Direct Payments”, “Self-Directed Support”, and “In Control”.

For people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, personalisation should mean fair and equal access to services to meet your specific needs, promote your independence and autonomy, and enable you to achieve your full potential.
The first step is a survey of organisations asking What’s happening already - organisations are ....

Baseline – new HIV positive magazine

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 12:22:56 +0000

Robert Fieldhouse, the former treatments editor at Positive Nation Magazine, (more recently producing Positive Living at BPNW) after leaving BPNW has now launched ‘Baseline’, a new nationally distributed magazine for people living with HIV.

It’s a small format magazine (it fits in big pockets), and is distributed free to 170 HIV clinics and community organisations – including George House Trust.

Their website will be live by the end of this year.

First issue

The first issue is here to download as a pdf
On this temporary site you need to register then log in, before you can download or view it, because it is for adults. It is a big file - over 6Mb, so be patient please, while it downloads.

More details Robert Fieldhouse 0121 449 4405 or email

To order clinic and community organisation copies email

African HIV Prevention Training

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 11:47:39 +0000

Free training for workers delivering the National African HIV Prevention Programme (NAHIP) starts in Manchester in January (and London). The course is accredited by Open College Network (OCN). After successfully completing the course students will receive OCN or NAHIP certificates.

Training
There are four course units - and a total of thirteen training Mondays - from mid January to mid May.

These provide comprehensive knowledge, understanding and skills for community workers supporting African communities in HIV prevention.

A range of interactive learning techniques, from group work to learning from practice, will be used in all the units, giving participants a chance to share their experiences and learn from others.

NAHIP will try to identify suitable work placements needed for some course units so you can put into practice what you have learned.

Aims
This training programme aims to enhance knowledge, understanding and develop skills that community based HIV and AIDS service providers working with African communities need to deliver successful and effective prevention interventions in community settings.

In addition the training programme will build skills for using research-based knowledge and written NAHIP health education resources.

No Cost
The training is free. There is a £50 administration fee if you do not attend.

Training ....

HIV Harassment Investigation

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 10:36:43 +0000

Public bodies in England, Scotland and Wales face an inquiry into how they deal with disability-related harassment by the Commission for Equality and Human Rights, the watchdog announced.

The commission promises that bodies that do not adequately uphold the rights of people with disabilities, including everyone living with HIV, could face legal action.

Public bodies have a legal duty to take steps to eliminate disability-related harassment – part of their disability equality duties.

The inquiry, which will publish its final report in early 2011, follows the inquest into the deaths of Fiona Pilkington and her disabled daughter Francesca. Their deaths followed years of harassment and exposed weak public responses to tackling this.

EHRC commissioner Mike Smith said: "Disabled people experiencing harassment can become conditioned to hostile treatment, or are sometimes told to ignore it by those around them - including by public authorities. They may also go to enormous lengths to avoid putting themselves at risk which can limit their freedom and opportunities. These are unacceptable outcomes for anyone in our society."

Evidence exists
The commission said it already had evidence that harassment of disabled people was widespread throughout Britain and that people with learning disabilities and mental health problems ....

Keep Free Prescription Promise

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:35:29 +0000

A simple email now to your MP could help Gordon Brown keep his promise. Over a year ago, at the Labour Party 2008 conference, Gordon Brown pledged to scrap prescription charges for all people with long-term medical conditions, including HIV. He didn’t say when he would scrap the prescription charges, leaving us all waiting in the dark. We are still waiting.

People with some health problems never have to pay prescription charges. But the list of conditions that passport people to free prescriptions hasn’t been updated since it was written in 1968. HIV is not on the list, simply because HIV was discovered almost twenty years after the list was made.

While HIV medicines themselves come free because they are prescribed by the hospital, other medicines (for depression, anxiety, and everything else) have to be paid for.

Many people with HIV have no right to free prescriptions and these costs rapidly mount up. Some people cannot afford to collect the drugs they need from the chemist.

Actions, not words

Please email your MP to ask the Secretary of State for Health for the abolition of prescription charges for people with HIV and other long-term conditions.

Easy-peasy

Simply click the link, then add your details and it will write a ....

Campaign - Cut Late Diagnosis

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 11:42:32 +0000

Late diagnosed HIV is bad news in NW England – we have England’s worst regional rate for late HIV diagnosis. Across the NW an average of 35.9% are diagnosed late, compared with the national average of 31%.

It matters because up to a third of people with HIV are diagnosed late, after the immune system has already been damaged by the virus. Late diagnosis makes

treatment more complex

people more ill,

life significantly shorter - and

accidental HIV transmission more likely, because they don't know they have it.

e-mail your PCT

We're asking you to write to your PCT and encourage them to cut late diagnosis of HIV, so people stay healthy for longer.

Postcode to email easily
If you enter your details and postcode, the SHout-Loud website creates a custom letter about late diagnosed HIV in your own PCT. For Manchester, it tells the PCT that 38% are diagnosed late when the national average is only 31%, and that means a lot of people are diagnosed late here.

Click on the link below to take part, and remember to check the box to join ‘SHout Loud’ so you receive updates on other campaign actions.

Bit by bit, we can ....

HIV and Your GP Survey

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 15:34:18 +0000

HIV positive people are collecting views on the GP service, your 'family doctor'. Please take a few moments to fill in this survey. It should take less then ten minutes to complete. They do not ask for any personal information, only your post code, if you are happy to give that.

This survey has been compiled by HIV positive people and is to help understand people's relation-ship with their GP and how you would like to see the GP and other Primary Care services change and grow.

Take part in the survey here - all the questions are plain to see on this page

The Forum Link Project is an associate member of HIV Europe and the United Kingdom Community Advisory Board for HIV.

Public Interest in HIV Prosecutions

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 13:53:26 +0000

Last night there was a panel discussion at City University, London on Criminal prosecutions for HIV transmission, which was a success. A speaker from the Crown Prosecution Service talked about when it is not in the ‘public interest’ to prosecute.

It seems the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is now changing its view on what is ‘the public interest’ – as a result of preparing its new policy on prosecuting assisted suicide. This is forcing it to look more carefully at what is the ‘public interest.’

HIV prosecutions not in the public interest

George House Trust will be looking to see how we can persuade the Crown Prosecution Service that prosecuting sexual transmission of HIV or any other infection is definitely not in the public interest.

When reckless HIV transmissions were first prosecuted, and when the Crown Prosecution Service was writing its first guidelines for HIV prosecutions, George House Trust (among others) argued very strongly that HIV stigma and discrimination and its consequences should all be considered as powerful public interest arguments against any HIV prosecutions.

We said it is never ‘in the public interest’ to drive people away from HIV testing and treatment of a life-limiting condition for fear of the law. The public health of very many people is significantly damaged by ....

New Scottish HIV Action Plan

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 10:46:01 +0000

Scotland’s HIV Charities have welcomed the launch of the Scottish Government’s HIV Action Plan.

A full review of the needs of people living with HIV, the best ways of reducing HIV provide the ground for the Scottish strategy for the next five years. This first Scottish national HIV action plan is intended to give a much needed boost to HIV awareness and prevention.

The latest statistics released by Health Protection Scotland show that rates of HIV diagnosis in Scotland remain at record levels. HIV charities support the Action Plan’s closer combination of prevention and treatment interventions to strengthen Scotland’s response to HIV.

This integrated approach will help those attending clinics for testing and care to get information and support to protect themselves and their partners. Outreach and awareness raising work with communities will emphasise the benefits of early HIV testing.

HIV Scotland’s Roy Kilpatrick said, “This Action Plan recognises the need for HIV prevention at many different levels, along with the imperative that the growing numbers of people on treatment get the very best care, wherever they live and whatever their background. We welcome the recognition within the Plan of the need to work collaboratively across sectors. It is pleasing to ....

Alarming HIV Stigma in UK

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 14:51:05 +0000

A damning report into the levels of stigma faced by people with HIV in the UK has led to calls for the government to produce a fresh strategy for HIV stigma and discrimination.

1 in 5 last year

One in five people with an HIV diagnosis have been harassed, threatened or verbally assaulted in the past 12 months.

Many report ignorance and prejudice from the medical professions, particularly from GPs and dentists. One in five reported being refused medical treatment because they had HIV.

Just 40% confidence in medical confidentiality
In findings to be unveiled in parliament, The People Living With HIV Stigma Index, a two-year research project funded by the Department for International Development and the International Planned Parenthood Federation, found that only 39% of people felt confident that their medical records were being kept confidential, with 18% saying their HIV status had been revealed without their consent.

The UK report is Give Stigma the Index Finger.

More now ignorant

Lisa Power, head of policy at the Terrence Higgins Trust, said that the public was more ignorant about HIV than a decade ago. "This research is really important because it's about people's perception of the prejudice they face. We did have a good ....

Commonwealth Stops HIV Funding

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 13:33:30 +0000

The Commonwealth Foundation agreed to switch almost all of its entire £400,000 HIV funding from HIV to cultural activities, without consultation, in April, it has just emerged.

The leaders of Commonwealth countries, ending their annual meeting in Trinidad and Tobago, were last night facing dealing with the scandal. The Commonwealth has 30 per cent of the world's population but 60 per cent of the people with HIV in the world, and HIV is acknowledged as a "Commonwealth emergency". Despite this, and without public consultation, it was decided to end the only Commonwealth programme that directly tackles HIV.

Commonwealth HIV Network abandoned
Over the past four years, nearly £400,000 has been spent through the Commonwealth Foundation to create an international network of experts, activists and civic organisations working on HIV/AIDS. The Foundation, funded by taxpayers of the 53 member states of the Commonwealth, decided in April to switch the money from the Pan-Commonwealth HIV/AIDS Network to cultural activities. It did not tell those involved, according to confidential emails seen by The Independent.

A storm of protest followed behind closed doors in which the foundation was accused of "jumping ship" and its director, Mark Collins, was ....

Uganda – extraditions and death for HIV+ sex

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 11:08:16 +0000

Life imprisonment is the minimum punishment for anyone convicted of having gay sex, under an anti-homosexuality bill now before Uganda's parliament.

If the accused person has HIV, is a serial offender, a "person of authority" over the other partner, or if the "victim" is under 18, a conviction will result in the death penalty. Uganda would seek the extradition of its citizens with HIV and others charged under this law from the UK and other countries.

Ugandans with HIV in UK face extradition
Members of the public are obliged to report any homosexuals to police with 24 hours or risk up to three years in jail – a scenario that human rights campaigners say will result in a witch-hunt. Ugandans breaking the new law abroad will be subject to extradition requests. This means a Ugandan living with HIV in the UK could be extradited for having sex with his same sex partner. George House Trust thinks UK courts are likely to reject these extradition requests on Human Rights grounds.

Human rights groups within and outside Uganda have condemned the proposed legislation, which is designed to strengthen colonial-era laws that already criminalise gay sex. Stephen Lewis, a former UN envoy on ....

World AIDS Day

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 16:34:13 +0000

Last minute rush? We are not talking Christmas shopping but about taking a few moments for Tuesday 1 December, World AIDS Day.

Aidsmap have put together some information and suggestions for you.

information about HIV

about World AIDS Day

ways to get involved

arranging an event or a display?

George House Trust page for getting involved

WorldAIDSCampaign

Test your knowledge

Test your knowledge of some of the key things people living with HIV need to understand.

Children’s HIV Mental Support

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 12:47:03 +0000

Ways to meet children’s mental health support needs before, during, and after a parent (or other close relative) dies with HIV, are given in a new international review from aidsmap / NAM.

It's written for resource-limited settings, but the how-to advice is excellent for children here and everywhere. Most useful in the UK are sections on ‘addressing grief and bereavement,’ checking for childhood mental health problems, and basic and more advanced ways to support children affected by HIV-related deaths.

A useful overview to helping children cope with death and grief the review recommends is the recently published guide Children’s Palliative Care in Africa, (download the whole book free - the only price to pay is taking part in a quick survey).

One chapter in this book provides advice about

making memory boxes (to collect items that remind them of the person who has died and times they shared)

making a family record to help a child or young person gain a sense of where they and the person who has died fits into the family. This is particularly important when a child is to be removed from their old home, or separated from siblings or cousins, and hence when there is ....

New HIV Respite Centre

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 11:47:46 +0000

Cornish HIV charity, Kernow Positive Support, has been given £270,000 from the Government to create a HIV respite centre. It will be the only one in England, as the alternative is Tyddyn Bach, in north Wales.

Kernow Positive Support said it still needs planning permission from Cornwall Council, but has found a suitable property for conversion in north Cornwall, near Camelford. The Department of Health's AIDS Support Grant awarded the charity the special capital funding for the building conversion.

Centre will help boost people's outlook

Nicky Salisbury, a consultant in HIV at the Royal Cornwall Hospital, said the facility is not for medical care. She said: "It's not like a hospice for sick people, it's for respite care, for the psychological recharging rather than any medical recharging."

Kernow Positive Support have found a Grade II listed farmhouse near Camelford that needs renovating and conversion. Anthony Basnett, of the charity, said: "It's in a beautiful but fairly remote part of Cornwall and offers peace and quiet and beautiful scenery."

AIDS Support Grant
Mostly AIDS Support Grant is used by councils to pay for HIV support services, social care, HIV needs assessments and expert training, but they can also apply for money to pay for capital (building) projects. In NW England one council recently proposed this to ....

HIV Prevention Cuts?

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 10:53:31 +0000

The health secretary, Andy Burnham should not even think of cutting £50m from public health budgets, including HIV prevention. These and other massive cuts are how he's planning to pay for his proposed free social care service. People affected, and the HIV and public health sectors, are noticing and concerned.

By suggesting that £50 million should be cut from health promotion work to fund his new social care programme, the health secretary is taking risks. There have been recent major public health emergencies, including the swine flu pandemic and E coli outbreaks. Meanwhile HIV diagnoses, chlamydia infections and adult obesity rates are all rising, and Scotland has one of the fastest growing rates of fatal liver disease in the world.

Sexual health cuts are a false economy
Cutting budgets on educating the public about sexually transmitted diseases might look popular. But chlamydia cases rose by 150% between 1997 and 2007, while the total number of people living with HIV in NW England rose by over 10% for yet another year.

About 1 in 4 of the 77,400 people living with HIV in the UK in 2007 don’t know they have HIV. Late HIV diagnosis is the worst in the country in NW England and this increases transmission ....

Asylum Applications Falling

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 10:01:47 +0000

The latest asylum figures show a further fall in the number of fresh claims for refugee status between July and September this year, to 5,055 – a decline of 24%, compared with the same period in 2008.

Refugee welfare groups said the fall in asylum numbers raised fears that the tightening up of Britain's borders was denying sanctuary to those who needed protection. The top three countries from where asylum seekers came were Afghanistan (790), Iran (540) and Zimbabwe (525).

Immigration detention for asylum and children
A total of 7,110 people were held in immigration detention between July and September this year – more than half of them asylum seekers. They included 315 children, 240 of them under 11. Of those detained, 365 had been held for more than 12 months.

More leaving
Net migration – the number of people who come to live in Britain minus the number who move abroad – fell by more than a third to 163,000 last year, its lowest level since Poland joined the European Union.

The Office for National Statistics said the fall from 233,000 in 2007 was mainly driven by a rise in emigration to a 17-year high: 427,000 people left ....

How Long a Life Now?

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 16:24:54 +0000

Thanks to the success of HIV treatment, many people with HIV are now living into older age. But how long will HIV+ people live? What can people with HIV reasonably expect?

No-one can predict accurately how long anyone will live, with or without HIV. All we can do is look for people similar to us and use their life spans as a guide.

Health harms

HIV is not the only thing that affects how long people live. There are a huge number of things that make a difference, from the genes we inherit from our parents, to our lifestyles – our drinking, eating, exercise habits, our weight, work, where we live, our general health - as well as things outside our control, like our class background and pollution.

Still improving

We know that life expectancy with HIV is still rising. Treatments are improving and there are good new drug prospects in the pipeline. Clinics will become better at managing HIV for older people, with more experience. Whatever life expectancy is now with HIV, we can expect it to continue to stretch nearer towards the length of life for people without HIV.

Making life sense

The information in recent studies seems confusing, but here we try to ....

The Sun - 'We've All Got HIV'

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 13:33:35 +0000

Today’s Sun newspaper headline – ‘We've all got HIV... it's not the death sentence that it used to be’ may surprise some of us, because of the Sun’s often bad reporting of HIV. We welcome the conversion of HIV stigma sinners. There's still some room for improvement - the sub-heading is negative ('it's not the death sentence that it used to be'), although all three people's personal stories are positive about getting on with the rest of their lives.

The Sun's report and headline are about three people describing about their HIV experiences. There’s Steve Unsworth, 43, who was diagnosed aged 27 in Manchester, but now lives in London; Gary Whitaker, 33, a Londoner diagnosed last year; and Sarah Richards, 30 who lives in the Midlands and was diagnosed during her pregnancy.

LOOKING at the pictures of these three healthy-looking Brits, which one would you guess has HIV?
The answer is ALL of them.
The viral illness - which can lead to AIDS - is no longer as problematic to treat as it was 20 years ago. A person diagnosed in the UK today can expect to live into their 70s.
More Brits than ever are living with HIV - passed on through unprotected ....

Lost to Care

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 14:03:25 +0000

People diagnosed with HIV who drop out of HIV clinics was first highlighted as national issue by George House Trust in Insight this year. Now people lost to clinics and care is covered in more detail in an excellent leading article in the latest issue of NAM's HIV Treatment Update.

'Lost to Care - the mystery of the disappearing patients' by George House Trust policy expert Chris Morley and editor of HIV Treatment Update Gus Cairns, tells why up to 1 in 3 people disappear from HIV care at some stage after diagnosis, whether this puts people’s lives in danger, and it offers some suggestions for how to deal with clinic drop out.

Stigma too
The same issue has an article on HIV stigma – Punching Fog. It tells how people with HIV telling their own stigma experiences through the UK section of the global website HIV Stigma Index is helping the stigma fight-back.

HIV Treatment Update

People living with HIV can get HIV Treatment Update free, others have to subscribe and pay; this issue (November 2009) will be published in a few months in the online archive, also on that webpage.

Social Care Rises in Importance

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 13:53:16 +0000

While social care is growing more important for people with HIV, workforce standards and uncertain future funding all cause concerns, say expert government HIV advisers.

In its annual report and advice to the government, the Independent Advisory Group on Sexual Health and HIV, say that already 15% of people with HIV are 50 or over, and this proportion of older people will rise, faster.

This means services will face new service and information needs, such as about dealing with pensions, potential treatment clashes between HIV medicines and those for age-related conditions, as well as the long-term care needs of HIV positive people.

Workforce ignorance
The group warned there were "considerable gaps in knowledge about HIV" among social care and NHS staff. It also highlighted the government's failure to meet its pledge to introduce standards for delivering social care for people with HIV, which was part of its 2001 National Strategy on Sexual Health and HIV.

Aids Support Grant must be kept
The report worries about the "recent closure of HIV-specific services in some local authorities" and says the Department of Health must keep ring-fenced Aids Support Grant (ASG). This is for funding social care services for people with HIV/AIDS ....

Global Treatments Working

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:51:20 +0000

The death toll from HIV across the world fell by more than 10% over the past five years, latest figures show. The World Health Organization and the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAids) say that since effective treatments first became available in 1996, some 2.9 million lives have been saved.

As the number of deaths has fallen, the number of people living with HIV has risen slightly - an estimated 33.4 million people worldwide are infected with HIV, up from 33 million in 2007 because of fewer deaths.

New infections fall
The latest report also shows there has been a significant drop in the number of new HIV infections. The report suggests that HIV prevention programmes are having a significant impact - new HIV infections have fallen by 17% over the past eight years.

In sub-Saharan Africa, the epicentre of the global pandemic, the number of new infections has fallen by around 15% since 2001 - equating to about 400,000 fewer infections in 2008 alone. In the same period, infection rates were down by nearly 25% in East Asia, and by 10% in South and South East Asia. In Eastern Europe, after a dramatic increase in new infections among injecting ....

Will MPs Protect Young Gay Men?

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:23:07 +0000

You can help protect young gay men from the risks of HIV by asking your MP to sign an Early Day Motion. National AIDS Trust is pushing for MPs to sign across the country.

A motion is a petition for MPs, and this one calls for action so that young gay men get the sex education and information they need about HIV, to take care of their sexual health. It also asks for the new national strategy for HIV to include meeting the needs of young gay men.

Young gay men are much more likely to get HIV because they missed out on early prevention campaigns and decent gay-friendly sex education.

It's easy

It's really easy to get your MP to sign an Early Day Motion

find out who your MP is online

check if they have already signed online

email a letter we have written as a help, to ask the MP to sign

The motion is partly raising HIV awareness for World AIDS Day, on December 1st. Early Day Motions are a way to publicise something in Parliament – while they almost never lead to debates, government and opposition sit up and take notice of these barometers of public ....

Hear About HIV First Hand

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:16:09 +0000

Often the best support comes from people who have the same kind of experiences. For people who do not have HIV, hearing people who do have HIV talk about their experiences can be powerful, help end misunderstandings and prevent stigma and discrimination.

The websiite Healthtalkonline's HIV section lets you find out about other people's experiences of HIV. You can watch or listen to videos of a wide mix of people living with HIV, read about their experiences and find reliable useful information about HIV, treatment choices and support.

Healthtalkonline is from the charity Dipex and is based on research into people’s experiences, led by experts at the University of Oxford. These personal stories help people with HIV, families and healthcare professionals, and the whole public to benefit from other people’s experiences.

Healthtalkonline has sections for many other conditions, as well as HIV, for example, depression.

HIV at HealthTalkOnline
They interviewed 50 people about their experiences of HIV infection and this is all organised into topics
It also has a section with information resources and a forum. Like many of the health forums on this site, the HIV forum is hardly used; anyone ....

Flu Vaccine on Mersey

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:37:43 +0000

Liverpool hospital is writing to people with HIV to encourage people to have both winter and swine flu (HINI) vaccinations at their GP. People can take and show the letter to their GP.

The letter to patients says

With the winter flu season approaching, we would like to take this opportunity to remind you about your seasonal and H1N1 swine flu vaccination available from your GP surgery. Vaccination is the best way of protecting yourself against infection and those close to you by preventing the spread of the virus.

As you have HIV we would strongly advise that you take advantage of the free vaccines to prevent catching seasonal and H1N1 swine flu and developing potentially dangerous complications. Patients with HIV Infection will need to receive a second swine flu vaccination after 3 weeks.

More information about the H1N1 swine flu vaccination is provided overleaf.

It is in your interests to be vaccinated against both swine flu and seasonal flu. Help safeguard yourself by booking an appointment at your earliest convenience at your GP surgery. We will not be providing routine flu vaccinations in clinic.

If you do not have a GP we advise that you register with a GP as you will require a GP to manage any non ....

What Viral Load is Uninfectious?

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:32:24 +0000

A new study has found more evidence that people with low viral loads are less infectious.

US researchers found that very few HIV transmissions come from people with a viral load below 1000 copies/ml. The rate of transmission more than doubles when the viral load reaches 10,000 copies/ml.

There’s been a lot of debate about HIV treatment, viral load and infectiousness. Evidence is mounting up to show that successful HIV treatment significantly reduces infectiousness.

'The Partners' study recruited 3408 people and monitored HIV sero-discordant (= mixed HIV status) couples every three months to look for new HIV infections and to measure viral load in the HIV-positive partner. If HIV infection was found in previously HIV-negative partners, viral sequencing of both partners was carried out to check that the partner was the source of HIV. This analysis revealed 108 linked infections, people who had infected their partners.

Viral load logs
Viral load figures are often given on a logarithmic scale, because viral load rises so very steeply. A ‘one log increase’ means that viral load has increased by ten times. A viral load of 10,000 copies/ml is therefore one log higher than a viral load of 1000 copies/ml. Similarly, a viral ....

Video Tales of Kenyan HIV

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:09:57 +0000

Marking World Aids Day on 1 December, and a 10-year project with the Guardian, photographer Gideon Mendel travels to Kenya, to ask younger people with HIV what it means to them.

On the Guardian website click the 9 stunning images to launch videos of the people talking about their own experiences and what HIV means to them.

For individual descriptions by each person, and photographs please go to the Unicef UK Kenya Voices gallery

Stigma - The picture explains the feeling of how I was discriminated by my in-laws, my close friends and in my church.

Dorine - I’m a single lady called Dorine Nyangweso. I’m 23 years old. This picture shows the support group that helped me so much - these are the hands of my support group. I thank them very much, they have been supportive to my life - I could not be the way I used to be at first. I really thank them for the good heart they have and the spirit. May God bless them.

George - My name is George Wachira. I come from Kayole, a city near Nairobi in Kenya. I first knew about my status in 2003 after my mum passed. ....

Liverpool Vigil

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:53:19 +0000

Please join Sahir House on December 1 for the HIV vigil. It is in Liverpool Mountford Hall / The Academy, at Liverpool University Guild of Students, 160 Mount Pleasant, Liverpool L69 7BR

Doors Open
6.30pm with a start at 7pm. It will end by 8pm.
With guest speakers, The Lord Mayor of Liverpool, the reading of the Remembrance list, music and a chance to socialise afterwards.

This is FREE and all are welcome

HIV:Reality

This is the theme for World AIDS Day 2009 -  the reality of HIV in the UK today. The aim is to present true, & sometimes surprising, accounts of how HIV affects people in the UK & to dispel myths & misinformation.

Sahir House suggestions for World AIDS Day

Make a donation

Wear a red ribbon, encourage your friends, family, colleagues to wear one too

Create a World Aids Day information point (request a World Aids Day pack from Sahir House)

Organise a fundraising event in aid of Sahir House,

suggest a ‘wear red for the day’ at work/college/school

Invite Sahir House to deliver HIV awareness information sessions with HIV positive guest speaker
....

Manchester Immigration Advice

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:53:15 +0000

Immigration Advisory Service has had a Manchester office, in Salford for some years. The IAS is the largest charity in the UK giving free legal help to people on low incomes and on benefits, on immigration, nationality and asylum matters. Many people who use IAS have HIV.

Salford office They are opposite Salford Central train station, approximately 5 minutes walk from Deansgate.

Lower Ground Floor Suite, Cloister House, West Riverside, New Bailey Street, Salford, M3 5AG
0844 974 4000

map, directions, picture of the building

Monday - Friday 09.30 and 17.00

IAS across NW England

The Salford office if for people living in the M, BL, OL and SK post codes.

Other IAS advice centres in NW England: Liverpool IAS advice, Blackburn IAS advice .

They offer a free consultation and may be able to help people free of charge. Please take satisfactory evidence of means so that they can work out if you fit the rules for free advice.

If you need, bring a friend who can speak English to your first visit.

Higher appeals possible
If you have been to court and been refused they may still be able to help you.

Image

Investigate HIV and Immigration Detention

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:37:50 +0000

Medical Justice want a volunteer researcher for its Investigation into the treatment of people with HIV in detention. They want to produce a report that

Explores the healthcare available for detainees with HIV

Analyses the experiences of detainees with HIV

Investigates whether the guidelines for treating detainees with HIV work.

Detailed case studies based on the experiences of detainees and ex-detainees with HIV will be used including examples from Medical Justice.

Apply by       24th November 2009
Interviews     1st December 2009
Job details     Role description, person specification, and application details from Medical Justice

About Medical Justice
Medical Justice is a network of volunteers who expose and challenge medical abuse in immigration detention. Their volunteers include ex-detainees, doctors, lawyers and other experts. They have no formal funding and no paid staff; they rely on private donations and unpaid work by members. Medical Justice is not a charity, nor is it government-funded.

Some people with HIV recently helped by Medical Justice
Three of four women who had been receiving anti-retroviral drugs in the community, had an unplanned disruption to their treatment in detention, because of problems in arranging appropriate and timely hospital care. Some detainees were not given the results ....

Liverpool Gay Rapid HIV Test Push

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:04:43 +0000

Liverpool’s Armistead gay community support service is offering free, confidential, 20 minute HIV testing for gay and bisexual men, around World AIDS Day.

Testing is on these dates and times. Results after 20 minutes:

Evenings                                    Thursday 26 November                                 4pm - 9pm

All Day on World AIDS Day            Tuesday 1 December                                    9am - 6pm

Afternoon and evening                  Wednesday and Thursday 2 and 3 December    12pm - 7pm

Appointments, referrals, and further information - Armistead Project, 1 Stanley Street, Liverpool, L1 6AA 0151 227 1893                      email

Part of the Liverpool Gets Tested project of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.

Over 1 in 4 people living with HIV in the UK do not know they have HIV.
Knowing your HIV status protects both your and your partners’ health.

image credit: the heart of Liverpool’s gay quarter

AIDS Denial Again

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:30:19 +0000

HIV/AIDS denial has reappeared once more with the film House Of Numbers. It was shown at the Raindance Film Festival in London and the Spectator magazine has just gone for sensationalism too - an article and screening for this scientifically ignorant film.

However the Spectator's screening had to be cancelled – too many of the speakers for their after-film debate pulled out.

Sunday Times denialism, part 2

Some years ago, the Sunday Times ran a long campaign of disinformation about HIV when its editor was Andrew Neil and its Science correspondent Neville Hodgkinson. Now the latest denialist article, in the Spectator, was written by the same Neville Hodgkinson. The Spectator's publisher is also the same Andrew Neil. Its editor is Fraser Nelson, who took over suddenly in August and is described on Wikipedia as "a contrarian with respect to several contemporary scientific issues", including HIV and global warming.

Only starting a debate?
A lot of strangeness can be excused with the claim that you are "simply starting a debate". The AIDS denialist documentary House of Numbers has seen the London Raindance film festival explaining that they were proud to show it, and a senior programmer appeared on YouTube saying they had gone through the film at 15-second intervals, finding ....

Catholics and World AIDS Day

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:03:30 +0000

‘Can you drink the cup that I will drink? - HIV/AIDS: meeting the challenges, exploring the questions’ was a lecture given earlier this year to Catholics for AIDS Prevention and Support (CAPS) at Westminster Cathedral Hall, London.

Professor Margaret Farley's (Yale University divinity school, USA) lecture was followed later by a conference on HIV/AIDS, at Roehampton University, London. Her lecture and the response are here.

She spoke about the All-Africa Conference: Sister to Sister (AACSS) organisation in sub-Saharan Africa, about the situation in sub-Saharan regions and countries, about the guiding principles that have shaped the work of Sister to Sister, and about the sources of hope that sustain the women in African with whom they work.

‘Can you drink the cup that I will drink? - HIV/AIDS: meeting the challenges, exploring the questions’ lecture

All-Africa Conference: Sister to Sister (AACSS)

Catholic HIV and other worship materials

World AIDS Day Resources: Positive Rites is a 90+ page booklet of worship resources, many of which deal particularly with previous World AIDS Day themes. It also contains some of the services used in past years at Southwark Anglican Cathedral, CAFOD/Caritas events throughout the world.
£3.00 each, or £5.00 ....

Stigma and Manchester is HIV Positive

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:57:22 +0000

HIV awareness and challenging HIV stigma are the twin themes in Manchester for the city’s World Aids Day efforts – Manchester is HIV Positive. December 1st, World AIDS Day, is in under two weeks.

The Manchester is HIV Positive campaign says the city is:

Positive about raising HIV awareness across the city

Positive about HIV prevention

Positive about promoting HIV testing

Positive about supporting those affected by HIV

Positive about challenging stigma and prejudice.

HIV Stigma in Canal Street - banner ditched in canal

The need to continue to strongly challenge HIV stigma is stark. Last Friday, the city’s World Aids Day Partnership put up a Manchester is HIV Positive banner along Canal Street, in the heart of Manchester's gay village, but by the Monday the banner was dumped in the canal. It was rescued and restored to the Sackville Park railings beside the Beacon of Hope, the city's permanent awareness monument, but it shows the size of HIV stigma problem we have, even in the gay village.

Manchester World AIDS Day team

The Lesbian & Gay Foundation, George House Trust, Black Health Agency and Manchester City Council ....

Performance - How I Became An Asylum Seeker

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:17:52 +0000

Women Asylum Seekers Together and Community Arts North West present a performance of How I Became an Asylum Seeker, on Thursday 3 December, in Hulme, Manchester. Free entry but donations welcome.

Monique seeks asylum in the UK after fleeing persecution following the murder of her husband. Isolated in a remote and unsympathetic immigration system, Monique eventually finds support through a women’s asylum self-help group.

It is a work in progress based on a true story, written by Lydia Besong, performed by members of the WAST group, directed by Magdalen Bartlett and supported by Michelle Ugodu (vocals) and Siobhan Mcgurik (video).

Women Asylum Seekers Together
Community Arts NW

Want Seats? call Community Arts NW 0161 234 2975 or email

Performance details

Thursday 3 December

6pm / 18.00hr

Zion Arts Centre 335 Stretford Road, Hulme, M15 5ZA

0161 226 1912

How to get there

Manchester Advice at Royal Infirmary

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:04:45 +0000

Manchester Advice has a rights adviser who can help with problems such as benefits, housing, debt and consumer issues at the Hathersage Centre. The Hathersage Centre is the new HIV/STI clinic for Manchester Royal Infirmary.

Appointments
To see the adviser Chris, please make an appointment to see her -  call the Hathersage Centre on 276 5221 (leave a message)

OR

Text Chris Clarke the advice worker on 0782 7878 375

OR

call her direct at Manchester Advice - Chris Clarke - her direct line is 0161 234 3305.

Hathersage Centre is the HIV and sexual health clinic at Manchester Royal Infirmary

280 Upper Brook Street, Manchester, M13 0FH
0161 901 1555

The building is at the junction of Upper Brook Street and Hathersage Road

Hepatitis C and HIV Outlook

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:03:43 +0000

We can now say that having both hepatitis C and HIV doesn’t make it any more likely people will go on to develop an AIDS illness, but people do have a worsened chance of dying early.

One third higher risk of early death

A massive study of all the studies, a ‘meta-analysis’ of over 100,000 people has produced these findings. Since effective HIV treatment became available in the mid 1990s, co-infected people still have a 35% higher risk of death compared to people with just HIV.

The investigators believe that that “the major contributor to mortality among co-infected subjects during the HAART [highly active antiretroviral therapy] era is likely to be liver disease.”

HIV treatments mean that many people with HIV can look forward to a long and healthy life. However, the outlook for people with both HIV and hepatitis C is significantly shorter than for people who only have HIV.

Indeed, liver-related disease is now an important cause of death in HIV/hepatitis co-infected patients. Although there is a lot of evidence showing that HIV accelerates the course of hepatitis C disease, there is less agreement about the effect of hepatitis C on HIV disease progression.

A team of US investigators therefore conducted a meta-analysis of 37 ....

New HIV Job in Preston

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:13:41 +0000

Preston is the place for a new fulltime HIV services co-ordinator for CLASS.

They say 'This post offers a unique opportunity to develop support opportunities for those living with and affected by HIV in Central Lancashire, offering a partnership approach with existing services and harnessing the skills and experiences of those living with and affected by HIV.

You’ll be part of Drugline-Lancashire Ltd under its SHIVER (Sexual Health HIV Education and Reponses) banner.'

The job is funded by Central Lancashire PCT and Lancashire County Council Social Services.

Do you have a relevant degree and/or comparable counselling/adult training qualifications?

You will require excellent listening, counselling, communication, supervision/support, presentation/training, monitoring /reporting, case working and administrative skills.

You will demonstrate an up to date knowledge and understanding of HIV and Sexual Health and ideally have experience of working with volunteers.

You will be able to work in a flexible way and have confidence in individual and group settings.

Drugline – Lancashire Ltd has a commitment to personal staff development in line with DANOS and Equal Opportunities

For an Application Form and further details please contact:
Drugline – Lancashire Ltd. 2 Union Court, Union ....

Prayer or Medicine? leaflet

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:38:23 +0000

Mildmay, the international HIV charity based in London, have a leaflet that may be useful for some Christians with HIV concerned about treatment.

It deals with prayer, HIV treatments, and praying for healing. It quotes from the bible to show that using HIV treatments fits with Christian belief.

'It doesn't show lack of faith when we use medicines. Medicines are not different from everything else in creation: God gave them to us to use.'

"For everything that God created was good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer."

1 Timothy 4 v4. New International Bible

Prayer or Medicines for HIV leaflet

Mildmay

Stigma and Supporting Disclosure

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:49:28 +0000

How much do our friends and family influence our lives? Living with HIV, we rely on our social network for advice, emotional support, and information. But to get this HIV support, we have to disclose our HIV-positive status. Disclosing status almost always has some risk. We might be rejected, or experience their discomfort about HIV.

Practice makes telling easier
The advantages of telling others about being HIV positive status are well known, and one advantage is the "practice effect." The more we successfully tell others, the easier it becomes. Even if it didn’t go well, we still learn from the experience and will be more prepared next time. Positive experiences in telling others encourage us to do it again.

But negative experiences like rejection, and sometimes even physical abuse, may reinforce the social stigma we feel. What we feel and think about HIV stigma is based on what we know about the reality of HIV stigma and discrimination, the actual or potential social disenfranchisement, limitation of opportunity, and negative change in social identity.

Internalising stigma and the telling moment
Perceived stigma may lead to various outcomes, including negative changes in self-concept and emotional reactions toward those who ....

HIV and Mental Illness - Positive Solutions

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:12:44 +0000

Stigma often represents the most crucial element effecting people living with a wide range of illnesses. It negatively affects efforts to treat and prevent disease, and adversely affects individuals’ quality of life. The type of stigma varies with different conditions. This article highlights some causes and differences between the stigma associated with mental health compared with HIV, as well as successful strategies of reducing its impact.

Definitions of stigma include

social identity (deviance from what is normal),

power discrepancies (that allow discrimination), and

discrediting attributes that devalue people living with certain illnesses, such as HIV.

Stigma often appears as discrimination, hatred, intolerance, rejection, and exclusion.

Unrecognised internal stigma damages
However what is often under-recognised is the internal aspect of stigma. Internal manifestations can include self-loathing, shame, and self-blame – an intention behind the stigmatising comments and actions. The stigma can spread to others associated with the stigmatised individual or condition – such as family, friends, and even to institutions and clinics. As a result anyone associating with patients, or visiting centres, can be dragged into the net of stigma.

It can be helpful to consider stigma in other conditions so we can understand how it works differently ....

Health Must Deal With HIV Stigma

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:23:04 +0000

Healthcare providers can and must respond to HIV-associated stigma and discrimination, according to a review in the 'Journal of the International AIDS Society'.

“Stigma reduction in health facilities … has important implications for improving patient-provider interactions, improving quality of care, and creating a safe and supportive space for clients that can help them deal with, and in some cases challenge stigma from family and community members”, write the authors.

HIV and stigma

HIV is both preventable and treatable. However people with and at risk of HIV often experience stigma and discrimination. This can mean that they are put off from using HIV prevention, care and treatment services. Stigma is responsible for many people dropping out of HIV clinics, as we have reported.

Heathcare leads to most stigma complaints

Healthcare is the source of most complaints from people living with HIV in the UK - the NHS is the world’s largest employer. HIV stigma is rare in HIV clinics, but most often found among some dentists, GPs, and hospital departments unfamiliar with HIV. Stigma and discrimination in healthcare is, say the authors, “pernicious” and “its physical and mental health consequences to patients can be damaging.”

Little attention has been paid to HIV-related stigma and discrimination in health care, ....

Asylum Support Section 4 Changes

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:13:50 +0000

Important changes were made to Section Four Support on 14 October, by the UK Borders Agency. These changes are likely to cause serious difficulties for destitute asylum seekers.

On 14 October the UKBA introduced a surprise new policy for Section 4 support for people who apply for it on the grounds of making a fresh asylum claim. These changes apply immediately and may cause serious difficulties for destitute asylum seekers who are applying for support.

Read the detailed factsheet from the Asylum Support Appeals Project.

Hepatitis C - Blood Blamed

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:39:19 +0000

Contact with blood, not semen, is how hepatitis C is being passed on among some gay men living with with HIV. This is what is now being reported at the European HIV conference underway in Cologne, Germany.

Fisting, group sex, and snorting drugs emerged early on as significant risk factors for sexual transmission of hepatitis C. But unprotected anal sex on its own, without fisting, parties and snorting drugs, doesn't seem to transmit hepatitis C.

The investigators believe we should refocusing hepatitis C prevention campaigns for HIV-infected gay men from warning about unprotected sex to warning about transmission, probably through tiny, usually invisible, droplets of blood.

Since 2000 outbreaks of sexually transmitted hepatitis C have been reported amongst HIV-positive gay men in a number of large northern European cities including London, Amsterdam and Berlin. Unprotected anal sex and fisting were quickly identified as risk factors.

Semen or Blood?

But is hepatitis C transmitted through the semen (like HIV), or through blood in these encounters?

Because men living with HIV have a higher hepatitis C viral load in semen than men without HIV, this could explain the higher rates of hepatitis C among HIV positive gay men. But HIV-negative partners (of gay men with both HIV and hepatitis C) almost never get heptaitis C, so it looks like it ....

Asylum Changes Planned

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:49:47 +0000

Plans for yet another immigration law were outlined by Prime Minister Gordon Brown yesterday. A white paper outlining the proposals is now out and the government plans to push the new law through Parliament after the general election, expected in May. If the government lose the election, we can expect to see something similar, or worse, from the conservatives.

A 243-page draft immigration bill – the eighth major piece of immigration and asylum legislation since Labour came to power in 1997 – is designed to "simplify and consolidate" the baffling jigsaw of bills and rule changes introduced since the 1971 Immigration Act.

Here we've picked out some key proposals that will affect some people with HIV.

Easy Deportation
The bill proposes sweeping changes in immigration procedures, including the replacing the deportation process with a general power to expel failed asylum seekers and illegal migrants.

People would also be banned from returning to Britain for a fixed period or indefinitely.

Slashed asylum housing and support
The Home Office also plans major changes to welfare support for asylum seekers.

It wants to stop housing and benefit payments after just three months for people who are told to leave the country. Families told ....

Advice at North Manchester Hospital

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:46:05 +0000

A new welfare rights service for people living with HIV has opened at North Manchester General Hospital.

The specialist advice worker is Karina Knight and she can help with things like:

benefits

housing

debt and

consumer problems.

Call 0161 234 3923 to book an appointment with advice worker Karina Knight.

Prevention Priority in Europe

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:48:00 +0000

Prevention looks set to be the major theme of the 12th European AIDS Conference, which officially opened in Cologne, Germany, on November 11th.

Launching the conference to the media, Prof. Francoise Barre-Sinoussi said that preventing HIV from establishing itself in individuals was now one of the priorities of basic research into the virus. And Prof. Jurgen Rockstroh of Bonn University highlighted that 50% of HIV infections are undiagnosed in Europe.

Reducing the amount of undiagnosed HIV and providing HIV treatment and care would improve health outcomes and help prevent new infections, he told the media.

Basic research: better drugs, better prevention

Over 4000 people are in Cologne to learn about recent developments in Europe’s HIV epidemic.

Current HIV treatment is highly effective and doctors are increasingly hopeful that patients in Europe have the chance to live a near-normal lifespan. Prof. Barre-Sinoussi said that one of the main objectives of basic research into HIV now was to find new targets for antiretroviral drugs, and even ways of eradicating HIV infection.

She suggested that research into so-called “elite controllers” – rare HIV-positive people who don’t get HIV symptoms of the infection and have a very low viral load – could improve both HIV treatment and help with ....

Stigma – Why and When it’s Upsetting

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:47:53 +0000

Some types of HIV-related stigma cause much more harm and upset to people living with HIV, than other types of stigma. The types of stigma that cause most upset seem to be

problems with health care workers,

secrecy and lack of openness within the family, and

exaggerated kindness from members of your family.

“Our findings suggest that certain setting-specific manifestations of stigma are indeed more psychologically damaging than others”, comment the Dutch investigators in the article in the journal AIDS.

There is a lot of research showing that HIV-related stigma causes psychological distress. No-one before has looked at the impact of different types of stigma, in different situations.

In 2007, Dutch investigators did a “snap-shot” study of 669 people living with HIV. The people had a mean age of 47 years and were well educated, with almost 50% having a degree. Most (80%) were gay men, 68% were in employment and 48% had a partner.

Each answered a questionnaire about the most distressing affects of stigma in six settings (friends, family, healthcare, partner, work, and leisure).

The questionnaire allowed people to select from eleven types of stigma

advice to conceal HIV infection or not ....

How-To Guide for African HIV Prevention

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:43:05 +0000

Sigma Research have just published the 'How-To' guide for HIV prevention among Africans living in the UK, called the "African HIV prevention Handbook: putting The Knowledge, The Will and The Power into practice."

This follows the prevention action plan produced in 2007-08 with the National African HIV Prevention Programme (NAHIP). That described the state of the HIV epidemic among African people living in England and set out the purpose, targets and aims for planning HIV prevention for Africans in this country. The chief goal is to minimise the number of sexual HIV acquisitions and transmissions involving African people living in England.

Sigma worked closely with the NAHIP to produce this ‘How-To’ handbook. It clearly describes the broad range of possible HIV prevention interventions, and clarifies the concepts and the language used to describe various interventions. It describes prevention interventions, their limitations and ways to get the best out of them.

Working well together has led to this handbook with clear and purposeful descriptions of existing ongoing and future HIV prevention interventions for African people in England. Sigma tell us they are proud of the partnership behind this and hope that it will support everyone concerned with reducing HIV transmissions.

1 in 10 with Anal Chlamydia

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:30:02 +0000

Swiss researchers have found that large numbers of HIV-positive gay men have anal infection with the sexually transmitted infection chlamydia.

There’s now quite a lot of research showing that people with HIV, especially gay men, have high rates of sexually transmitted infections. These STIs cause unpleasant symptoms, and increase the risk of HIV transmission.

1 in 10 infected

Swiss researchers looked at rates of anal chlamydia in 147 gay men with HIV. All reported recent unprotected sex. They found more than 1 in 10 of the men have anal chlamydia – it is found in 11% of these men.

The more sexual partners the men had, the more likely they were to have anal chlamydia. If you have symptoms of anal chlamydia (some men don’t have symptoms) the symptoms are soreness around the anus and a discharge.

This isn’t the first study to find high rates of anal chlamydia in HIV-positive gay men, and routine tests for anal chlamydia should be made as part of the regular sexual health check-up.

Queensland in Australia provide a home sampling kit and run an awareness campaign for gay men from where this poster illustration comes

Chlamydia information from NAM

Source

Hope with 3rd Drug to Treat Hepatits C

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:08:56 +0000

Adding a new hepatitis C protease inhibitor to existing treatments for hepatitis C led to a 'cure' for 80% of people who just have hepatitis C, a new study C has shown.

Trials are now starting on whether adding this extra drug will also work for people who also have HIV. These trials were delayed because of concerns about interactions between this new hepatitis C protease inhibitor, telaprevir, and anti-HIV drugs.

The patients in the study had hepatitis C genotype 1 infection – one of the harder-to-treat strains of hepatitis C.

Many people with HIV are also infected with hepatitis C (co-infection), and liver disease caused by hepatitis C is now a significant cause of death for people with the two infections.

Treatment for hepatitis C is with both pegylated interferon and ribavirin. Treatment normally lasts for a year, and can cause unpleasant side-effects. The aim is a 'cure'. This type of 'cure' means having an undetectable hepatitis C viral load six months after treatment has been completed.

Best hope for hepatitis C treatment with HIV is to start as soon as possible

Patients who start treatment soon after they are infected with hepatitis C have the best chance of this outcome. If you have already had hepatits C for some ....

Good for Treatment-Experienced Youngsters

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:32:10 +0000

More excellent news from France, this time for children and young people people with drug-resistant HIV due to taking many HIV drugs – you can reach an undetectable viral load with a new three drug combination - the results are almost as good as starting treatment for the first time.

At the end of October news of the same combination's success with adults appeared.

The French study involved twelve children taking a combination of HIV treatment that included darunavir / ritonavir (Prezista), etravirine (Intelence), and raltegravir (Isentress). All twelve children had extensive resistance to anti-HIV drugs.

Nevertheless, after a year of treatment, all but one had a viral load below 400 copies/ml, and average CD4 cell count had increased from 124 cells/mm3 to over 500 cells/mm3.

None of the children developed a serious HIV-related illness or died, and only one stopped treatment because of side-effects.

The researchers describe these results as “remarkable”.

Source

Quick HIV Needs Conference

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:56:02 +0000

A half day HIV conference in London just before World AIDS Day will attempt to answer the question - What do people living with HIV need now?

Hestia Housing & Support are putting on a free conference around HIV services and what people living with HIV need now. Councils are increasingly mainstreaming the provision of HIV services. Is this the right way forward? What should be the future of HIV services in England?

Looking at this from professional and service user perspectives, the conference covers

The housing needs of people living with HIV

Future commissioning possibilities in HIV social care

Financial needs of people living with HIV and the trends of applications to hardship funds

What women with HIV need

A Service Users perspective

The conference is for commissioners, workers and all those interested in the future of HIV services.

Conference Programme for 27 November

Speakers
The speakers are

Neil Gerrard, MP - Labour MP for Walthamstow & Former Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on AIDS

Peter Weatherburn - Director, Sigma Research (What do You Need? and Framework for Better Living with HIV in ....

HIV and supporting women’s health

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:28:27 +0000

The first study of women's health around the world by the World Health Organisation (WHO) says HIV is the top cause of death and disease among women between the ages of 15 and 44. While women provide the bulk of HIV care and support across the world, women’s own health needs, including for HIV, are neglected. The report from WHO is called Women and health: today's evidence tomorrow's agenda.

Women’s vulnerability through unsafe sex is the leading risk factor in developing countries for women of childbearing age, alongside not being able to obtain contraceptives and iron deficiency, the WHO said. Throughout the world, one in five deaths among women in this age group is linked to unsafe sex.
"Women who do not know how to protect themselves from such infections, or who are unable to do so, face increased risks of death or illness," WHO say in their 91-page report. "So do those who cannot protect themselves from unwanted pregnancy or control their fertility because of lack of access to contraception."

Women provide most health care, but rarely receive the care they need
Worldwide, women provide the bulk of health care - whether in the home, the community or the health system, ....

Guidelines to protect expert HIV advice

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:42:22 +0000

Expert independent HIV advice to the government should be on a firmer foundation from Christmas. Faith in how the government treats all the scientific advice it asks for and is given, including HIV advice, was rocked when the Home Secretary, Alan Johnson, sacked the chair of the independent Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs.

Scientists, HIV experts and others asked themselves - what is the point of advising the government with the best scientific views, if that advice can be treated with contempt and the government also then shoots the messenger?

Guidelines by Christmas
Now the science minister, Lord Drayson, has committed the government to producing guidelines by Christmas to ensure the independence of its scientific advisers. The move comes after ministers faced days of criticism from senior scientists, MPs and commentators, over the sacking of the independent chair for drugs advice, David Nutt.

A bit of sacking background

Home Secretary Alan Johson sacked Professor Nutt after he overrruled the Advisory Council for the Misuse of Drugs' advice and made cannabis crimes more serious by moving cannabis from grade C to grade B. Nutt is an academic professor who writes articles in academic journals and gives lectures. Johnson stamped his foot like a toddler when Nutt carried on giving the ....

HIV Stigma Index at Parliament

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:36:49 +0000

The launch of the UK section of the international HIV Stigma Index will be the highlight of a Westminster World AIDS Day event.

At Parliament on 30th November the results of the most comprehensive survey into stigma faced by people living with HIV in the UK will be launched.

Whether its graffiti scrawled on your front door, or your child being ostracised at school, HIV stigma continues to thrive in the UK. If we are to tackle HIV stigma, we must first understand it, and The Stigma Index gives a sharp insight into the nasty face of HIV stigma in the UK today.

You will hear from the people who conducted the survey about the key findings. There is high profile line up on the panel including the Secretary of State for Health and Annie Lennox.

This should be an upbeat and dynamic event, with a mix of personal stories and policy recommendations.

UK First Fruits

The UK is the first country in Europe and one of the first in the world to undertake a full rollout of The People Living with HIV Stigma Index initiative. This international stigma index is a pioneering community research and advocacy initiative that has been developed by and for people living ....

HIV Flash Mob First

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:40:45 +0000

What are you doing on Saturday afternoon on 28 November? Nothing very exciting? Then be part of the Manchester World AIDS Day Partnership's first Flash Mob!

We're mobbing together as many people as we can find to take part in something just a little different this year to raise awareness of HIV in the North West. Sound like ...your cup of tea?

Email emma at LGF to find out how to get into Flash Mobbing for HIV

Don't know what the heck a flashmob is? Check out about Flash Mobs here

Facebook information on the Manchester WAD partnership

Compulsory Sex / HIV Education

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:51:06 +0000

The government has announced that sex education will become compulsory for all schools, including lessons on gay relationships, and sexually transmitted infections such as HIV. But this will only be compulsory from age 15. Before that age, parents can stop their child attending any sex education lessons.

From September 2011, the law will change to make it compulsory for all young people in England to learn about sex between the ages of 15 and 16, even if their parents object. In religious schools the sex education the state requires to be taught to all can be contradicted by the religious teaching.

Learn from 5

Sex education will start from the age of five. Primary school children will learn about their bodies and puberty, along with marriages, divorces and civil partnerships. Pupils in secondary schools will learn about contraception, gay and lesbian relationships and HIV, as well as the emotional implications of having sex. Faith schools, like other schools, will be forced to teach about homosexuality, civil partnerships, divorce and abortion.

Religious spin and opt outs

However, faith schools, mainly Roman Catholic and Church of England, can teach this sex education in line with their beliefs and teachings. They are required to educate pupils about issues such ....

EU - Cut New Infections

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:51:03 +0000

The EU has just launched a Europe-wide strategy to cut the number of new HIV infections within the next 5 years, improve access to testing, prevention, treatment, care and support services, and to improve the quality of life of people living with HIV.

It concentrates on 3 key areas: HIV prevention and HIV testing, priority groups most at risk of HIV, and priority regions. The strategy is accompanied by an action plan that gives the actions, target groups and evaluation tools that can be used to measure progress.

EU Health Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou said
"We need to continue the political momentum in the fight against HIV/AIDS. We need to encourage people to take responsibility for themselves and their partners by talking about and practicing safe sex and going for HIV testing. However, this needs to go hand in hand with the respect for the human rights and non-discrimination of people living with HIV/AIDS.”

The job we face
The strategy calls on all key actors including national authorities and NGOs to work on:

improving information for all, especially targeting young people

informing migrants from countries with a high prevalence of HIV about preventing transmission, ....

Women Asylum Seekers Charter

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:07:06 +0000

George House Trust, like many organisations, has enthusiastically endorsed the Charter of rights of women asylum seekers.

By endorsing the Charter George House Trust has committed itself to doing what it can to promote the rights and actions in the Charter.

We will be able to do this through regional/national forums, the Detention Users Group, meetings with accommodation providers, and the staff will also be able to support this through trade union meetings.

Google group sign up
We and other supporters can also join the new Women’s Asylum Charter Google group. Joining the Google group will enable people interested in the campaign in touch with people working on similar issues and help share good practice and monitor progress. This coordination and feedback makes all our efforts more effective.

To join the Google group, please go to http://groups.google.co.uk/group/womens_asylum_charter?hl=en-GB. You will need to create a Google account if you don’t already have one. If you have any difficulties with joining the Google group, please contact charter@asylumaid.org.uk

Own website?
To help promote the Charter it would be great if you could put this link on your website www.asylumaid.org.uk

Direct link to Charter page

It's Better to Know

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:46:07 +0000

'It's better to know' is a testing campaign explaining that with modern medicine people can expect a long and healthy life with HIV - but only if you test and start treatment soon enough. Illustrated with pictures of Africans, it's produced by the African communities team at THT.

As they say, if you test negative there is more reason to saty negative, and positive or negative it is better to know.

Late HIV diagnosis is common among African people especially. Late diagnosis is not good for anyone's health prospects.

Visit the mambo website for more information - Mambo is a healthier lifestyle magazine for Africans in England.

African AIDS Helpline 0800 0967 500

50Plus – What Do You Need?

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:37:33 +0000

50Plus is research by Terrence Higgins Trust with Age Concern (England) and Help the Aged. It’s to find out the needs and concerns of people over 50 living with HIV in the UK, so services can be improved. Currently, we know we could be doing more and better for people over 50 with HIV, whether someone is newly diagnosed, or has been living with HIV for many years.

£100 prizes

There are two £100 prizes of shopping vouchers which will be randomly awarded for people who take part.

Near 900 people with HIV over 50 in NW England

There are more people over 50 with HIV than ever before and numbers are rising rapidly. In NW England already 16% (864) people diagnosed with HIV are over 50. We know people will need support in various ways, but want services to e based on the real needs of people over 50 with HIV, not our best guess. So we’re asking as many people in their 50s ‘what do you need?’.

Age makes a difference?
What’s different about living with HIV as you get older? It might be different health problems. It might be the worry of retiring without anything other than a basic state ....

Gay Blood Donor Ban Plans

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:55:09 +0000

The longstanding ban on gay men giving blood, for fear that HIV might get into the country's blood supply, was debated last week as part of a national consultation.

The meeting, held by the Independent Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs, is part of the latest review of the long list of people banned from giving blood for life.

Gay men and other men who have ever had sex with another man, people who have injected drugs, prostitutes and those who have ever had syphilis, hepatitis B or hepatitis C are all banned for life. Others are banned for a shorter time, such as people who have visited some countries, or had sex with someone from some countries.

Suggestions

One suggestion for a new policy for gay men and blood donations was to allow donations from gay men who have not had sex with another man in the last five years, banning only those who have had anal sex rather than oral sex, and lifting the ban on women who have had sex with a gay or bisexual man.

The meeting began with talks from some experts. Dr Richard Tedder, a microbiologist from University College London, argued that viruses were "not politically ....

Global Healthcare and HIV

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:25:35 +0000

Two weeks ago we pointed to the Financial Times article questionning whether spending on HIV was the best use of healthcare money in the developing world. Now some international health economists have further questionned this, and call for a shift of funding to providing the basics such as clean water, sewage treatment, and medicines for treating the mass childhood killers like diarrhoea and malaria.

The focus in healthcare spending in Africa on AIDS, has, say some experts, led to neglect of other fatal conditions that are killing young children. Top scientists are therefore demanding a controversial overhaul of health spending in Africa, arguing that the billions of pounds targeted at HIV during the past 20 years have led to a neglect of other killer diseases and basic health problems such as diarrhoea.

$8 billion a year for HIV

Developed countries poured $13.2bn (£8.2bn) last year into efforts to combat HIV, chiefly for Africa, up from $480m in 1996. But only eight countries, all in southern Africa, remain in the grip of a severe AIDS crisis, while World Health Organisation data show that five of the biggest killers in Africa are illnesses that affect children under the age of five.

Diarrhoea, TB, malaria
Childhood diarrhoea kills an estimated ....

Expert Prosecutions Panel

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:39:02 +0000

Clive Anderson (the broadcaster and barrister) chairs an expert panel to discuss prosecution of HIV transmission issues.

London’s City Law School hosts an impressive pnel of speakers on 1 December, World AIDS Day, to debate the issues around the criminalisation of HIV transmission.

What are the arguments for and against criminalising the transmission of HIV and other serious sexually transmitted infections?

What are the legal principles that inform this complex area of law

Wat factors should be taken into account when deciding to prosecute?

Should public health considerations take priority over demands for retribution and punishment?

What evidence is there that criminalisation works?

Your Panel of Pundits

Clive Anderson, Barrister & Broadcaster - Chair

Yusef Azad, Director of Policy & Campaigns, National AIDS Trust

Catherine Dodds, Senior Research Fellow, Sigma Research, University of Portsmouth

Arwel Jones, Team Leader of the Domestic Affairs Division Crown Prosecution Service

Matthew Weait, Reader in Socio-Legal Studies, School of Law, Birkbeck University and author of Intimacy and Responsibility, The Criminalisation of HIV Transmission.

Bookings
Place          Oliver Thompson Lecture Theatre, Northampton Square, London EC1V 0HB
map and directions

18.00 ....

Anti-Gay Law to Hit HIV+ Ugandans

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:49:36 +0000

While Kenya has just started a survey of gay men in its first real step towards HIV prevention for Kenyan men who have sex with men, Uganda is increasing its legal discrimination. The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission is calling for strong international protests.

Easy email Protest Action
Make an automatic protest by email with the International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission - click here

Uganda has similar colonial-era anti-gay laws to Kenya. But Uganda now wants to make them even tougher. This will worsen attempts at HIV prevention among the men who have sex with men in Uganda.

The Ugandan Parliament is debating a new law to confirm the existing criminal penalties for homosexuality and to criminalise the "promotion of homosexuality." You can get life imprisonment for a simple touch.

Homosexual activity and HIV - death sentence proposed

HIV means any homosexual act will be treated as ‘aggravated homosexuality’ and the sentence for this will be death.

Law to apply to Ugandans in the UK

The draft law claims to apply to all Ugandan nationals living abroad, including in the UK. Not welcome news for HIV positive Ugandan men who have sex with men here.

....

Kenya To Count Gay Men

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:18:28 +0000

HIV and gay rights campaigners in Kenya are likely to welcome Kenya’s attempt to carry out a nationwide survey to find out how many gay men there are, despite homosexuality still being illegal.

In a move described as a first for Africa, the Kenyan National Aids/STD Control Programme (Nascop) said it would begin the six-month research in December in an effort to help stop the spread of HIV.
Under the Kenyan penal code, a relic of British colonial rule, gay sex is punished by up to 14 years in jail. Gay and lesbian organisations have long complained that the law and widespread homophobia makes using and providing HIV treatment and prevention services difficult.

HIV prevention to target gay men
Nicholas Muraguri, director of Nascop, said the results of the study would facilitate targeted interventions, such as condom distribution, information on safe sexual practices and voluntary HIV testing. "We cannot continue excluding this group identified as a key driver to new HIV/Aids infections," Muraguri told the Standard newspaper in Nairobi.

Because of the law and the stigma attached to homosexuality – the recent marriage of two Kenyan men in the UK resulted in nasty news coverage and threats to their families ....

Zimbabwe - Forced Returns Protests

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 10:54:51 +0000

Refugee and HIV organisations were among those angered and concerned by Home Office ministers saying that Zimbabwe is now safe enough to resume the forcible return of thousands of refused asylum seekers.

Bad timing?

The announcement by the immigration minister, Phil Woolas (MP for the NW constituency of Oldham East and Saddleworth), came just as the UN's monitor on torture was forcibly expelled from Harare, and when Amnesty International warned that the country was "on the brink of sliding back into violence".

Woolas told MPs that he was encouraging Zimbabweans whose asylum application in Britain had been rejected to return home voluntarily by including a £2,000 cash payment in a total repatriation package worth up to £6,000. But he also said the UK Border Agency was resuming work on a programme of enforced returns to Zimbabwe.

"We have always expected those not to be in need of protection to return home. We prefer these individuals to return voluntarily, and the enhancements to the assisted voluntary return scheme will support this," he said. "But where they choose not to do so, we are bound to take steps over time to enforce the law."

George House Trust comment

That’s perhaps more ....

50 Pounds for Fun and 100 Words

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:08:08 +0000

Go out and have fun with some positive friends, write 100 words about it, take a photo (if you can) and send it all to Gus. Be quick - it needs to reach him no later than Friday 4 November. Gus says even a two-sentence quote will do, he doesn't want it to seem like an assignment!

Every published piece of writing for the Christmas and World AIDS Day issue of HIV Treatment Update will get £50.

Gus Cairns wants the Christmas/World AIDS Day issue of HIV Treatment Update to talk about your experiences of HIV socialising: how you meet other positive people and have fun with them.

The idea is to have it written by the people who go to groups and people who do things. It doesn’t matter if you think you can’t write proper English – send it in and he’ll tidy it up.

How do you beat isolation and stigma?
As Gus says, HIV positive people often face isolation and stigma (sometimes self-imposed) but in line with the piece on happiness in the last HIV Treatment Update, they want people’s stories of how you overcome isolation and stigma.

Do you have a circle of HIV positive friends you network with, or an HIV+friendly circle?
....

Hep C - relapsed or reinfected?

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:20:57 +0000

About a third of HIV-positive people who have both hepatitis C and HIV relapse (become ill again) after being treated for hepatitis C. Gay men and people who have ever injected drugs are more likely to have hepatitis C than other people with HIV.

Cure possible, but different strains, relapses and reinfections

Unlike HIV, hepatitis C can be cured. It is treated with two drugs taken together, pegylated interferon and ribavirin. How long you need treatment for depends on which strain of hepatitis C you have. If you have the harder-to-treat genotypes 1 and 4, you need 48 weeks of treatment, but people with genotypes 2 and 3 usually have half this - 24 weeks treatment.

Undetectable hepatitis viral load?

Hepatitis C treatment aims for an undetectable hepatitis C viral load. There are two checks to see if it has worked, once at the end of treatment, and 6 months after treatment ended. If hepatitis is still undetectable after 6 months they call this a sustained virological response, and this is considered to be a cure.

1 in 3 success for people with HIV, but a relapse awaits 1 in 3
But only about a third of people with HIV who have had hepatitis ....

Good Results for Treatment-Experienced

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:14:16 +0000

Excellent news from France for people with drug-resistant HIV due to taking many HIV drugs - people can reach an undetectable viral load with a new three drug combination - the results are almost as good as starting treatment for the first time.

Treatment with a combination of three newer anti-HIV drugs – darunavir/ritonavir (Prezista), etravirine (Intelence) and raltegravir (Isentress) – means that the viral load of patients who’ve taken a lot of anti-HIV drugs in the past and have drug-resistant virus can become undetectable.

French researchers looked at how effective this combination was for 90 people. All had resistance to protease inhibitors and NRTIs. Some patients also took additional drugs in their combination – either two NRTIs or the fusion inhibitor T-20 (enfuvirtide, Fuzeon). These additional drugs were selected after resistance testing and were called the ‘optimised background’.

Results similar to people first starting treatment

After a year of treatment, 83% of people on the new-drug combination had an undetectable viral load. This outcome is similar to that seen in people starting HIV treatment for the first time. It didn’t matter if a person was taking these drugs with an optimised background of other drugs – the results were equally impressive.

People also had ....

Gay men and FS magazine

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:07:57 +0000

There's a lot of good stuff for gay men living with HIV in GMFA's FS magazine's NW edition.

The latest issue has

a personal account of living with HIV from Adam, 23

a really helpful main feature - 21 ways to upgrade your life - excellent help for getting out of a rut and to help deal with depression

article about navigating open relationships

6 ways to stop condoms breaking

dealing with abuse and violence

problem page and more

current NW edition pdf

dozens of back issues (London, not NW version)

Vaccine – No breakthrough

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:11:22 +0000

At the end of September people got rather excited about HIV vaccines. For the first time ever we had some hopeful vaccine trial results. They seemed to show the risk of HIV transmission in Thailand was cut by just under one third, using a combination of two vaccines.

But these bright hopes were dashed when the full results were published at the HIV vaccine conference that has just ended in Paris.

Full results shows the vaccine is only modestly effective and does not protect those at highest risk of HIV.

Surprised

The news in September that the controversial $105m (£64m) trial was an unexpected success took experts by surprise and sparked excitement around the world. However, it is now clear that there is little to cheer.

Dashing Hopes in Results

The full results published online by the New England Journal of Medicine show

The vaccine did not protect those at high risk of HIV infection, such as sex workers and intravenous drug users

The vaccine’s protection fell after 12 months

If you remove the results of the people who didn’t have all the vaccine shots, the apparent protection provided by the vaccine seems to ....

World AIDS Day - Lancashire

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:24:53 +0000

World AIDS Day (1 December) is being made a red letter day across Lancashire. Here’s the events we already know about.

Pantomine and Cabaret
25 November Red Ribbon Pantomine @ Twaites Theatre Blackburn
27 November Red Ribbon Cabaret @ 53 degrees, UCLAN, Preston
Full details here

Ormskirk Clubbing
WAD 1st December
Outrageous club in Ormskirk, WAD fundraiser for CLASS (CLASS provide HIV support from Preston for people in central Lancashire)

HIV Vigil - Preston and Blackburn
WAD Vigil, 7.30pm St Johns Minster, Church Street, Preston
WAD Vigil, 7.30pm (to be confirmed) Blackburn Cathedral, Blackburn

Event
Friday 4th December, Preston FLAG Market (Market Square) Celebrating life with HIV event - we've not been told when - email Andy Thompson the LGBT community worker at SHIVER

Schools and Colleges Awareness - Blackpool
From 6 December there’s a week of awareness in several schools as part of the 'Respect' week. There will be speakers on ‘respect’ issues such as domestic violence, homophobic bullying and sexual health.
A speaker living with HIV will give an informal talk on Friday 4 December to 6th form students who are being trained as teenage peer educators, and to the whole sixth ....

Positive Women and Mental Health

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:05:17 +0000

Positively Women's current issue looks at mental health of women living with HIV. Writing by around 15 different women gives this issue lots of fresh ways of looking at mental health for positive women.

Read about

mental health and HIV

prison and mental health

post-natal depression

HIV treatment and mental health

dementia

hypnotherapy, and more.

Mental health is a serious topic but the writing is thought-provoking and optimistic, with the emphasis on hope and recovery.

Positively Women is free to women living with HIV - if you are interested in subscribing to the magazine please call Anjie Mailey on 020 7713 0444.

The subscriptions webpage is here

You can read some sample pages of this latest issue on mental health here

Back issues of Positively Women you can download (free) as a pdf

Swine Flu - H1N1 flu

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:21:10 +0000

Updated 16 October. Swine Flu is still about and the Chief Medical Officer has pointed to a spike in new cases last week.

High-risk patients and frontline health workers in hospitals will be the first to be inoculated from 21 October. More than 4m doses of Pandemrix will be delivered to GP surgeries the following week so that patients in priority groups, including people living with HIV, can be given protective injections.

A national postal strike could disrupt the process severely, the Chief Medical Officer Liam Donaldson warned, saying it could prevent doctors from sending out letters to vulnerable patients to invite them in for vaccination.

Vaccination schedule
• 21 October 415,000 doses of the vaccine Pandremix will be given to high-risk patients in hospitals and to frontline health workers.
• Week beginning 26 October 4.4 million doses of Pandremix to be delivered to GPs. Doctors will inoculate patients in priority groups – such as those with compromised immune systems (eg HIV) and pregnant women.
• At the same time 236,500 doses of Pandremix and 49,200 doses of another vaccine, Celvapan, will be sent to NHS primary care trusts.
• The World Health Organisation has backed the use of Pandremix for pregnant women despite claims ingredients have not ....

UK 9th in EU on HIV

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:39:44 +0000

The UK is 9th out of 29 in Europe for how well it manages HIV, according to a new EU Index. A lack of political leadership at EU level is hindering HIV prevention, treatment and care policies, according to the new Index.

The authors of the study say the results show that in order to improve care and conditions for people living with HIV there is an "urgent need" to review and "radically improve" the way HIV is managed.

The results of the first European HIV Index were published at a conference in the European parliament on Tuesday.

HIV infection keeps growing in Europe. In order to improve care and conditions for people living with HIV but also to prevent further spread of HIV, there is urgent need to review and radically improve HIV management. Changes is needed in law, HIV care and social conditions.

This is argued for in the Euro HIV Index (EHIVI) 2009, which was presented today in Brussels. Luxembourg leads the ranking among European 29 countries in this first survey of HIV policy and best practice, with 857 points (out of 1,000), followed by Malta (791) and Switzerland (775).

One of the report's authors, Dr Beatriz Cebolla told the audience that ....

Human Rights Wrong for Healthcare

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 12:46:03 +0000

A controversial article in the Financial Times wades into the international debate about the “right to health”.

The notion of a “right to health” began in the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. One of its most eloquent advocates is Dr Paul Farmer, who earned fame with heroic efforts to give people access even to complex medical treatment amid extreme poverty in Haiti and Rwanda, saying that healthcare was “a fundamental human right, which should be available free”.

The article argues that the “right to health” and the efforts devoted to achieving universal access to HIV medicines across the globe may have cost more lives than it saved. The pragmatic approach – directing public resources to where they have the most health benefits for a given cost – historically achieved far more than the moral approach.

Read the full article here

Positive Gay Outcomes on the Mersey

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 12:09:23 +0000

Positive Outcomes is a half day mini conference for professionals. Sahir House, with George House Trust, the Armistead Centre and Terrence Higgins Trust Wirral, are promoting new services for HIV positive gay and bisexual men on Merseyside and improving how the statutory and voluntary sectors work together.

The aims are:
• up to date information on the wide range of community services for HIV+ gay and bisexual men
• joined-up services for HIV positive men across the sectors
• fast and effective referrals

The programme will include:
• Details of newly diagnosed courses, residential weekends and other services from Sahir House and George House Trust;
• Details of peer support, home visits, specialist counselling, in depth one to one casework services from THT and Armistead;
• Discussion on improving partnership working to meet people’s needs

Who for?
Anyone involved in supporting or improving the lives of HIV positive gay or bisexual men in Merseyside, including commissioners, community nurses, drugs workers, GPs, health advisors, medical specialists, nurse specialists, public health specialists, social workers and support workers are invited.

Where and When?
Friday 09.30-12.30, 23 October 2009, in Liverpool City Centre.

Booking essential
Free but you need to ....

Dying with Food Problems

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:58:55 +0000

Researchers in Canada have found that people taking HIV treatment who experience 'food insecurity' have an increased risk of death. The many destitute people refused asylum or leave to remain in the UK, as well as people on limited benefits and low incomes here, could face the same risk.

Food insecurity means not having enough nutritious food, or having uncertainty about obtaining food. Earlier research amongst injecting drug users taking HIV treatment in San Francisco showed that food-insecure patients were less likely to have an undetectable viral load.

Skinny and Hungry

Now researchers have found that current or former drug users in Vancouver, Canada, who are taking HIV treatment have a 50% increase in the risk of death if they experience food insecurity. The risk was especially high for people who were food insecure and underweight.
They recommend that poor patients in richer countries should receive food supplementation, and that there should be wider efforts to alleviate poverty.

More money or a Dietician?

Many HIV clinics in the UK have a specialist dietician who can provide information about diet. Specialist HIV social workers can also help you make sure that you have enough to eat. However the problem is largely one of poverty.

The government has ....

Two-thirds don’t get new sickness benefit

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:28:13 +0000

The loss of Incapacity Benefit, or much lower weekly benefit, hangs over many people living with HIV, within the next 2-3 years. This is the lesson from a report into the workings of Employment and Support Allowance which will replace Incapacity Benefit for everyone.

More than two-thirds of people who apply for the new sickness benefit fail in their claims. This suggests that many of the 2.6 million existing incapacity benefit claimants will be forced on to a lower level of benefit when they are assessed over the next two to three years. Only 5% claiming the new employment and support allowance now get the full £108.55 a week.

The findings come in research published today by the Department for Work and Pensions into the impact of a tougher medical assessment for the employment and support allowance (ESA), introduced in October. 36% of claimants have been refused because they are fit to work – more than double the rate of refusals under the old medical test.

The study of nearly 200,000 claims suggests the government will make big savings from its tougher approach to welfare, despite growing unemployment.

The results
Overall, the research found only 5% of those seeking ESA were totally ....

December Teens Meet

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:10:53 +0000

There will be a youth conference for young people living with HIV in early December, to mark World AIDS Day 2009. The Children and Young People’s HIV Network hope around 100 young people aged between 13-18 from all over the UK will attend the day in London. It's on Friday 4th December.

They plan a panel discussion in the morning and interactive peer-led workshops in the afternoon; workshops will be about things like relationships, disclosure and the future.

Time and place

11.30am – 4.00pm
At NCVO, not far from Euston station

Social after

This is a great opportunity for young people to meet others living with HIV from all over the UK, and they hope to have a small social event straight after the conference.

Travel paid

They’ll pay travel expenses for people coming from outside of London but people will need to travel with a key worker (if a key worker can't be arranged please give Maria a call and she will try to sort this).

Booking

The booking form needs filling out and returning to NCB either by email or post. Once they have the form they'll book your place, contact you to arrange travel (if necessary), and send you further information about the day including ....

November Gay Men's Residential

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 11:49:33 +0000

The popular residential weekend for gay men living with HIV returns once more, on Friday November 6th to Sunday 8th.

Gay men living with HIV have the chance to join others for a weekend to explore what living with HIV means for you. It's a safe and secure place and time to talk about these issues.

This weekend runs from the late afternoon Friday November 6th to Sunday 8th, and we are staying in Whaley Bridge. Whaley Bridge is on the River Goyt in the High Peak, Southeast of Stockport. In this photograph, Whaley Bridge is visible in the valley bottom, left of the reservoir dam.

This weekend is the opportunity for a small group of gay men to explore issues around living with HIV in a safe and secure environment. You need to have been diagnosed for at least one year to join this weekend.

Topics will include:
• Living day to day with HIV
• Planning for the future
• Support networks

These weekends are popular and make a real difference in men's lives and outlook.

Free transport, meals, accomodation. You will be expected to share a room with one other person.

If you would like to know more about the weekend please email Colin or phone ....

Can we trust HIV drug trials?

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:31:52 +0000

How far can we trust HIV drug companies? This month, while the media fretted about whether swine flu vaccine may have killed a teenager (it didn’t), the real death action is hidden in a dry report from the Journal of the American Medical Association which has published a damning scientific paper.

Dodgy Drug Trial Tricks
We have known for decades that you can’t always trust what you read in journals publishing research into new drugs and treatments. One problem is 'Missing Trials' - drug trials often go missing: a drug company might do eight trials of a drug, say, but only two have a positive result. The positive trial results are published, while the six with negative results never appear. This censoring harms people, because the results of all 8 trials when combined might show that the treatment doesn’t work, so people are given treatment that is not effective and face unnecessary side effects.

The other drug trials fiddle is researchers who change their stated goal, or "primary outcome", after their trial has finished. You might do a trial on a blood pressure pill, for example, stating that you will look to see if it can reduce heart attacks, but find that ....

Photos of Fun and 100 Words

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 12:21:52 +0000

We want you to go out and have fun, write 100 words about the experience, ideally take a photo and send it to Gus.

Gus Cairns wants the Christmas/World AIDS Day issue of HIV Treatment Update to talk about your experiences of HIV social networking: how you meet other positive people and have fun with them. The idea is to have it largely written by the people who go to groups and people who do things. It doesn’t matter if you think you can’t write proper English – send it in and they’ll tidy it up.

How do you beat isolation and stigma?

As Gus says, HIV positive people often face isolation and stigma (sometimes self-imposed) but in line with the piece on happiness in the last HIV Treatment Update, they want people’s stories of how you overcome isolation and stigma.

Do you have a circle of HIV positive friends you network with, or an HIV+friendly circle?

How important is the social support of other HIV+ people to you?

What activities do you enjoy doing together? Or, on the other hand,

do you feel you lack social support and would like somewhere friendly and ....

HIV - Tell the Reality

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 10:25:44 +0000

The World AIDS Day website for 2009 has opened - the theme for 2009 is ‘HIV:Reality’.

NAT, who run the site, want people to discover real stories about HIV, because understanding is the key to fighting prejudice and self- protection.

All invited to have your say

As part of this year’s World AIDS Day campaign they are asking everyone, affected or living with HIV to contribute their own personal HIV Reality. The website has 'realities' from people living with or affected by HIV but they want many more, to build a true picture of HIV in the UK today.

Whether you have a family member or friend that is affected by HIV, or you have seen discrimination to yourself or others, or are HIV-positive and want to tell people what it's really like to live with HIV - they’d like you to share your story to build a true picture of HIV in the UK today.

You can write about your experience, or send a video story. You can submit your story anonymously if you prefer, and if they decide to publish your story, they’ll check with you first. Share your HIV reality here

As people's stories are submitted they will add them into the website, so that it grows and develops as we get closer to ....

New Testing Guidance

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 14:24:09 +0000

Concise guidelines just published by the Royal College of Physicians, enable any doctor, nurse, midwife or trained healthcare worker to carry out HIV tests to help drive down late diagnoses of the virus. Treatment for people who are diagnosed a long time after infection doesn't work as well and untreated people are more likely to pass on HIV.

Testing progress to cut deaths

A third of HIV-related deaths could be avoided if testing for HIV was more widespread and more socially acceptable. So the guidance calls for tests to be offered to everyone accessing sexual health services, antenatal and abortion services, as well as drug dependency programmes and healthcare services for those diagnosed with tuberculosis, hepatitis B and C and lymphoma. Tests should also be routinely offered to anyone presenting with other clinical indicators for HIV infection, or with an identified risk factor for HIV whenever they access healthcare services. The introduction of universal testing is intended to de-stigmatise HIV testing.

This Royal College of Physicians guidance summarises the 2008 UK national HIV testing guidelines from the British HIV Association. Those are available here

Also included in the guidance:

who can test for HIV

in what settings a test should ....

5M Still Waiting for Treatment

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 13:56:40 +0000

Although four million people are now receiving antiretroviral treatment in low and middle-income countries, another five million adults and children lack access to treatment, according to figures released today by United Nations agencies.

The report Towards universal access: scaling up priority HIV/AIDS interventions in the health sector is published by the World Health Organization, UNAIDS and UNICEF, and is the third annual review of international progress towards the goal of universal access to treatment and prevention by 2010.

Although more than a million people are estimated to have been enrolled into treatment programmes during 2008 alone, the biggest annual increase since treatment scale-up began, only 42% of those in need of treatment in low and middle-income countries are currently being reached.

Mothers and babies

The report also reveals major gaps in two priority areas, the prevention of mother to child transmission and treatment of children.

The report estimates that 21% of pregnant women received an HIV test in 2008, and 45% received drugs to prevent mother to child transmission, of whom around one-third received only single-dose nevirapine, the least effective form of preventive treatment. Only one-third of those who tested positive were assessed for eligibility for antiretroviral treatment for their own health.

Although 38% of children ....

Caring with Confidence

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:06:46 +0000

If you are gay or are caring for someone who is gay, Caring with Confidence could help you and be for you.

Do you care?
Carers are often seen as those who have to give up their jobs to care for a relative or friend full time – doing everything from washing and dressing someone to making sure they take medication or can get out of the house. But there are lots of other ways we care for people.

Perhaps you go shopping for your neighbours once a week, or clean your Mum’s house? Perhaps you support your HIV positive partner – sorting out medication, or finding out the latest information? Perhaps you take your grandmother for a day out once a month? All these roles can define you as a carer. And that’s where Caring with Confidence, a free Department of Health backed knowledge and skills based learning experience for carers in England, comes in.

Research shows that carers within the LGBT community don't take up much support and encouragement for their caring roles.
People who are LGBT carers or carers of LGBT people are now offered the opportunity to make a positive difference to their life and that of the person they ....

Foil for Injectors

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 17:08:50 +0000

'Harm Reduction' is the name given to anything that reduces health risks. For years injecting drug users have been provided with clean needles and syringes and this has helped keep the number of people with HIV from injecting drug use in Manchester and the rest of NW England low. Just 2% of HIV infections in the region came through injecting drugs, 118 people. This is far less than in Scotland and many other countries in Europe.

Now there are moves to provide aluminium foil as an alternative - the foil is used for smoking heroin and this is safer than sharing and using needles and syringes.

Drug treatment experts say that inhaling heroin instead of injecting reduces a user's risk of contracting HIV and Hepatitis C. A drug user heats a blob of heroin on the foil and smokes the fumes - which is called "chasing the dragon".

drugs paraphernalia and police

The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) is examining whether the law should be changed to allow Britain's 300,000 problem drug users to receive foil as a way of protecting their health. Since last year, the ACMD's 31 members, who advise the Home Office, have been considering whether section 9A of the Misuse ....

False Assumptions

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 16:45:05 +0000

A major new awareness-raising campaign aimed at gay men was launched in London this week.

‘Assumptions’ is aimed at men who don’t use condoms because they think they are right about their partner’s HIV status. This campaign urges men not to assume that they can ‘know’ the HIV status of a new partner. Most men get it wrong far too often.

You just can't tell

Some gay men ‘sort’ potential sexual partners into those with and those without HIV, based on first impressions and assumptions, rather than asking the HIV question and getting a clear answer. Many negative or untested guys still believe you can tell someone’s HIV status based on a person’s appearance, or by whether or not they use condoms. So the assumptions campaign challenges men to think again about this. The campaign highlights that guessing the wrong answer significantly increases the risk of HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

There are three adverts for ‘Assumptions’. Each advert shows two men having sex and in each scenario, the differing points of view of each man are presented with one man believing: ‘He’s not mentioned condoms. He’s gotta be positive like me’, whilst the other thinks: ‘No condom, so he’s probably negative too’. The strapline of the ....

Positive Outcomes in Merseyside

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:04:50 +0000

Positive Outcomes is a half day mini conference for professionals from across a range of disciplines. Sahir House, with George House Trust, the Armistead Centre and Terrence Higgins Trust Wirral, want to share information about new services for HIV positive gay and bisexual men and to discuss better ways of working between the statutory and voluntary sectors.

The aims of the event are:

up to date information on the wide range of services available from community organisations

provide a more joined-up package of services for HIV positive men across the voluntary, statutory and community sectors

help practitioners make fast and effective referrals

The programme will include:

Information about services run by both Sahir House and George House Trust – newly diagnosed courses, residential weekends etc;

Information on services from THT and Armistead (peer support, home visits, specialist counselling, in depth one to one casework etc);

A chance for all delegates to contribute their views about partnership working to meet patient/client needs, and how this can be improved

Who for?

Anyone involved in supporting or improving the lives HIV positive gay or bisexual men in Merseyside, including commissioners, community nurses, drugs workers, GPs, ....

HIV Vaccine - Hopes and Fears

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:14:35 +0000

Combining two HIV vaccines into one vaccine cut the risk of HIV infection by almost one-third in a large trial in Thailand, the trial sponsor announced today. It is the first proof that a vaccine against HIV can protect against infection, but scientists say a lot more research will be needed before a vaccine can be given to large numbers of people.

“This is a historic day in the 26-year quest to develop an AIDS vaccine,” said Dr Alan Bernstein, executive director of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise.

"This is the first HIV vaccine candidate to successfully reduce the risk of HIV infection in humans. We are very excited and pleased with the outcome of this trial and congratulate all those who participated in it," said Lieutenant General Eric Schoomaker, Surgeon General, U.S. Army, the trial sponsor.

The trial involving 16,000 people since 2003 was called RV 144, and compared vaccinating people with two products against vaccinating people with a dummy, inactive substance.

The study recruited adults in the community in two provinces of Thailand with high HIV prevalence (Chon Buri and Rayong), but did not specifically target individuals at high risk of HIV infection. Volunteers for the study were adults aged 18-30 who gave informed consent to ....

Deporting - Ignoring Human Rights

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:29:45 +0000

National governments should reconsider their policies for deporting people living with HIV, Human Rights Watch said in a new report.

The organisation calls on governments, international agencies and donors to ensure that HIV-positive migrants have access to antiretroviral therapy when detained and to ensure that, if deported, migrants are able to maintain access to treatment and care.

The report was co-authored with the African HIV Policy Network, Deutsche AIDS-Hilfe and the European AIDS Treatment Group, and describes cases from a wide range of countries around the world.

International human rights and refugee law has long prohibited deportations to a state where the person deported would be at risk of being subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.

However the authors argue that national deportation procedures are often insufficient or underdeveloped to protect the rights of people living with HIV against return to such conditions. If treatment or social support is inadequate, they believe that this can amount to inhuman or degrading treatment.

The European Court of Human Rights is one of the bodies that has interpreted this human rights obligation in a narrow way, so that if antiretroviral treatment is in principle available in the receiving country and if the disease ....

Website to Have Your HIV Say

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 16:31:18 +0000

SHout Loud (Sexual Health Out Loud) is a new website to help you have a say about sexual health, contracepton and HIV services in England.

Many decisions about health are now made locally, and they should take your views into account. What people say about health services is even more important now, and you can have a big impact and change and improve sexual health, contraceptive and HIV services locally. SHout Loud aims to empower you to affect local decisions and improve sexual health in your and our communities.

Interactive map to find local information and have your say
SHout Loud is a collaborative project between AHPN, Brook, fpa, MedFASH, NAT and THT.

The SHout Loud website features an interactive map, which you can use to find local sexual health, HIV and teenage pregnancy statistics, find out about local NHS and local authority plans and targets for sexual health, and take action to improve sexual heath in your area, by contacting local decision-makers using the ‘Take Action’ button.

SHout Loud will develop guides to local decision-making and campaigning, and develop ....

Travelling to Hospitals?

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 12:47:01 +0000

Find out about public transport to hospitals in Greater Manchester with a new leaflet. It’s got information on choosing the right ticket for your journey, cheap tickets, checking bus times by mobile phone, where to get information on which buses will take you to hospital and advice on fares. Some people can get free travel or other help getting to hospitals. You can download the leaflet here

leaflet for your hospital

At this web page you can download leaflets for how to find your way to whichever hospital you need to go to in Greater Manchester

You can also call the Traveline 0871 200 22 33 (10p per minute from a landline)

You can get all the hospital travel leaflets in large print or on tape by telephoning 0781 200 22 33 (call cost 10p per minute from landlines). Lines are open 7am to 8pm Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.

How can you travel for less?
If you cannot use buses because you are disabled, you may be able to claim GMPTE Travel Vouchers to help with the costs of transport.

You may qualify for travel vouchers if you are a resident in ....

Website Support for Children with HIV

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 15:07:42 +0000

The first UK website to help children with HIV has got the go ahead from the National Lottery. A £50,000 grant will be used to set up a website to provide information, help and support to under-18s.
Faith in People, a Leicester HIV organisation has led the funding bid.

The local newspaper reports that there are about 35 young people with HIV in Leicester and they are too frightened to tell their friends for fear of victimisation. The paper reports the claim that 35 in Leicester is the highest number of young people with HIV outside London, but this is untrue: living in Manchester alone, for example there are 42 people under 19 recorded in HIV and AIDS in the North West of England 2008.

Battling in Silence
The young people in Leicester are said to be ‘battling the illness in silence’. The hope is that the website will help end stigma and break taboos.
Rev Trevor Thurston-Smith, director of the charity Faith in People with HIV , said: "In the past 20 years, there has been not one jot of difference in people's understanding of HIV. If anything, things have gone backwards. It is ....

Children Caring for Parents with HIV

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 10:44:58 +0000

Children caring for parents with HIV and AIDS, is a new book that is now available for half price - so you pay just £12.50. This ground-breaking book looks at the experiences and perspectives of children and young people who care for a parent with HIV in the developed and developing world. It uses in-depth qualitative research from the UK and Tanzania, and offers an insight into the similarities and differences in children’s and parents’ experiences in widely different socio-economic, cultural and welfare contexts.

The book adds to the growing research evidence on children and young people with caring responsibilities (‘young carers’) and the impacts of HIV and AIDS have on families across the world. It examines caring relationships within families affected by HIV and AIDS; the results of care-giving; children’s and families’ resilience; the factors influencing whether children become involved in care work; and local and global policy responses. It also provides insight into the perspectives of parents living with HIV and service providers working with families.

This book is for policy makers and people working in HIV and AIDS, for researchers, academics and students concerned with international development, social policy, human geography, childhood and youth studies, social work, ....

NAM Leaflets Win Praise

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 14:40:02 +0000

Fifteen of NAM's HIV treatment publications have received commendations in this year’s British Medical Association (BMA) Patient Information Awards.

All ten of NAM’s new illustrated factsheets, The Basics, (also in French - Le B.A.ba du VIH) were highly commended in the patient information category of the BMA’s Medical Book Awards, and were described by the BMA’s review panel as: “An excellent set of leaflets. The design is brilliant. They cover a really good range of concerns critical to people living with HIV.”

The Basics cover key HIV health and treatment topics and are intended to support discussions between healthcare professionals and people living with HIV. The factsheets use simple language and pictures to bring the information to life.

NAM was also highly commended for its patient information booklet HIV Therapy, while four other titles in this series were commended (Nutrition, HIV & TB, HIV & Stigma and HIV Drug Resistance).

The Basics

Patient Information booklets

Positive Job at NAT

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 14:07:49 +0000

NAT (National AIDS Trust) is looking for someone living with HIV to be a Community Engagement Officer. The job is to help improve NAT's communication with, and increase levels of feedback from, people living with HIV in the UK.

It's for 9 months work on a consultancy basis and they expect it will take about 21 hours a week. They expect at least two days a month working at their office in London, (close to Old Street tube station, a few stops from Euston). It would therefore be possible to work from the North West. However they won't pay travel expenses to London.

They are looking for someone living with HIV who is self-motivated, flexible, empathetic and able to inspire and motivate others. You will have excellent communication skills – including a good telephone manner – and the ability to build effective working relationships and relate to all communities affected by HIV.

Experience of working in the HIV sector is not necessary. What is important is the ability to understand complex policy issues and translate these into simple messages, to bring fresh ideas and approaches and to adopt a balanced, objective and evidence-based approach to your work.

To be effective in this role ....

Asylum Cuts - Protest at £5 a Day

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 16:14:31 +0000

Join the campaign protesting the government's cut in the support for single asylum seekers. Asylum Seekers don't even get the below poverty line rate of Income Support. For just another 3 weeks they have the luxury of living on 70% of the lowest Income Support Rate. Then even this is cut to half the bottom Income Support rate.

This is despite the consumer price index, which measures inflation, standing at 5.2%, which means that overall, destitute single asylum seekers aged 25 or over will be more than £9 per week worse off than now.

Just £5 a day for survival

This means an asylum seeker will have just £5 per day (£35.15 each week) to cover their basic needs.

Yesterday NAT (National AIDS Trust) wrote to the Home Secretary, Alan Johnson, raising concerns about how these cuts will harm vulnerable people living with HIV.

The Refugee Council is campaigning on these cuts. They are asking that the Government increase support in line with inflation.

Please add your voice in support of asylum seekers living with HIV and against this mean cut. Slicing away the minimum income of people who have next to nothing which is already less than the basic amount which anyone would struggle to manage on is heartless and cruel.

Here's ....

Manchester HIV Social Care - Last Chance

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 10:55:33 +0000

There is only about a week left for people to have their say in Manchester's consultation on the future of HIV services provided in the city - the Council's services and those it funds, like George House Trust and Barnardo's for children and families.

The consultation ends on Saturday 19 September.

If you want to have a say

contact Judy by email or telephone 0161 273 2016

complete a questionnaire online

Talk with her at George House Trust Saturday Space on 19 September - 1pm - 4pm (for all service users living with HIV)

Africans can meet her at Body Positive on Thursday 10th and Thursday 17th September at the Baobab group

Staff and volunteers can have a say by completing a brief online questionnaire

More detail about the consultation

German HIV Campaign - Positive Protests

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 16:54:44 +0000

People living with HIV are furious about a new German HIV awareness campaign. It features Hitler, Stalin and Saddam Hussein with the message AIDS is a Mass Murderer. It seems to say people with HIV are mass murderers for having sex. It does not even advise people to use condoms.

The campaign will run in German cinemas, TV, radio and on posters until December 1st, World AIDS Day. It is creating an international outcry. It's being promoted by the German HIV awareness organisation, Regenbogen e.V (Rainbow Association) whose web address is stopaids.de.

They are a regional community organisation based in Bavaria (capital Munich) in the SE Germany. Rainbow Association are funded by the district of Upper Bavaria, as well as by charitable bodies such as Rotary International and the Munich-Keferloh Lions Club .

The campaign has an English version on their website (try that link if you can't reach their website if that has crashed) and you can see everything there for yourself. You can view their TV / cinema advert video here. It is sexually graphic. Scroll down that page for the posters, radio MP3 and a music video - all part of the campaign.

The creators of the campaign defended it, ....

Hospital Detention for HIV

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 11:41:15 +0000

How many people now remember that 24 years ago a Manchester gay man with HIV was locked up for 10 days in the hospital by order of the city's Magistrates, just because he had AIDS?

It has never happened since in this country, but HIV lock-ups often happen in Sweden, and might even happen once again in this country, if Parliament allows the Department of Health and the Health Protection Agency to get their way.

The government is consulting on changing the infectious diseases regulations which could allow it to force people into hospital isolation wards and more, if they have infectious diseases. The deadline for comments on the proposed rules is at the end of this month.

We are campaigning to make sure people living with HIV cannot be touched by any updated public health law and regulations.

What happened almost 25 years ago in Manchester?
There is a very brief mention in our history page for 1985, but it was an event that rocketed Manchester and HIV onto the front page of the papers locally and nationally. Manchester AIDS-line, which became George House Trust, was closely involved and (now Councillor) Paul Fairweather, a gay rights worker at the former Gay Centre in ....

HIV Drug Firm - Call to Pool Patents

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 10:19:05 +0000

Leading UK and international organisations have written to Britain's largest drug company urging it to pool its patents on HIV medicines to help save millions of lives in developing countries.

A letter from 15 organisations, including the Stop Aids Campaign, Médecins Sans Frontières, Unicef and Christian Aid, calls on GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to join a patent pool being put together by UNITAID, which aims to improve access to drugs for HIV, malaria and tuberculosis (TB) in poor countries.

The patent pool would allow cheap copies and combinations of HIV treatments to be made without legal restraint or delays from the manufacturers, whose monopolies are protected for 20 years.

The letter follows Andrew Witty, the chief executive of GlaxoSmithKline, saying that all he knew of UNITAID was what he had read in the papers. UNITAID’s mission is to help increase access to treatment for HIV, malaria and tuberculosis, for people in poor countries, by getting speedy price cuts for tests and medicines.

On a trip to Katine in northern Uganda, Witty made clear his reservations about a patent pool for HIV drugs, although he said: "I'm not saying no to anything because nobody's actually put in front of me a really concrete proposition." He added that GSK was already doing a lot to ....

HIV Vaccine Hopes Up

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 16:32:05 +0000

The search for a vaccine to prevent HIV infection may just have got closer - with the discovery of some antibodies that have never been seen before.

Researchers, led by the International Aids Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), say the discovery reveals a potential new way through a weak spot in the virus's defences. The antibodies were found in donors in developing countries.

The researchers hope other similar antibodies will be discovered and that could help the hunt for an effective HIV vaccine. However there have beenmany other bright hopes many times before, so we are not holding our breath.

Learning from exceptions

The newly found antibodies - broadly neutralising antibodies - are produced by a rare few people with HIV. It's a bit like another rare group of people with unusual genes which mean that HIV never really causes any damage to health - a group of people described as 'long-term non-progresssors.' We've reported on that twice recently. Often the best scientific way to find a solution to any problem is to find examples when the normal doesn't happen - you can learn a lot by looking for what's different between most of the population and the rare people who don't have this.

They are different to most antibodies to HIV because they neutralise most of the many types of HIV found across the world.

Vaccine workings

Vaccines teach the ....

HIV Statistics for NW England 2008

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:33:14 +0000

The 2008 HIV statistics have recently been published. Here is a table showing the pattern of change in the number of new cases ('new cases' means new to the North West of England - it is mainly people newly diagnosed in the region, but also includes people who were diagnosed outside the region and now attended a HIV clinic in the region for the first time in 2008). The table also shows the total number of people who attended a NW HIV clinic sometime in 2008.

At first glance the number of new cases leapt by almost 100 between 2008 and 2009, and comments in the media have made much of this increase. The media also leapt on to the fact that 42% of people were infected abroad. Both points are true, but we need to read between the lines and not leap to false conclusions.

....

Mental Health Online in Manchester

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 09:56:57 +0000

A ‘one stop shop’ website about mental health in Manchester has now been launched. It offers easy to find information about looking after your mental health, mental health problems, services in Manchester and information.

You will find links to useful factsheets, self help resources to download, translated and audio information.

The site has been developed by Manchester Public Health Development Service with support from the NHS Communications team.

Using HIV Detention and Removal Guidelines

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 17:23:49 +0000

Advice on how to make full use of the NAT-British HIV Association (BHIVA) new guidelines on 'Detention, Removal and People Living with HIV' has been circulated by Medical Justice. Migrants living with HIV should not be removed if this breaks these guidelines. Using the guidelines has halted some recent removal attempts.

A number of removals of HIV+ detainees that Medical Justice are involved with have been stopped because the NAT and BHIVA guidelines were breached.

Below Medical Justice explains how to help someone living with HIV by using the guidelines.

The new NAT-BHIVA guidelines (page 13) state that;

3 months supply of anti-retroviral medication should be supplied to people with HIV on removal

they should also be given a letter for their future treating physicians, and

contact details of trusted HIV support organisations in the country the detainee is being removed to.

Page 12 of the guidelines states that

'Upon notification that an HIV positive detainee is to be removed, IRC [immigration removal centre] healthcare staff should inform the local HIV specialist of the detainee's pending removal and ensure the detainee is provided with sufficient medication. Normal NHS clinical practice is ....

Positive Children Locked Up

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 14:52:37 +0000

Ministers were blamed as it was revealed that hundreds of children are being held unnecessarily in immigration detention centres. Some of the parents and children have HIV. Official figures dragged out of the government revealed that on one day at the end of June this year, 470 children were being detained with their families.

The figures, made public following pressure from children's rights groups and MPs, showed most were under five. The detention of any child longer than 28 days has to be signed for by a minister. 1 in 3 of the children were there already for longer than 28 days. Out of 225 children released from detention in the second quarter this year, only 100 were actually removed from the UK.

Many were from troubled countries such as Zimbabwe, Sudan, Sri Lanka and Democratic Republic of Congo where returning people has been difficult and the safety of doing so hotly contested.

The UK has one of the worst records in Europe for detaining children, but accurate figures on how many are held, or for how long, have remained elusive.

MPs and children's rights groups have now called for an end to the "national scandal" that has allowed children to be locked up unnecessarily.

Sir Al Aynsley-Green, the children's commissioner ....

Bare Porn Costs - African HIV

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 14:36:38 +0000

A documentary ‘Hardcore Profits’ that was shown last night on BBC2 laid bare the cost of porn for Africans. HIV infections and rape follow directly from viewing western bare (condomless) porn. It’s available dirt cheap, almost everywhere. The porn industry has yet to acknowledge its part in driving up the global HIV epidemic.

The documentary maker Tim Samuels tells us -

The moment porn truly stopped being fun came in a remote Ghanaian village – mud huts, barefoot kids, no electricity. The BBC series I was making about the impact of porn, had led me, via Los Angeles (LA) to Ghana. One of the unforeseen consequences of globalisation is the shocking effect that western porn is having in parts of the developing world.

The village has no electricity, but that doesn't stop a generator from being wheeled in, turning a mud hut into an impromptu porn cinema – and turning some young men into rapists, with villagers relating chilling stories of assaults taking place straight after the film's end. In the nearest city, other young men are buying bootlegs copies of the almost always condom-free LA-made porn – copying directly what they see and contracting HIV. The head of the country's AIDS commission says porn risks destroying ....

Working with HIV

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 16:32:09 +0000

'Working with HIV' is the first major survey of what it is like to be living with HIV and in paid work in the UK. George House Trust service users and staff contributed a lot of information and ideas to this new report from NAT (National AIDS Trust).

The research may surprise many because it shows that the health effects of HIV have little impact on very many people’s ability to work - thanks to better treatment. However the stigma surrounding HIV still creates barriers in work.

1,800 gay men living with HIV took part in the survey, which was helped greatly by focus groups of gay men and black Africans living with HIV. 38 people joined several focus groups across the country including in Manchester. The research, conducted with City University, London, is summarised in the report ‘Working with HIV’.

The Guardian report on this includes an interview with Andy Hewlett, a Metropolitan police officer working in London, who was diagnosed with HIV 15 years ago.

More than half say HIV has no impact on their work
The research found people with HIV working in a wide range of jobs at all levels. Over half (58 per cent) surveyed said living with HIV ....

Pride Drink Check

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 13:42:43 +0000

Pride drinkers will be knocking back more alcohol units than most realise. Many people with HIV will be binge drinking over this coming Manchester Pride weekend because drinks are so much stronger than they were just 10 years ago.

Drinkers in the UK consume 10% more by alcoholic strength than in 2000, figures from the research company Mintel show, even though the volume of alcohol consumed overall has not changed during that period.

Researchers said consumers were often unaware of the alcohol content – alcohol by volume, or ABV, on products labels – and warned the findings posed a major challenge for the government.

Drinks Confuse

Drinkers are understandably confused - the size of cans and bottles varies, wine is served in bigger glasses than before, spirit measures have changed, as well as wines, beers and lagers all having more alcohol in them.

By stealth the drinks industry contributes to people drinking even more alcohol without realising.
The ‘units’ system for counting how much alcohol you are drinking so you know if you are binge drinking or exceeding the weekly recommended safe amount, is not user friendly when you are deciding what to have in a bar or club.

Stronger

Jonny Forsyth, senior drinks analyst at Mintel, said: "In the 1970s a ....

HIV Support in Lancashire

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 12:15:38 +0000

There are a range of support services for people living with HIV in Lancashire. There are services in Lancaster, Morecambe, Preston, Hyndburn, Blackburn.
North Lancashire
Monthly peer support meeting in Lancaster every second Thursday

Every 2nd Thursday each month, at 7 - 9pm - the dates in 2009 are

10 September, 8 October, 12 November,17 December

In 2010 - 14 January, 11 February, 11 March, 8 April, 13 May, 10 June, 8 July, 12 August, 9 September, 14 October, 11 November, 9 December 2010.

This HIV peer support group is open to everyone living with HIV regardless of age, gender, sexuality, race or nationality. To find out more about the group and where it will meet, please call

Sue 07825 207 024

Peter 07855 342 732

In addition to this monthly support group, the organisation

Signposts MARC

offers

1-2-1 support

Case work

Access to counselling

Access to Complementary Therapies

Information

Advice

Welfare Fund

HIV Testing

For details please contact:
Signposts MARC
58 Regents Road
Morecambe
LA3 1TE

01254 419 021
email

Central and West Lancashire - ....

Lancaster HIV Support

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 10:42:46 +0000

A new monthly HIV support group starts meeting in Lancaster on Thursday evenings 10 September.

The North Lancashire HIV+ Social Support Group will meet every second Thursday of the month beginning on September 10th from 7pm to 9pm.

Every 2nd Thursday each month, at 7 - 9pm - the dates in 2009 are

10 September, 8 October, 12 November,17 December

In 2010 - 14 January, 11 February, 11 March, 8 April, 13 May, 10 June, 8 July, 12 August, 9 September, 14 October, 11 November, 9 December 2010.

The group is open to everyone living with HIV regardless of age, gender, sexuality, race or nationality.

To find out more about the group and where it will meet, please call

Sue      07825 207 024

Peter    07855 342 732

Together We Can STOP HIV Stigma

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 12:38:38 +0000

HIV Stigma blights the lives of all of us, positive and negative, just like sexism, racism, homophobia. Katherine Moulder reveals how everyone’s little steps to STOP stigma all make a difference.

Another year, another Pride, and we’re running yet another campaign about HIV stigma. Is campaigning against stigma unoriginal? Yes. But we need to because it’s still the biggest challenge facing people living with HIV today.

What annoys people with HIV is less about the tablets, sometimes feeling ill, treatment side effects, and the bind of going to the HIV clinic every few months.

The really big annoyance is stigma. What hurts worst is that it comes most often from the people you know around you.

Half of us blame anyone who got HIV through sex

44% believe they have a ‘right to know’ if someone they work with has HIV

On the gay scene - I said, “I’m HIV positive”, and he produced his mobile, scrolled down to my name and actually went, “Look, delete,” and wiped me off his phone.

Gay Scene Stigma Shocks
It’s the widespread shaming and blaming attitudes towards people living with HIV in the gay community that continues to ....

Hundreds Leave HIV clinics

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 12:20:47 +0000

Our close study of Northwest England's HIV statistics has revealed hundreds of people with HIV have abandoned HIV clinics - and this seems to be happening across the country.

HIV policy expert Chris Morley explains our findings and suggests urgent actions for this HIV care crisis.

Hundreds of people living with HIV have disappeared from HIV clinics across England sometime after HIV diagnosis.

Hospitals losing patients with any serious long term condition like HIV should be very concerned, investigate, trace and support the individuals better. There are real concerns for the health and well-being of people not attending HIV clinics, and for onward transmission.

The loss from HIV clinics was first spotted by George House Trust around five years ago, but the numbers were small and could be explained by some people being treated outside the Northwest (NW), for example.

Late last year we worked out that the number of people missing from clinics had leapt to almost 300 people in 2007. Then statistics for the first half of 2008 confirmed the problem. The losses could no longer be explained away.

We made a detailed analysis and discussed this with the NW HIV statistics experts at the Liverpool Centre for Public Health. They sent anonymous details ....

Swine Flu Vaccine by October

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 15:03:41 +0000

People with HIV will be among the first to be offered vaccination to help protect against for swine flu when the vaccine is ready, probably before early October. The Secretary of State for Health announced that individuals with underlying health conditions, including HIV, would be first in line for the vaccination.

The UK guidance is to also vaccinate everyone living in the same home as someone diagnosed with HIV. Pregnant women and individuals aged over 65 with underlying health conditions are also priority groups under the plan.

Vaccination is different from treatment for swine flu. Vaccination aims to stop people from getting it. If you do get swine flu, treatment for it with Tamiflu may help shorten the illness and reduce the symptoms.

There is no sign that people with HIV are more likely to get swine flu or will have problems as a result of getting it, unless the CD4 cell count is low.

Each year people with HIV are advised to have the annual seasonal flu vaccine. What is different this year is this particular flu (H1N1) will probably affect very large numbers of people, and there is also a fair chance that it will evolve so it is more powerful than normal winter flu. So far most cases of swine flu have not caused severe ....

Hepatitis C and HIV - Treatment Urgency

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:32:01 +0000

The key importance of starting HIV treatment at CD4 count of 350 is emphasised in a new study into how AIDS illnesses follow hepatitis C infection when you also have HIV. Some people with HIV also have hepatitis C, particularly gay men, people with haemophilia, and people who have ever injected drugs. Hepatitis C virus causes serious liver damage in many people, and liver disease is now an important cause of illness and earlier death in people with both HIV and hepatitis C.

Now researchers have found that having both HIV and hepatitis C doubles the risk of developing AIDS-defining illnesses as well. People who have cirrhosis of the liver (whether this is caused by hepatitis, or drinking alcohol) are even more likely to get an AIDS condition. Hepatitis C makes having HIV significantly more risky and worse for people.

AIDS illnesses become more likely

Liver disease, often due to hepatitis C or drinking, is now an important cause of illness and death in people with HIV. Hepatitis C infection has been linked with an increased risk of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which is an AIDS-defining illness. However, does hepatitis C increase the likelihood of other AIDS-defining illnesses?. Italian researchers decided to investigate hepatitis C and links with other AIDS conditions. ....

HIV in Sports

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 14:52:14 +0000

Information for the world of sport about HIV is now available on a new UK website. HIVSport's key aim is to raise awareness of HIV and promote sexual health in the field of sport. They are using what they call the ‘Badge of Hope’ which Manchester United players recently took to South Africa.George House Trust takes no sides in Manchester (or any) football, we're just reporting that South African fact.

As a not-for-profit organisation HIVSport works with professional sporting associations, HIV organisations, companies and medical bodies to

Create, through sport, greater public awareness of the global epidemic of HIV and AIDS

Provide education and training to people in all sports roles about HIV and sexual health

Support sports-related HIV education projects

Through their affiliation to the Educational Sports Forum they make presentations including in the world of football, cricket and rugby. They raise awareness within sports and other organisations as well as amongst individual members of the player’s associations. A key example of the latter work occurred when players from Manchester United Football Club recently took the ‘Badge of Hope’ to South Africa.

The site, backed by Durex, is the start of a programme designed to provide essential sexual health information to players, coaches and clubs.

Dr ....

LongTerm Survivors Weekend

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 12:10:33 +0000

The National Long Term Survivors Group runs weekends to help combat social isolation for people who have been HIV positive for longer than five years and who are unable to use local support.

There are a few last minute places available on their next weekend - Friday 18th – Sunday 20th September.

The weekends are not free but they have money from the Elton John AIDS Foundation which can help pay. This could pay the costs for some people, or part of the costs such as for childcare and travel. If you need help with funding, please ask NLTSG about the help that might be available for you.

Who can go on these weekends?

You need to have been HIV positive for 5 years and be "unable to access local support". The Group will make its own decisions on who gets places, but we think people living in Cumbria, and some parts of Lancashire and Cheshire will be able to show there is no or limited local HIV support available for them. They are also keen to offer places to other people in their priority groups

Firstly, people living in rural areas where existing services are either thin on the ground or non-existent (eg we suggest this means most ....

Alcohol Halves Adherence

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 12:06:12 +0000

The more alcohol people drink, the worse their adherence to HIV treatment. HIV-positive people who drink alcohol are about half as likely (50%) to take HIV treatments properly, compared with people who don't drink.

A meta analysis, a study of all the past studies, of drinking and HIV treatment adherence, reveals this in a leading HIV journal.

And people who are heavier drinkers are even more likely to miss taking HIV drugs - 60% of heavier drinkers have poor adherence. It's the amount drunk in a session, rather than how often you drink, that seems to make adherence worse.

Taking HIV treatments properly is vital

For HIV drugs to work properly people need to take their HIV drugs at least 95% of the time - if some medications are not taken at the correct time interval, the drug level can either be too high (causing unnecessary side-effects) or too low (encouraging viral resistance).

Not taking treatments properly also makes it more likely HIV will be passed on and that this HIV will be drug resistant too.

If you want your treatment to work, daily, near-perfect adherence (above 95%) is needed.

This includes following any instructions about

taking the drug on an empty stomach OR

with food

taking ALL ....

Hepatitis C and HIV+ Gay Men

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 16:13:05 +0000

Many HIV-positive gay men in Amsterdam are co-infected with hepatitis C virus, and the virus is spreading rapidly amongst this population, according to new research.

There is a significant increase in hepaptitis C among HIV positive gay men in Manchester, London and Brighton, among other places in England.

1 in 5 HIV+ gay men now have Hep C and rising fast

In 2007 and 2008, gay men attending Amsterdam's sexual health clinic were tested for the virus. A total of 18% of HIV-positive men were found to be co-infected, compared to just 0.4% of HIV-negative gay men.

When the study started 14% of the HIV+ gay men had hepatitis C. By the end of the study they found 20% (1 in 5) now have both HIV and hepatitis C.

Rough sex and use of the recreational drug GHB were associated with an increased risk of infection with hepatitis C.

Useful article in HIV Treatment Update

The April edition of HIV Treatment Update includes a 4 page feature article on HIV and hepatitis C among gay men - 'the new epidemic'. You can download this from NAM. [pdf]

Microbicide Hope for Women

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 13:09:34 +0000

A new attempt at producing a HIV-blocking vaginal gel may one day become a reality, according to a study published online yesterday in the journal Advanced Functional Materials.

Unlike previous versions of microbicide, the latest gel functions more like an actual condom.

It's applied with an applicator in the hour or so before sex and later turns semi-solid in the presence of semen, physically blocking HIV (and theoretically, other viruses and semen, too) from moving through the vagina in the first place. The gel then dissolves after sex.

"It's the first microbicide of its kind," says Patrick Kiser, a bioengineer at the University of Utah and the study's lead author. "It prevents the virus from even touching the vaginal tissue."

The novel polymer gel could see its first clinical trial in three years and if all goes well, be available for widespread use a few years after that.

Women need microbicides

The need for HIV-prevention methods that women can control is undeniably urgent. Women have half of all HIV infections globally; in sub-Saharan Africa, where the disease is most prevalent, women make up 60 percent of cases.

The reason is simple: most women in the region lack the power to make men wear condoms. For a decade now, scientists have been ....

Mental Health and HIV Survey

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 12:39:48 +0000

NAM (National AIDS Manual) are involved in a survey to help understand better the mental health support needs of people living with HIV in the UK.

If you are interested in taking part in this survey, it is online here. The survey is anonymous and confidential. It will take about 15 minutes.

In French too

Ce questionaire est disponible en Français.

NAM (and we) thank you for your help. Hearing about your experiences is very valuable for organisations providing support and information services.

Mental Health and HIV booklet

NAM's Mental Health and HIV booklet is here.

HIV Stigma Blamed for Clinic Drop Out

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 11:23:50 +0000

People who feel stigmatised because they have HIV don’t go to their clinic as often as they should, American researchers have found. This reinforces George House Trust's own findings on the hundreds of people in NW England who have stopped using HIV clinics, or who have never used any clinic in the NW since diagnosis.

The next issue of Insight has a detailed investigation into what is going on and what needs to be done. It will be published on Thursday 20 August.

3 out of 4 have poor clinic attendance, and 2 out of 5 don't take treatment properly

The USA study showed that 77% of people had poor access to healthcare and 43% didn’t take their HIV treatment properly. People who reported feeling stigmatised were much less likely to visit their HIV clinic regularly than people who did not report feelings of stigma. The research also showed that poor mental health was associated with not taking HIV treatment properly.

Internalised stigma leads to fall in clinic use

“Our study provides important information about the association between internalized stigma and self-reported access to medical care”, comment the investigators.

There have been dramatic improvements in HIV treatment, and now the life outlook for many people living with ....

Swine Flu - Prepare Now

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 10:17:04 +0000

The latest (August) i-Base HIV Treatment Bulletin recommends you stock up now on HIV treatment drugs, so you have enough to last through to January. It is better to avoid having to visit the HIV clinic during the flu peak months.

The i-Base bulletin also has swine flu protocols from two leading HIV clinics in London (which NW clinics may adapt), and a useful Questions and Answers page with other helpful advice.

Be prepared

People living with HIV should be prepared - the flu epidemic is fading right now, but experience from past epidemics is very clear. The flu numbers will almost certainly rise steeply in the autumn when schools and colleges restart and people return to work from holidays. The peak of the epidemic is likely to be in October and November.

If large numbers of people have swine flu at once, all services could come under severe strain with staff off sick. So it is recommended you keep at least one months HIV drugs at all times during the autumn and winter.

i-Base say

During August or September, arrange to get enough meds to last you until January. You want to avoid having to visit your clinic in October or November when the flu outbreak is likely to ....

Council HIV Grant Threat

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 13:48:37 +0000

Almost one in three councils would reduce their social care spending on people with HIV if the Department of Health (DH) removed ring-fencing from AIDS Support Grant, the National Aids Trust (NAT) has revealed. Ring-fencing is to make sure the money can only be spent on HIV. AIDS Support Grant pays for services such as counseling, peer support, staff training, support for carers and respite care and is a key part of the funding of HIV organisations.

A quarter of councils did not know what they would do without the ring-fence restriction, while 35% said they would continue to provide the same funding. Shockingly 4 councils (4%) said they would no longer fund any HIV services. NAT's survey of Aids Support Grant (ASG) received responses from 106 out of the 150 councils that provide social services.

Voluntary sector funding fears

Only 8% of 30 voluntary sector organisations responding felt services would be funded at the same level if the grant was not protected, while half thought services would continue, but they would be cut.

Although the ring-fence is agreed until at least 2010/11, the NAT pointed out that there had been a “clear move away” from specific ring-fenced grants by government.

The ASG is worth £21.8m in 2009/10 and the DH said it would allocate ....

Visit of MP Leading on HIV

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 16:38:01 +0000

The Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on AIDS, David Borrow MP, came on a fact finding tour to George House Trust last week. David Borrow is MP for a NW constituency, South Ribble.

Two Positive Speakers gave excellent presentations and we also focused on other types of volunteering. We raised issues around funding, people 'lost to treatment'*, and how to improve links with MPs and local councillors.

The visit was useful and appreciated.

This is what he has to say on his website about chairing the All Party Group.

"Although there are relatively few people in South Ribble directly affected by HIV/AIDS, I have always been interested in doing what I can to build public awareness of the disease both here in the UK and overseas. I have visited the George House Trust in Manchester on a regular basis to see the work they do in the North West, I have also visited African countries such as Botswana, Uganda, Malawi, South Africa, Kenya and Ethiopia to see the work being undertaken there. Last year I visited FOMO, a Walmer Bridge based charity looking after over 5,000 orphans in Malawi."

All Party Parliamentary Group on AIDS

* Lost to Treatment

Check the next issue of ....

Gay Blood Ban Challenge

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 13:32:03 +0000

Despite all the improvements in HIV testing and treatment, gay and bisexual men are still barred from ever donating blood. The blood of every single man who has ever had sex with another man, whether or not they used protection, is apparently too likely to contaminate UK blood banks.

This article is part of the public debate about whether the ban should be lifted. It's not George House Trust's official position. People living with HIV simply cannot donate blood. We are an organisation supporting people living with HIV, so the ban makes no difference to people using our services.

However George House Trust does have a concern about this ban sending out out-dated messages about HIV. We also think the ban reinforces HIV stigma and homophobia, and neither of these help reduce the spread of HIV.

Is the ban still justified?

The fact that every single blood donation is screened using two different and very sensitive virus tests strongly suggests that, conscious or not, the continued existence of this ban is the result of an underlying prejudice, an example of 'institutionalised homophobia'.

The National Blood Service (NBS) justifies its position with the 'window period.' Some viruses can't be detected in blood when the infection was recent - the so-called 'window period'. So the NBS ....

Have Your Say About GP Changes

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 10:30:03 +0000

Your help is asked in an online survey looking at a recent change to HIV services and one that's planned for early next year. The survey is for people using Greater Manchester clinics even if you don't live in Greater Manchester.

When the NHS is planning or has changed the way it runs services, they need to look at the changes they are making (or have made) and think about the effects they might have on the local community.

Your help is asked with an online health impact assessment - looking at how changes to sexual health services can be made to work better for us all.

Service changes they want to hear about

Clinics this year stopped prescribing drugs you would normally get from your GP and instead focused solely on HIV and sexual health care

The Networks plans to pay all hospitals equally for the HIV care they provide (currently not all hospitals get reimbursed fully for the work they do -this will start next April.)

There is a short online questionnaire.

They want to know the positive and negative effects of these changes. This will help them come up with ways to cut problems and maximise the benefits.

Deadline early October

The deadline for responses is Friday 2 October ....

HIV Genes Decoded

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 11:57:32 +0000

Scientists say they have decoded the entire genetic structure of HIV-1 which is the key type of HIV. They hope this will lead to a better understanding of how HIV works, and it could speed the development of new types of treatment.

The new research in the USA was published in Nature and it decoding the genes is an important breakthrough. It is a task that would have been impossible just a few years back. HIV, like the viruses which cause influenza, hepatitis C and polio, carries its genetic information as single-stranded RNA rather than double-stranded DNA.The information enclosed in RNA is more complex than information in double-stranded DNA.

RNA's intricate patterns revealed

RNA is folds itself into intricate patterns and structures. Decoding the full genome therefore opens up genetic information that could not be seen before and may explain why the virus acts as it does.

Double-stranded DNA depends on building blocks called nucleotides to carry information. These are the familiar A, C, T and G of the genetic code. However by contrast RNA has just one strand and depends on complex folding patterns to carry information, as well as nucleotides.

"There is so much structure in the HIV RNA genome that it almost certainly plays a previously unappreciated role in the expression ....

Manchester HIV Social Care Consultation

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 12:23:21 +0000

If you have used HIV social care services in Manchester, including George House Trust, have your say now about the future for HIV services provided or funded by the city council. The consultation is for all people living with HIV and carers living in Manchester.

Manchester Adult Social Care Department is consulting HIV service users and carers during August and September.

Workers and volunteers can have their say too - volunteers and workers online questionnaire.

The consultation is about social care services provided by, for example, Barnardo's, Black Health Agency, Body Positive North West, George House Trust as well as the council's own HIV Care managers.

The department wants

Service users and carers to feel they have a voice and can suggest improvements or change

To know what service users and carers think works well in HIV social care

To know what service users and carers think needs improving

To know if service users and carers think there are any gaps in services

To find out why some people don’t use services.

The department will then discuss these with service providers and the people who plan services and develop an Action ....

Threat to Attendance Allowance

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 10:53:09 +0000

Some people living with HIV get a useful and often valuable benefit called Disability Living Allowance. It has a sister called Attendance Allowance. The big difference is Attendance Allowance is for older people, pensioners. The government is now planning to scrap it.

Currently only about 200 people living with HIV in the NW are 60 or over (this age group saw many die in the 1980s and early-mid 90s). But hard on their heels is a much bigger group of people in their 50s. So the plans to scrap Attendance Allowance affect some people with HIV already, and if it is scrapped, we can confidently predict many people now in their 40s and 50s will be significantly worse off later on.

Benefit for day to day living difficulties

You can claim attendance allowance when the tasks of day to day looking after yourself become too much and you need physical help or encouragement, or watching over. This can include watching over and support for mental ill-health. It can be a life saver when you haven't savings and aren't 'bad' enough to qualify for any social services support.

The top rate is now £70.35 a week. The lower rate is a respectable £47.10. 1.6 million people in Britain aged 65 and over receive it, and ....

Become a Member - Be Quick

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:24:20 +0000

All service users and active volunteers can become a member of George House Trust. The deadline, if you want to vote at our next annual general meeting, is Tuesday 4 August. Becoming a member of George House Trust is a way to get more involved in our strategic development.

As a member, you can:

Attend the Annual General Meeting (AGM)

Vote at the AGM, or at any other member’s only meetings, on decisions affecting our strategic development

Nominate yourself (or someone else) to become a Trustee

Examples of decisions that require a vote by members include: any change in our name, changes to our main charitable aims, and the annual election of trustees.

If you are a service user or an active volunteer you can apply to be a member. If you are interested, please read the document below that explains your responsibilities and how to apply. Please complete the attached form and return to the office by 5pm Tuesday 4 August.

Membership form

Membership details 2009

If you have any questions or need any help with the form please contact us on 0161 274 4499 or email

Blackpool - Caring with Confidence

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 13:09:09 +0000

Caring with Confidence is a knowledge and skills based programme which aims to help carers make a positive difference to their life and that of the person they care for. Carers can mix and match how they further develop their knowledge and skills - by taking part in one or more free, local group sessions.

HIV, stigma and general training courses

A course is offered in Blackpool and could be helpful to people caring for people living with HIV. This is a general course for all carers, not a course just for people caring for others living with HIV. We suggest you think about whether you will say anything about HIV, and about the person you are caring for, in this course. It may be awkward to take part because of HIV stigma and confidentiality. We suggest you check with the course arranger how this will be dealt with, and what you can expect.

Caring with Confidence is part of the Government's 'New Deal for Carers' - an initiative aimed at improving support for carers. These are courses are being delivered by SHIVER staff, part of Drugline Lancashire, based on Dixon Road in Blackpool.

Similar courses are run eg in Manchester by LGF. You can search the Caring with Confidence website for courses in ....

HIV Activist Claims Trafalgar Sq Plinth

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 12:28:45 +0000

A HIV activist mounted Trafalgar Square's Fourth Plinth this morning as part of Antony Gormley's One & Other exhibition.

Eric Page spent part of his hour on the plinth wearing a THIVK you're still negative? T-shirt to raise awareness of the work of Terrence Higgins Trust.

THIVK is a year long campaign developed by the CHAPS partnership and launched by THT to get men to consider if they have HIV without realising. The Health Protection Agency estimates up to 10,000 gay men in Britain have HIV without knowing.

THIVK, Test and Take Control campaign

Page, from Brighton, who has worked for THT as a sexual health outreach worker for eight years, said: "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I wanted to spend my hour on the plinth to highlight the issues of sexual health and gay men in particular as HIV is a risk for all people. I started my time on the plinth in a fabulous outfit, slowly changing my outfits until I end up, in homage to Gormley's previous work, naked. Leaving me, very literally exposed and vulnerable.

Sue Peters from Terrence Higgins Trust said: "I want to say a huge thank you to ....

Cambodia's 'AIDS' Colony Shame

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 10:55:58 +0000

HIV campaigners and human rights groups today accused the Cambodian government of herding HIV-affected families into an "AIDS colony" outside the capital, Phnom Penh.

In an open letter to the country's prime minister, Hun Sen, and the health minister, Mam Bunheng, more than 100 international and domestic pressure groups said they were deeply disturbed by the "life-threatening" conditions in the settlement.

Forty families are forced to live in sheet-metal sheds without running water or proper sanitation.

The government has spent the past two months moving people with HIV from an apartment complex and market in the Borei Keila district of Phnom Penh to Tuol Sambo, a flood-prone area 15 miles (25km) away.

"By bundling people living with HIV together in second-rate housing, far from medical facilities, support services and jobs, the government has created a de facto AIDS colony," Shiba Phurailatpam, of the Asia-Pacific Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS, said.

Rebecca Schleifer, a Human Rights Watch spokeswoman, said conditions at Tuol Sambo posed "serious risks" to people who were already vulnerable to illness.

"People living with HIV have compromised immune systems and are especially vulnerable," she added. "For them, these substandard conditions can mean a death sentence or a ticket to a hospital."

According to Médecins sans Frontières, ....

Provident Financial Charges 545% Interest

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 10:19:48 +0000

People in poverty, as many living with HIV are, who take out loans from door-step lender Provident Financial are charged "extortionate" interest rates, say Barnardo's, the children's charity who work closely with George House Trust.

Provident Financial reported a rise in profits despite the credit crunch squeeze on household budgets. The company, known as "the Provvy" to many, agreed some of its customers were being charged annualised interest rates of up to 545%, but said it played a valuable role in improving people's living standards – and keeping some of them out of the clutches of loan sharks. Its business practices have certainly impressed some City analysts. Numis Securities today hailed it as "probably the most profitable bank in the world".

Provident Financial, whose consumer credit arm sells small loans door to door, said pre-tax profits rose 3.5% to £53.1m in the six months to 30 June. It has more than 2.1 million customers, 400,000 of whom hold its credit cards. Peter Crook, chief executive, said that despite the challenging environment, the company expected to deliver "continuing quality growth" during the next few months.

His firm has seen a big rise in loan applications since the high street banks began to tighten lending criteria. The home credit industry ....

New Housing and HIV Guide

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 14:02:24 +0000

The Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) has lent its support to a new NAT (National AIDS Trust) guide about HIV for housing officers.

The guidance, produced in partnership with Shelter, follows NAT's earlier report in January which revealed evidence of poor practice in housing provision for people living with HIV.

Research shows inappropriate housing has a detrimental effect on the health of someone living with HIV, with potentially life-threatening consequences.

HIV and housing: a practical guide for housing officers on HIV and its impact on housing needs sets out a new approach for assessing the housing needs of someone with HIV. It is designed to enable professionals involved in housing allocation and support to understand HIV and its effects.

Deborah Jack, Chief Executive of NAT, comments:
“Evidence shows people living with HIV are still struggling with the impact of poor housing and discrimination, much of which is caused by a lack of understanding about HIV. As the number of people living with HIV in the UK continues to rise, it is increasingly important that all housing officers know how HIV affects housing needs. This new guidance will enable housing officers to make correct assessments, which we hope will ultimately improve the quality of life ....

Useful Pre-Pay Visa Cards

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 13:11:25 +0000

Many people with HIV find getting debit and credit cards almost impossible, including migrants with HIV, and the gap could now be filled by pre-pay cards. These allow you to buy things and pay bills by plastic, including on the web, but you don't need a good credit score, or have enough regular income. You simply pay for credit to be added to the card as you can afford this.

O2 has launched a pre-pay Visa card for adults, called Cash Manager, which may finally make these products a viable choice for millions.

The chief attraction of Cash Manager is that it's free of charges. Until now, pre-pay cards have tended to levy an "issuing fee" (usually £10), monthly fees (up to £5 at some providers) and "reload" fees. They have largely been used as an alternative to travellers' cheques when overseas.

Good option for migrants

But now Britain's unbanked – especially recent migrants, but all those refused by banks – can obtain a Visa card for free. They'll be able to load it with cash at thousands of Paypoint and ePay terminals around the country, which will then allow them to buy goods over the net or over the phone.

The catch is that you have to have an O2 mobile. ....

Social Fund Swamped

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 12:39:19 +0000

The government-run emergency fund to help the most vulnerable in society is failing those who need it, according to the damning findings of an independent review.

The Social Fund, administered by Jobcentre Plus, provides lump sum payments, grants and loans to help the poorest in society meet needs such as basic household items and clothing. But according to the Social Fund commissioner's annual report, it is failing to cope with requests for help.

Sir Richard Tilt, the commissioner, said applications for loans had gone up from 1 million to 3m over the past couple of years and the system could not cope with demand. Fewer than half of those who phoned a crisis loan telephone line managed to get through to an adviser, the report found. In some places, such as Bristol, the success rate was less than 7%.

Tilt called for the £141m-a-year fund to be increased to £200m as a matter of urgency, given the current economic conditions. He warned that failures in the system would end up driving people into the arms of loan sharks. "The amount of money is not huge if you think about the money that has gone into financial problems," Tilt said.

Social Fund details ....

Human Rights for Treating to Prevent

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 11:51:44 +0000

Since the Swiss (and French, and German) statements that treatment, in certain situations can prevent HIV transmission, the idea of using this regionally, nationally and globally to massively reduce the HIV epidemic has been hotly debated.

The Fifth IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention, in Cape Town, South Africa, last week was warned that expanding HIV testing programmes and advocating universal testing and treatment of those who test positive, must not violate the human rights of the people affected.

Human Rights basics

Representatives from the organisations Human Rights Watch and the AIDS and Rights Alliance of Southern Africa (ARASA) told testing advocates to ensure that

testing must not be coercive,

that it is linked to treatment provision and treatment education,

that the peer counsellors who perform testing understand confidentiality and informed consent,

and that those who test positive are not subjected to ostracism within their communities.

The background to a series of seminars and discussions on the way forward for ‘treatment as prevention’ was a political disagreement among the HIV advocacy and public health communities dating from last year.

Predicting what might happen if testing and treating was policy

In 2008, two mathematical models appeared in HIV journals ....

Swine Flu Update

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 10:54:10 +0000

The Medical Director at Terrence Higgins Trust, answers common questions from people with HIV. He has answers to ...

What is swine flu?

Are people with HIV at greater risk of getting swine flu?

If someone with HIV gets swine flu, are they more likely to suffer complications?

Are there any precautions people living with HIV can take to protect themselves from swine flu?

What are the symptoms of swine flu?

I’ve already had a flu jab, will this protect me?

If I think I have swine flu, what should I do?

Where can I get further information?

The advice is regularly updated so please check here for up to date information for people living with HIV.

Call your GP. Don't go to the surgery or HIV clinic.

The latest (August) i-Base HIV Treatment Bulletin has swine flu protocols from two leading HIV clinics in London (which NW clinics may adapt) and a useful Questions and Answers page with helpful advice.

Key points from this are:

Q. Will flu meds work in people who are HIVpositive?
A. Antiviral medications used to ....

Vaccinate against Anal Cancer?

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 17:13:18 +0000

Anal cancer in men with HIV is much more common now since modern treatments became standard, but could HPV vaccination help prevent this?

HPV basics

Human papilloma viruses are known as HPV. They can affect the skin and the moist membranes that line parts of the body, including

the lining of the mouth and throat

a woman's cervix

the anus.

There are more than 100 different types (or ‘strains’) of human papilloma virus (HPV). Each type has a different number.

HPV is common. Most people have the virus at some time in their lives. For most people it causes no symptoms and goes away on its own.

Some types of HPV can cause precancerous changes in the cells of the anus, cervix or the lining of the mouth and throat. They are known as high risk HPVs. The changed cells have a bigger risk of becoming cancerous than normal cells.

Last week we reported how HPV raises the risk of cancer of the cervix to women living with HIV. Now we look at anal cancer, which is caused by the same virus.

The annual incidence of anal cancer amongst people with HIV has continued to increase in recent years and now ....

Free HIV Treatment Plans

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 16:42:13 +0000

The government may relax the rules on which migrants can have free HIV treatment in England, the junior health minister Ann Keen announced in the House of Commons last week.

The government also announced some other plans:

that access to primary care services should not bar refused asylum seekers or others (the recent consultation on this produced furious opposition to tougher rules),

that a limited number of refused asylum seekers should be exempt from all charges, and

that foreign nationals with large debts to the NHS could be refused permission to remain in the UK or to re-enter the country.

Health and Home Office review

These plans have emerged from a joint review by the Department of Health and the Home Office, and were briefly described in a statement to the House of Commons and in a Department of Health press release.

Some propositions are in one of these documents, but not in the other. None are final decisions - consultations are likely to take place later in the year. The plans are only for England (Wales and Scotland decide their own health policy).

Commons statement on HIV treatment for migrants

In the statement to the House of Commons, Ann Keen reiterated the government’s commitment that ....

HIV+ Women and Fertility Advice

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 15:55:56 +0000

Women living with HIV in the UK want more and better sexual and reproductive healthcare services from their HIV clinic, according to three separate studies presented at the British HIV Association conference in Liverpool recently. Conception and contraception advice needs to deal with the real issues for women living with HIV.

Three studies

Findings were presented on small studies of women attending HIV clinics in London (69 responses), Leicester (114 responses) and Birmingham (59 heterosexual men and women). Around two-thirds of both the Leicester and London samples were sexually active; this leaves about 1 in 3 not having sex and this is a higher rate than for the rest of the population.

Leicester and use of contraception

The Leicester study looked at contraceptive use (at the time of the study, this was not provided by the HIV clinic). Almost all the sexually active women sometimes used contraception, and for 65% of women the method used was the male condom. Eighteen per cent of sexually active women doubled up condoms with other contraceptive methods, a strategy which can combine prevention of infections with use of more reliable contraceptives.

Less than 3% used contraceptive pills (much lower than in the general population), and 8% used implants, and both these methods ....

HIV Rights Threatened

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 13:30:26 +0000

Crisis at the top of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission has followed the controversial reappointment of Trevor Phillips as its chair for another three years. The commission took over from the Disability Rights Commission (and the other commissions for race and gender) and so is now the body responsible for promoting the rights of people living with HIV. The crisis at the top threatens the work of the commission on behalf of everyone living with HIV.

Queue of quitting commissioners, staff and tales of sleaze

Six of the 16 commissioners (the board of directors) have quit so far and another is expected to go. Three of these were the disability commissioners.

The chief executive and director of communications have both resigned.

The National Audit Office earlier this month refused to approve the commission's accounts, as over £1m was misspent on making 7 senior staff redundant from the former Commission for Racial Equality he led, who were then immediately reappointed as expensive consultants.

Phillips owns a majority stake in an equalities consultancy, and this risks conflicts of interest because he's in charge of UK equalities advice and regulation.

A £300,000 contract ....

USA HIV Travel Ban Consultation

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 10:57:55 +0000

The notorious ban on people living with HIV from entering the USA is under official review. There is a public consultation by the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.

Have your say - opposition to removing the HIV ban is loud

So far many comments are opposed to the removal of the ban, so if removing this ban is important to you please consider posting your support message.

Official information on the proposals and email them your comments - click the Submit Comments link on that page (this starts a blank email) or email your comments direct

You may like to say something like the statement by Paul Thorn, the Brighton-based HIV treatments access campaigner, who should have spoken at the Pacific health summit in Seattle in June, but was refused entry to the USA after stating his HIV status on his visa-waiver application. This statement was read out to that conference and was the immediate cause of the policy review that is now underway:

"The US government gives people who have HIV one of two choices. The first is to actually be dishonest on the visa application or visa-waiver form, commit a felony by lying to US immigration, and become a criminal. The second choice is ....

Group Facilitator Jobs

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 10:08:46 +0000

The National Long Term Survivors Group (of people living with HIV) is looking for enthusiastic and experienced facilitators for groups, individual counselling and general support at their residential weekends. They run these weekends four times a year at a peaceful location in rural Staffordshire.

Applicants should have appropriate professional qualifications, experience and good references.

NLTSG pays its facilitators a fee, travel expenses as well as providing meals and accommodation (should these be required).

Applications should be sent to:

National Long Term Survivors Group
BM LTSG, London, WC1N 3XX

The NLTSG is a vibrant user-led group that provides support to people living with HIV for 5 years or more. It is a registered charity.

The group has recently secured funding from the Elton John AIDS Foundation to enable people living with HIV over 50 or who live in an isolated location to attend a weekend, or for people who are paid or unpaid workers with an HIV Group.

NLTSG website

GHT at Pride Parade 2009

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 15:15:45 +0000

Be part of our parade entry at this year's Manchester Pride festival on Saturday 29th August, and show your support for people living with HIV in the North West.

This is open to all volunteers, service users, friends and supporters of George House Trust, and we really need all your support to ensure we have a strong voice and presence on the parade.

George House Trust Pride Launch Briefing
If you're interesting in taking part, please join us at our GHT Pride Launch Briefing at 6pm on Wednesday 19th August, at our premises at 77 Ardwick Green North. This is a chance to find out more about this year's campaign, collect your campaign T-shirt, and get final details and start times for the big parade day itself. Light refreshments will be available.

If you can't make the briefing session please email James to register your place on the parade, and to obtain final joining details for the day.

Pride without the lorry

Please note that this year we will not be having a vehicle as part of our parade so if you're joining us you will need to be able to maintain a steady walking pace for the duration of the parade, which can last up ....

Action on Teaching HIV in Schools

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:48:30 +0000

Earlier this week we asked you to stand up for the rights of children and young people to effective HIV education in all schools. One further simple step we ask is for you to give the same message to the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority.

Last October the Government announced it would make sex and relationships education (SRE) a statutory part of the National Curriculum by 2011. It has not happened yet - there are two consultations about it. Churches and schools opposed to teaching all children about HIV, sexuality and relationships are actively campaigning against making HIV and SRE compulsory.

Unless there is a strong show of support for making SRE part of the curriculum, the Government may decide not to make this change, and young people will then continue to miss out on basic information about how to protect themselves from HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.

Tell the QCA we must have sex and relationships education in schools

As part of the review, the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority is consulting with a short questionnaire on PSHE. Please complete the survey, support making sex and relationships education part of the National Curriculum. There are only 10 simple tick-box questions. The more responses the QCA receives in favour, the stronger the pressure to ....

Lost - Disappearing after Diagnosis

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:13:24 +0000

A significant number of people disappear from HIV clinics after receiving their HIV diagnosis. We’ve noticed this from close study of NW HIV statistics. It's a problem that is now being recognised across the country. Up to 1 in 4 disappear and there are real concerns for the health of those individuals and for onward transmission.

1 in 4 disappearing
Homerton hospital in London found 30 (35%) did not attend any further appointments including eight out of the 37 people who had CD4 counts under 200. A quarter of people with CD4 counts under 200 (24%) disappeared from further care. People with CD4 counts under 200 are at high risk of many opportunistic infections such as PCP (the type of pneumonia common in people with low CD4 counts).

Another north London hospital, North Middlesex, found similar rates of disappearance both from existing patients as those people who were newly-diagnosed. The hospital found that between 2005 and 2009 157 patients out of 723 were lost to follow-up, a rate of 22%. This doesn’t count people known to have transferred to another clinic, who died (2%), or who moved out of the UK (1%).

Health Protection Agency cross-checking

Using the Health Protection Agency’s (HPA) anonymous database of HIV patients, ....

Sign Up for Conference News

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 16:27:25 +0000

International AIDS Society is holding one of the major HIV conferences in Cape Town, South Africa this year. The Conference runs from 19 - 22 July.

The IAS conference focuses on expanding treatment and prevention in resource-limited settings. It covers basic, clinical and prevention science and 'operations research' will look at how people are developing evidence-based prevention, treatment and care programmes and policy.

You can get daily news updates from aidsmap.com from the 5th International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention.

You can sign up here for the aidsmap.com conference bulletin.

Sahir - HIV Men's Group Worker

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 15:09:06 +0000

Sahir House are looking for a suitably experienced man to facilitate Sahir House Gay Men’s Group & the Men’s Wellbeing Group. The post holder will be expected to work mainly with HIV positive men, though may on occasion be required to work with other members of Sahir House.

Preference will be shown to candidates with experience of working with people from the following groups:

* HIV positive people;
* Gay and bisexual men;
* Asylum seekers and refugees.

4 hours per week
£13.10 per hour (pay award pending).

Photo credit

This post is exempt under the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 as the gender of the post holder is a genuine occupational requirement - you need to be male to apply.
The job is funded for one year initially; probation period applies, possible funding continuing into 2012.

This is a readvertisement and if you have already applied you will automatically be reconsidered.

Closing date - 5pm Friday 31st July.

Sahir House is in Liverpool City Centre. Application forms are available from Sahir House.

Email for application form
0151 708 9080

Applications by deadline to

Sahir House
PO Box 11
Liverpool
L69 1SN

Women, HIV and your Cervix

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:50:03 +0000

Women with HIV face a greater risk of harm from HPV, the virus that can cause cervical cancer. Around 1 in 100 women develop cervical cancer in the UK during their life but for most women this is preventable. HPV also causes anal cancer - and this is more likely to affect gay men with HIV.

Screen often

Women with HIV need regular screening to check for HPV and signs of any pre-cancerous cells. Women with HIV are twice as likely as women without HIV to be infected with the virus HPV, and 3-4 times more likely to develop pre-cancerous cells. A simple operation under local anasthetic can remove any pre-cancerous cells, but if this is not done, women with HIV are 12 times as likely to get invasive cervical cancer.

The immune system doesn't work as well with HIV and so women with HIV are more likely to get infected by HPV, less likely to recover naturally, and HPV is more likely to cause damage. But with early, frequent checking and treatment, this need not cause problems.

In the USA 60% of women with HIV have a current HPV infection, but only 15% of HIV negative women do. Women with HIV are about twice as likely to get HPV in any year as a ....

Mambo Magazine for UK Africans

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 13:34:43 +0000

A new website Mambo provides culturally sensitive information and advice on sexual health for African communities. The website links with its sister, Mambo print magazine, and is dedicated to raising issues of HIV and sexual health.

This website is run by Terrence Higgins Trust and is based on the findings of key surveys conducted by Sigma Research reported in The Knowledge, The Will and The Power and from the BASS Line 2007 survey.

These surveys showed a clear need for raising Africans' awareness that HIV significantly affects Africans in the UK. The Government’s National Strategy for sexual health and HIV recommend using websites and mass media for promoting knowledge and awareness of HIV to African communities in the UK.

The Mambo website has information, articles, and blogs on all areas of sexual health, from sexually transmitted infections, testing and treatment to relationships and healthy living.

There is a feature for the general public, a blog page with a round up of changes happening in Africa, as well as a place where questions about health, social or relationship problems can be answered by an expert.

Mambo mag

The latest Mambo magazine is also available. You can view this online at the website ....

Demand HIV Education in Schools

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 12:15:55 +0000

It's time to speak up for all children and young people's right to HIV information and other sex and relationship education in schools. Should Sex and Relationships Education (including information on HIV, sexuality, discrimination and harassment) be made compulsory in all schools?

The deadline is just days away (Friday 24 July) and it seems most of the responses so far are from churches and schools which are strongly opposed to this. NAT (National AIDS Trust) are asking you to help - all it takes is an email of your answers to the key questions.

The Department for Children, Schools and Families is consulting the public about whether Personal, Social, Health and Economic education (PSHE), including Sex and Relationships Education (SRE), should be made a compulsory part of the National Curriculum.

NAT thinks that this is long overdue. Young people have a right to learn about HIV, and how to protect their sexual health. However, this is not just a sexual health issue, young people also need to be taught about social issues such as discrimination.

It is really important that as many organisations and individuals as possible respond to this consultation to show the Government that young people have a right to this education. There has been substantial ....

HIV Workers Course

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:58:12 +0000

Terrence Higgins Trust has just been approved to offer a new City & Guilds course in understanding HIV and AIDS. The course was developed as a partnership between THT and City & Guilds and it is the first of its kind. Courses will be run at locations across the UK.

The qualification is designed for people interested in HIV and AIDS or working in a role where knowledge of the issue would be beneficial to their work. It’s ideal for people who work in a variety of roles including nurses, GP reception staff, voluntary workers, probation officers, police officers, teachers, social services staff, staff in drug support services and residential care services as well as interested individuals.

Joanna Hurren Head of Function at City & Guilds said “The course could help to open the door to a career in the HIV sector, or could help to support a person’s career development if already working in a role where it’s beneficial to be aware of the issues relating to HIV and AIDS. We’re very pleased to have given THT the official accreditation they need to run this course. HIV is a complex issue and it makes sense to have the experts delivering the ....

Global Treatment Timebomb

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:56:24 +0000

The price of new HIV medicines for the world’s poorest need to be reduced urgently according to a report by MPs published today, following a five month inquiry.

The report, The Treatment Timebomb, describes how by 2030 over 50 million people will need HIV treatment compared to just 9 million who need it today.

Second line treatments cost at least 7 times more

In addition, millions of those needing treatment in future will need more expensive medicines, having become resistant to the basic HIV combination therapy. These ‘second-line’ treatments currently cost at least seven times more. When the basic treatment stops working, getting them is a matter of life or death. Some people will also need to switch from the basic combination to newer less-toxic drugs because they experience serious side effects.

“We are sitting on a treatment timebomb.” said David Borrow MP, Chair of The All Party Parliamentary Group on AIDS that wrote report. “We must reduce the price of second-line medicines and less toxic first-line medicines before millions need them. We cannot sleepwalk into a situation where we can only afford to treat a tiny proportion of those infected.”

Failing to reach 2010 target of treatment for all

Governments around the ....

Minister - Pool HIV Drug Patents

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 09:45:31 +0000

Drug companies should give up their patent rights to HIV medicines to help prevent the deaths of millions of people in poor countries, a British government minister will say this week.

The international development minister, Mike Foster, will call on pharmaceutical companies to put lives before profits, as the all-party parliamentary group on AIDS publishes a report this week detailing the scale of the "treatment timebomb". By 2030, they estimate, 50 million people will need new drugs, which are currently prohibitively expensive, to keep them alive.

Three million people are on cheap, basic HIV drug combinations, but they are only a third of those needing treatment, and resistance is growing to these drugs both in the developing world and in the west.

New and improved drugs are urgently required, but they are expensive, and cheap generic copies of the newest drugs can no longer easily be made and sold because of tightened intellectual property rules in India and China.

The UK generally has a very close relationship with the drug companies, which regard patents as the means of recouping the substantial costs of researching and developing new drugs.

Patent pool solution

But Foster says they must change their stance on HIV. He wants companies to contribute to ....

High Stigma and Consequences

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:07:31 +0000

People with HIV face high levels of stigma, and this is consistently associated with lack of social support, poor physical and mental health, poverty, and younger age, according to the results of a study of all the studies published in the June AIDS Care.

A total of 24 studies conducted since 2000, involving a wide range of people with HIV, were included in the analysis.

The authors suggest “health professionals caring for people living with HIV as well as HIV-related stigma interventions and support programmes could benefit from an enhanced understanding of correlates of HIV-related stigma.”

Stigma has been associated with HIV since the beginnings of the epidemic and is experienced by individuals in different ways. HIV-positive people are often blamed for their infection, on occasion even by healthcare providers.

HIV also disproportionately affects groups that are already stigmatised, including gay men, injecting drugs users and migrant populations.

Earlier research has shown that HIV-related stigma is associated with mental health needs, social exclusion, lower quality of life, and poor physical health. Moreover, studies have also indicated that age, gender, income, race/ethnicity, and sexual orientation are associated with stigma.

However, studies examining HIV-related stigma have varied by their sample size and population, measures of stigma, data collection and statistical ....

Using HIV Social Care in Manchester?

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:49:46 +0000

If you have used HIV social care services in Manchester, including George House Trust, and want a say in future HIV services provided or funded by the city council, your views are wanted.

Manchester Adult Social Care Department is consulting HIV service users and carers during July, August and September. Workers and volunteers can have their say too.

The council tell us the consultation is about social care services provided by, for example, Barnardo's, Black Health Agency, Body Positive North West, George House Trust and the HIV Care managers.

The department wants

Service users and carers to feel they have a voice and can suggest improvements or change

To know what service users and carers think works well in HIV social care

To know what service users and carers think needs improving

To know if service users and carers think there are any gaps in services

To find out why some people don’t use services.

The department will then discuss these with service providers and the people who plan services and develop an Action Plan for what should happen next.

Confidentiality

If you decide to get involved what you say will be kept confidential in that no-one will ....

Treatment - Learning from Exceptions

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 10:51:41 +0000

Rare people among the many living with HIV, have HIV but never seem to become ill with it. What can they teach us about new ways to strengthen the body’s natural defences against HIV and for developing new HIV drugs?

At first Karen Pancheau figured her son Tyler’s nasty rash came from friction on the mats at judo class. But when the rash became much worse, his dad took the teenager for tests, which revealed he had HIV. Karen, too, then tested positive for HIV, which she’d acquired from a blood transfusion in 1982 and to which she exposed Tyler during childbirth and breast-feeding. Yet while Tyler’s health deteriorated, Karen remained well.

Treatment worked for Tyler, but left him constantly tired, and he killed himself aged 23. Remarkably, 26 years after her HIV infection, his mother is still well.

She isn’t alone. Bruce Walker, now director of the Partners AIDS Research Center at the Massachusetts General Hospital and director of the Center for AIDS Research at Harvard University, first became aware in 1992 that there were others who seemed somehow protected from HIV. He learned about the phenomenon from Susan Buchbinder, an epidemiologist in San Francisco who was analyzing ....

Parliamentary HIV Group News

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:17:44 +0000

The All Party Parliamentary Group on AIDS (APPGA) is where activism and Parliament meet. MPs and peers concerned about HIV make recommendations and lobby for change.

Here is their latest newsletter telling you what they have been thinking about and campaigning on.

There are updates on global treatment access, graffitti abuse, patent pools for developing new drugs, advertising condoms on TV before 9pm, and the push for routine HIV testing in the parts of the country with the most people affected - outside London and Brighton, that means Manchester, Salford, Blackpool and in the midlands, Birmingham, Leicester and Nottingham. Other articles deal with pre-employment questionnaires and paying for global treatment.

APPGA Summer Briefing pdf file (1.19Mb)

Global HIV Prevention - Failed to Circumcise

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:03:50 +0000

World HIV experts say the failure to act upon 25-year-old evidence that male circumcision plays a major role in preventing transmission of the HIV may have cost "millions of lives", especially in Africa. The first pilot programme for mass circumcision was started only late last year.

Back in 1985 researchers discovered that circumcised men who paid women for sex in Kenya were much less likely to get HIV. Some 30 studies on circumcision's protective effects during the 1990s, but it was not until 2004 that formal double-blind trials were commissioned by international HIV agencies. As a result of "overwhelming results" from these, pilot programmes for mass circumcision of men began in a number of African countries late last year.

In 20 years circumcision would prevent almost 6 million infections and 3 million deaths

It is now accepted by the World Health Organisation and other bodies that circumcision reduces chances of HIV infection by about 60%, and that up to 3 million deaths and 5.7 million infections could be prevented over the next 20 years. About 30 million people are thought to have died from Aids-related illnesses since 1981.

Dr Catherine Hankins, the chief scientific adviser to UNAids, the United Nations special agency for the epidemic, said that the failure ....

Clinics Contact Tracing Recent HIV Works

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 10:40:01 +0000

Contact tracing people with acute (very recent) HIV infection leads to diagnosing others with HIV, such as newly infected partners, say investigators from North Carolina, USA, in the online edition of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.

Contact tracing of people with acute, or new, HIV finds more people with HIV who are undiagnosed than tracing the contacts of people who have had HIV for a while - what medics call chronic HIV infection.

1 in 4 partners of newly infected people were also newly infected

A quarter of the partners of people with acute HIV infection contacted were also found to have acute infection.

“Identifying persons with acute HIV infection is vital to controlling the spread of HIV. Phylogenetic and epidemiological analyses among other populations have demonstrated the crucial role this group plays in forward transmission,” comment the investigators.

How they did the study

In 2002, the North Carolina Department of Public Health began using nucleic acid amplification testing (NAT) to identify individuals with acute HIV infection. The theory they wanted to test was that people with new (acute) HIV infection would be able to identify more of their sex / drug using partners than people infected longer ago.

To test this idea, they compared the number of partners found by contact-tracing services for both people with new ....

USA HIV Visa Ban - End this Autumn?

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 09:53:59 +0000

A law that has in effect banned people with HIV from visiting America for two decades is to be overturned after a Briton with the virus publicly accused the USA of hypocrisy and discrimination, during a major health conference.

Paul Thorn, a Brighton based HIV treatments access campaigner, should have spoken at the Pacific health summit in Seattle last month, but was refused entry to the USA after stating his HIV status on his visa-waiver application.

Powerful statement read to conference

He sent a powerful statement to be read out in his place. The message accused the US of having an HIV policy rooted in fear, and said it had no right to call itself a world leader in the fight against HIV.

In the days after the conference Thorn's case was taken up by politicians including US congressman Jim McDermott. He wrote a letter to the Obama administration citing what had happened to Thorn and another case where people were turned back at the Canadian border. "Now is the time to repair our nation's standing as the leader in the treatment of the Aids epidemic," wrote McDermott.

Ban end announcment follows

Last week - less than a fortnight later - the US government decided to bring the ban to an ....

Sports Day - Stretford, Sat 11 July

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 11:00:11 +0000

George House Trust Sports Day is at the Trafford Athletic Stadium, Longford Park, near Stretford tram / metro stop, on Saturday 11 July.

Come along at 10.30 for the start at 11am. It's open to everyone living with HIV and George House Trust volunteers.

Bring a picnic / food to share, or use the cafe at the athletic stadium.

There will be coached taster activities, track and field events, and some competitive track events.

For children there are fun races and football skills.

Turn up, Join in, or simply Watch and cheer.

If you are taking part remember to dress the part - sports kit, trainers.

where

meet at

Trafford Athletic Stadium
Longford Park
Ryebank Road
Chorlton-cum-Hardy
Manchester
M21 9TA

getting there

Tram / metro to Stretford on the Altrincham route from St Peters Square tram stop, which is next to the white stone circular city library in Manchester (there are no trams across the city centre while the street tracks are being relaid).

Buses 16, 16A, 22, 23, 23A, 276, 297

Public transport route planner - key in your own postcode and the Athletic Club's postcode, M21 9TA

Bus Timetables

Trafford Athletic Club

map from multimap

when

10.30 for 11.00 start

More details e-mail

Better HIV Prevention for Africans

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:36:17 +0000

Better collaboration between health and support providers is needed to deliver effective preventative services to black Africans affected by HIV. This is one of the key conclusions of the latest Better Health briefing, published by the Race Equality Foundation, HIV prevention among black Africans in England: a complex challenge by John Owuor.

Black Africans are 1 in 100 of the UK population but have almost half of all new HIV diagnoses in the UK. Black Africans are disproportionately affected by HIV compared to most other ethnic groups.

Key issues:

HIV prevalence amongst black Africans in England. African heterosexuals are the most affected group in the UK. The majority of those diagnosed are between 20 – 49 years. More women are tested than men, because testing is a routine part of antenatal care.

The majority of black Africans are diagnosed late and this reduces the successfulness of treatment and increases the risk of the disease progression. Reasons for late diagnosis vary but include: stigma associated with HIV; false beliefs that a HIV positive test result will lead to deportation (wrong - being HIV positive can help with applications to stay in the UK), and people not knowing where to get tested, amongst others.

There are more same sex ....

New Side Effects Booklet

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:45:32 +0000

NAM’s new information booklet Side-Effects is about something that worries many people living with HIV. This is the first edition of this booklet.

This booklet provides information about the possible side-effects of taking HIV treatment. All drugs, including those used to treat HIV, can cause unintended/unwanted effects, and you may be reading this because you are worried about such side-effects or have experienced them.

There is information here to help you understand, avoid and deal with any side-effects.

Side-effects are not inevitable, and just because they are talked about in this booklet does not mean that you will develop it. Even if a side-effect develops, it is usually mild, temporary, or treatable.

After reading this booklet, you might want to discuss any side-effects of HIV treatment with your HIV doctor or another member of your healthcare team.

People with HIV can order it for free here, read it online here - use the chapter headings in the menu column on the left - or download the pdf version of the booklet, which you could then print.

UN Leaders Against HIV Prosecutions

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:29:46 +0000

United Nations Secretary-General Mr. Ban Ki-moon has spoken out for the first time against the criminalisation of HIV transmission.

Speaking at the HIV/AIDS review during the 63rd United Nations General Assembly, held in New York in mid June, Mr. Ban spoke out about laws and policies that criminalised people with, and at risk of, HIV. He ended his speech by stating:

More tolerance, compassion and inclusion, not prosecutions

"In recent years, a growing number of countries have taken steps to criminalise HIV transmission. In theory, this has been done to prevent the spread of infection. In practice, it has done the opposite – reducing the effectiveness of HIV prevention efforts by reinforcing the stigma. Such measures send the message that people living with HIV are a danger to society. We must instead encourage tolerance, compassion and inclusion."

The Global Network of People living with HIV (GNP+) joined Mr Ban's call to end HIV-related stigma and discrimination, and highlighted similar calls from UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé, who said, in his speech to the Meeting of the Programme Coordinating Board, held in Geneva on June 23th that

"punitive laws that discriminate against men who have sex with men, sex workers, injecting drug users, migrants ....

Adela, a Women's Award Winner

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:05:03 +0000

Adela has won one of the Manchester Awards for Women 2009. The awards featured a stunning line-up of strong, focussed women who are working hard to improve women's lives in the city of Manchester.

The awards took place in Manchester Town Hall on Thursday 25 June and they were presented by the Lord Mayor of Manchester, Councillor Alison Firth, Councillor Val Stevens, Deputy Leader of the Council, and Councillor Mary Murphy.

The awards covered seven categories, and included women who have made outstanding contributions to health, business, culture or the environment. There were also awards for women contributing to the lives of older women, one for an outstanding young woman, and a special award in honour of Kath Locke (1928-1992) for the person who made the biggest contribution to the role of women in public life.

Unseen but vital work

Councillor Val Stevens, Deputy Leader at Manchester City Council, said: "This was a wonderful and moving occasion and I was honoured to be around these strong women who have all made an impact on the lives of people around them and the wider community. I think it is important that we take time to recognise this often 'unseen' and vital contribution that they make to so many people's ....

Lancashire Sexual Health Leader Job

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:05:35 +0000

Lancashire PCT Chief Executives, Directors of Public Health and the Public Health Network are looking to appoint a Sexual Health leader to work for the network across the pan-Lancashire area (this means the shire county of Lancashire, along with the two unitary districts of Blackpool, and Blackburn with Darwen).

On this interactive health map it is the whole area, in lighter green, centred on Preston, and includes Lancaster.

The post holder will be Programme Manager for Sexual Health and responsible for developing and implementing the Network's sexual health strategy. Sexual health is a significant public health priority in England. There is the background of rising HIV and STI infections and capacity issues which mean services are not yet able to meet demand, and there is a strong national policy imperative driving change and improvement in sexual health services.

The Network aims to develop outcome measures, ensure quality standards and strive for excellence and modernisation in sexual health service provision to improve the sexual health of the population of pan-Lancashire whilst achieving organisational targets.

This is an exciting opportunity to develop and lead a programme combining varied work in the field of sexual health with the principles and values of health improvement and reducing health inequalities.

The Lancashire Public Health Network is ....

HIV Health Navigator Job

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 09:49:18 +0000

Terrence Higgins Trust and George House Trust are jointly creating an exciting new service for people living with HIV, with funding from Elton John Aids Foundation. The service will support people to manage HIV as a long term health condition, through a range of resources including an interactive website, membership scheme and local health trainer service.

This vital new service is a direct response to the needs of the increasing numbers of people with HIV.

George House Trust is looking for a HIV Health Navigator as part of this exciting new project. The successful candidate will bring experience of working with a diverse range of individuals and organisations in a social care or health setting.

You will provide health and treatment advice and support to people living with HIV and have a broad understanding of the needs of people living with HIV. T

his work will be delivered on a one to one and group basis. The service will be delivered on an outreach basis and will require some travelling to various appointments.

George House Trust is the leading HIV charity for the North West of England. Our central aim is to promote the best quality of life for people living with and affected by ....

Testing campaign - MPs meet activists

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:52:15 +0000

Local campaigners met with MPs and senior primary care trust staff at parliament today to raise awareness of HIV and discuss ways to increase HIV testing.

The ‘Testing Local Leadership on HIV’ event, held at the House of Commons, was organised by the All Party Parliamentary Group on AIDS, Terrence Higgins Trust and NAT (National AIDS Trust). Local campaigners, included people from NorthWest England, and met with MPs from the constituencies with the highest HIV prevalence in England - where at least 2 in 1,000 people are diagnosed with HIV. These include Manchester, Salford and Blackpool - the only areas outside London and Brighton.

Speakers at the event were Chief Medical Officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, David Borrow MP, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on AIDS, Neil Gerrard, MP for Walthamstow and Garry Brough, an HIV campaigner.

Proposals

Issues discussed included offering testing in a wider range of settings, increasing opportunities for community based testing and involving GPs more in testing high risk groups, in particular gay men and Africans.

Over 77,400 people are living with HIV in the UK - more than ever before, but over a quarter of these people (approximately ....

Walk-In 20 Minute HIV Tests

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:32:10 +0000

Starting on Thursday 2 July, the Lesbian and Gay Foundation and the Manchester Centre for Sexual Health will offer a new rapid HIV testing clinic for gay and bisexual men. The tests clinic will be at the LGF on Princess Street in Manchester every Thursday from 4pm to 6pm. The service will start up as a walk-in service.

The test that will be used gives results within 20 minutes of taking the test.

Nathan Perry the LGF’s sexual health and HIV co-ordinator said: “We are extremely happy with the fact that we will be able to deliver this long awaited service from the LGF premises in partnership with the Manchester Centre for Sexual Health.”

STI check and hepatitis jabs too

The HIV testing clinic will also provide a test for syphilis and offer Hepatitis B vaccinations.

This new service is in addition to LGF's outreach clinic on Monday afternoons from various locations throughout Manchester, including three gay saunas.

Manchester and Salford - 400 gay men undiagnosed

There are an estimated 77,000 people living with HIV in the UK, of which 21,000 do not know they have the infection - about 1 in 3 have not been diagnosed.

In Manchester and Salford there are around 1100 gay men diagnosed. ....

Our Sports Day - Saturday 11 July

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:43:07 +0000

On Saturday 11 July the George House Trust Sports Day is at Longford Park, near Stretford tram / metro stop.

Come along at 10.30 for the start at 11am. It's open to everyone living with HIV and George House Trust volunteers.

Bring a picnic / food to share, or use the cafe.

There will be coached taster activities, track and field events, and some competitive track events. For children there are fun races and football skills.

Turn up, Join in, or simply Watch and cheer.

If you are taking part remember to dress the part - sports kit, trainers.

where

Trafford Althletics Club, Longford Park, Edge Lane, Stretford

when

10.30 for 11.00 start

More details e-mail

Men's Online Sexual Health Checks

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:50:59 +0000

A new online sexual health check for men has just been launched by NHS Direct.

NHS Direct says its new symptom checker is suitable for all males over the age of 12 and covers a variety of concerns and conditions.

The new site also covers sensitive topics which people may have trouble talking about, such as sexual assault or abuse and sexual dysfunction.

The NHS claims its new symptom checker works by asking the user a series of questions and depending on the answers given it then suggests what you might do including: see your GP, go to a hospital A&E department, or visit a sexual health clinic.

In some cases, a more personal assessment may be needed, and they would offer you a telephone call back from an NHS Direct nurse.

If home treatment for some conditions is possible it tells you how and what, and what to do if things don't improve.

Commenting on the new site, Helen Young, NHS Direct clinical director and chief nurse, said:
"Sexual health is unfortunately often a low priority for men and the subject can be viewed as embarrassing and uncomfortable to talk about. The new symptom checker encourages men to take the reins when it comes ....

Good Guide - Detention and Removal

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:27:10 +0000

NAT (National AIDS Trust) and the British HIV Association (BHIVA) have launched the first ever best practice guidance to support detainees living with HIV in Immigration Removal Centres (IRCs).

There is growing concern about the failure to meet the HIV-related needs of asylum applicants. The process of detention and removal has resulted in real difficulties for asylum seekers living with HIV. Research shows that people living with HIV have not always received the care they need and in some cases asylum seekers have had vital antiretroviral treatment interrupted whilst at an IRC.

The advice entitled Detention, Removal and People Living with HIV, produced in partnership with IRC healthcare managers, is a practical resource for healthcare, voluntary sector and other professionals working with detained HIV-positive asylum seekers in IRCs.

Deborah Jack, Chief Executive of NAT, comments:

“With many asylum-seekers coming from countries with high HIV-prevalence, it is important that those working in removal and detention centres understand the needs of people living with HIV. Healthcare managers and HIV clinicians working in IRCs have a duty to ensure asylum applicants living with HIV receive the best possible treatment, care and support throughout the process. ....

Gay and using Drink and Drugs

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:47:29 +0000

Over the summer, people at Pride events across the country will be surveyed about the use by gay, lesbian and bisexual people of alcohol and drugs.

Part of the Picture - England's first ever research into drug and alcohol use is now underway.

The Part of the Picture research teams have been to Birmingham already and will visit Newcastle Pride (18 July), Leeds Pride (2 August), Cornwall Pride (8 August) and Manchester Pride from 29 - 31 August.

They hope the research will shape the future provision of drug and alcohol services to ensure that they are inclusive of the needs of LGB people, as well as developing a national evidence database of drug and alcohol usage amongst LGB communities.

HIV and drug and alcohol use

It would be helpful if gay men living with HIV made sure their views and experiences are heard. Please complete a questionnaire, whether you are diagnosed with HIV or not.

"Substance use is under-researched within these communities" says Christina Marriott, one of the research team from ISCRI. "The little existing research there is suggests that lesbian, gay and bisexual people may be at much higher risk of problematic substance use and drinking. Our pilot ....

Starting Treatments Guide

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:13:08 +0000

A refreshed, May 2009 issue, of i-Base's Introduction to Combination Therapy is now available. This guide includes information about the most important aspects of HIV treatment and answers many questions regarding treatment factors such as age, adherence, pregnancy, drug resistance and others.

Contents:

Introduction

First questions: what, when, why?

Age, gender and pregnancy

Deciding when to start treatment

What about side effects?

You and your doctor

Adherence: why it is so important

Adherence diary

Resistance

Which drugs, which combination?

The most commonly used first line combinations

Your personal treatment history

Glossary

Further information

Introduction to combination therapy May 2009 [pdf file - 570 Kb]

If you would like to order paper copies please order online using the form here

or phone i-Base 020 7407 8488

Facial Wasting - guide for nurses

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 12:37:06 +0000

The Royal College of Nursing [RCN] has launched new guidance on HIV-associated facial lipoatrophy. Facial lipoatrophy is the loss of fat and tissue from the face - usually this is a side effect of treatment with certain HIV drugs and can make people self-conscious and the target for HIV-related stigma and abuse. The drugs that tend to cause facial wasting are not used now in the normal treatment combinations used in the UK.

The new guidance is aimed at nurses wanting to be able to carry out facial filling and similar cosmetic treatments. RCN competences: an integrated career and competence framework for nurses working with HIV-associated lipoatrophy in adults aims to provide a framework for nurses working in HIV-related medical aesthetics and can be used as a template to guide clinical practice.

Nurses play an essential role in this field. They administer corrective treatment and assist people in dealing with the psychosocial effects of facial wasting.

At the bottom of this page 'Article in Attitude' you will find a personal account of facial wasting and its successful treatment - complete with photograph - from Edwin.

Royal College of Nursing Guidance download direct here [1.1Mb pdf file]

Africa - Sterilising Women with HIV

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:53:11 +0000

Some women in Africa are being sterilised without their consent after being told the procedure is a routine treatment for Aids, a lawsuit will claim.

Forty HIV-positive women in Namibia have been made infertile against their will, according to the International Community of Women Living with HIV/Aids (ICW). The group is preparing to sue the Namibian government over at least 15 cases.

Namibia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, South Africa

Campaigners also report coerced sterilisation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia and South Africa, where according to one report a 14-year-old girl was told she could have an abortion only on condition that she agreed to sacrifice her reproductive rights.

The ICW has documented cases in Namibia where HIV-positive women minutes from giving birth were encouraged to sign consent forms to prevent them from having more children. Jennifer Gatsi-Mallet, its co-ordinator in the country, said: "They were in pain, they were told to sign, they didn't know what it was. They thought that it was part of their HIV treatment. None of them knew what sterilisation was, including those from urban areas, because it was never explained to them.

"After six weeks they went to the family planning centre for birth control pills ....

Add to the Stigma Index

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:12:01 +0000

Are you interested in community-led research? Are you openly living with HIV? Do you want to join others around the world and be part of a global initiative to address stigma and discrimination? Get involved in a community driven research initiative to measure the HIV related stigma and discrimination in the UK. £20, (including travel expenses) are paid for completing the questionnaire.

The UK is one of the leading countries to work with download and print, or request a paper copy by post.

Treatment Passport is a booklet for you to keep key details and treatment notes, developed with the HIV pharmacists group and Royal Free Hospital in London, to help people keep track of treatment history.

Keeping a short record of your treatment history is useful:

it can help you understand your health and treatment

it can help if you change doctors, or clinic

it can help if you speak to other healthcare workers, or to a treatment phoneline for advice

it can help if you ever change hospitals or clinics, or if you want a second opinion, or if you move to another country.

download Treatment Passport

request a copy by post

i-Base, 3rd Floor East,
Thrale House,
44-46 Southwark Street,
London,
SE1 1UN
0207 407 8488.

Radical HIV Social Care Plans

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 12:41:05 +0000

The first framework for the provision of social care, support and information for people with HIV in England has just been released.

Commissioned by Terrence Higgins Trust, the framework was developed by Sigma Research in collaboration with leading HIV organisations including the African HIV Policy Network, Black Health Agency, George House Trust, NAM, NAT and Positively Women.

It outlines work needed to support people with HIV in three core areas:

individual needs;

service needs; and

societal needs.

Goals in 17 broad areas are outlined, the achievement of which would mean that services are in place to meet the social care, support and information needs of people with HIV in the UK that are equal to the high quality clinical care already available in England.

Although the goals are ambitious and aspirational, the authors believe that it is “important to lay out what should exist in order to be able to work towards it.”

Specific goals include:

Financial: No person with HIV in England lives in absolute financial poverty, or in destitution

Housing: All people with HIV in England have accommodation that meets ....

Gay Men's Space Summer BBQ - 13th July 2009

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 10:10:58 +0000
The summer BBQ event!
Held at the regular Gay Men's Space at George House Trust from 5pm to 8pm.

Free BBQ food and soft drinks. A social opportunity to meet up with other HIV positive gay men in a relaxed and friendly environment. Open to any HIV positive gay man living in the North West.

If you are not already known to George House Trust and would like to attend then please contact Dunkan on 0161 274 4499 or email dunkan@ght.org.uk beforehand.

See you there!

July Weekend for HIV Positive Christians

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 16:55:44 +0000

Positive Catholics invite all Christians living with HIV to a weekend at the end of July / beginning of August for Reflection, Sharing, Prayer and Fun. Financial help is available. This will be an opportunity to reflect upon what HIV means in the context of Christian faith, with others, living with HIV. All Christians are invited.

‘Positive Catholics’ is a peer support network of catholic men and women living with HIV, meeting together for mutual support, prayer and fun, since 2004. They are especially keen to encourage women and people in the North West region to join the weekend.

The Retreat Centre at Douai Abbey, near Reading, Berkshire is the home for the weekend, like last year. The weekend starts at teatime Friday July 31st and ends on Sunday afternoon August 2nd.

Through sharing stories, using art and music, and praying together, we hope to understand more clearly how God is present with us, and shares in our experience of life with HIV.

Last year's Retreat received extremely favourable feedback, and was clearly a great encouragement for those who attended.

Book now

Places are limited of course, so they ask people to reserve a place quickly.

They expect the cost to be £110 for adults, and £55 ....

Become a Treatment Avocate

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 15:20:01 +0000

If you are interested in being a community HIV treatment advocate, UK CAB, are keen to hear from you. They want people who are living with HIV, already well-informed about HIV, treatment and care, and who are interested in contributing views of people living with HIV (not your personal views, but the HIV community's views).

The three main aims of the UK CAB are to:

Develop and strengthen a network of treatment advocates

Provide expert training on current treatment issues and opportunities to meet with doctors, researchers and pharmaceutical companies

Develop community representation in clinical trials and setting the standard of care

Participation in the UK CAB is open to HIV-positive people and community advocates . A valid email account is needed to join.

There are all the details you need here including an application form. (Word version)

For a rtf (RichText Format) version click here

HIV Flu-like Symptoms Campaign

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 13:52:08 +0000

A campaign aimed at helping gay men to identify HIV seroconversion illness - the flu-like symptoms that are common shortly after people become infected with HIV - is about to be launched by Terrence Higgins Trust.

Sero-conversion illness, often called primary HIV infection, affects about 4 out of 5 people who have just been infected with HIV.

3 symptoms alert

The adverts will graphically link unsafe sex with some of the key symptoms of seroconversion illness,

sore throat

skin rash

fever

body aches - the most common symptoms of sero-conversion: HIV infection taking hold

swollen glands

headache

sore neck

muscle and joint aches, and

nausea and vomiting

The advert strap line says: “If you’ve had sex without a condom and show three or more of these symptoms within six weeks, it’s possible you’ve now got HIV. In some cases there are no symptoms, but you may still be infected.”

About two to four weeks after exposure and infection ....

EU, HIV and Protection from Discrimination

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 11:25:38 +0000

The European Union is discussing an ‘equal treatment directive’ against discrimination on grounds of religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation. While we have this type of protection in the UK, the position is much worse in many other EU countries. The 'directive' would make sure there is no country-lottery (like a post-code lottery) for HIV rights across the Union.

This is one reason why we called yesterday for people to vote in the EU elections for HIV.

AIDS Action Europe joined with the UK’s NAT (National AIDS Trust), the European AIDS Treatment Group (EATG) and the EU’s HIV/AIDS Civil Society Forum (CSF) to campaign for the directive to protect people with HIV from discrimination.

An online Petition attracted 70 NGO signatories from across Europe, including at least one NGO from every member state, and representations have been made to national government representatives, Commissioners and commission officials, other interested advocacy networks and to many Members of the European Parliament.

Council of Ministers will decide

The final decision on the directive rests with the Council of Ministers and there is some time to go before the Council comes to a final decision. But between December 2008 and April 2009 the European ....

Positive Findings

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 10:22:07 +0000

Our recent volunteer survey yielded positive results, with over 98% of volunteers saying they would recommend volunteering at George House Trust. 91% reported that they get support “whenever they need it” (a 5% increase based on 2007-2008) and 87% are happy with the recognition they receive.

“For me…it’s been exceptional to what I had thought. I thought it was going to be good, but it’s excellent. ” Focus Group Participant

“A great organisation to volunteer for, has the right balance of give and take, professional, supportive and receptive to change. Embracive of diversity and cultures. Makes GHT a good place to be!” Survey Respondent

Volunteers also reported positive personal changes resulting from volunteering. 82% said their confidence in their abilities had increased, 75% had improved their social and communication skills, 51% developed vocational/job related skills, 49% said their mental health and wellbeing improved as a result of volunteering. 95% said their sense that they were making a “useful contribution” had increased.

“Volunteering at GHT gave me the huge opportunity to gain new skills & experience. It made me feel different especially in building self confidence and I feel great that I can give something back rather than just take.” Survey Respondent

This year, we asked those ....

Undiagnosed - 'Extraordinary Failure'

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 17:15:05 +0000

The UK's policy on HIV is branded an 'extraordinary failure' because of the number of people who don't know they have HIV. The Health Protection Agency estimates 1 in 3 don't know - around 21,000 people. One of the country's leading medical journals, The Lancet has condemned this roundly.

In its editorial, the journal note that around 21,000 people are thought to be unaware they are HIV-positive and that an increase in infection rates has been seen among both gay and straight people.

The Lancet argues that the Department of Health recommendation for a stronger public health response have been largely ignored, despite one former senior government health official warning that the problem is an “appalling statistic”, and a “serious epidemiological issue”.

Ignored, or Under-Funded?

George House Trust doesn't agree that the problem is being ignored. People working in the sector, commissioners, clinicians, community sector organisations, know exactly what the problem is and have many good ideas for dealing with it. But HIV prevention and sexual health rarely get the priority and attention they need from many PCTs at board level where spending is decided.

We reported recently that the NHS has a £1.7 billion surplus in the bank. We urged that some ....

Pride Games Now On

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 14:47:33 +0000

Pride Games opened on Sunday and will close after a hectic week of activity, this coming Sunday 7 June. There are a feast of activities, athletic, relaxed and fun to pick from all week and all next weekend.

The Pride Games issue of DailyOut has details and more.

Monday 1st June
Women’s Netball
Get back into netball with this fun coached taster session open to players of all levels, even beginners! Trinity Sports Centre & High School, £3.00 (by advance ticket purchase)

Footy For Fun
Come along to this coaching session for men and women. Ideal for complete beginners and those of you who want to improve your skills on the ball. Access to Manchester Academy from Denmark Road.
£3.00 (by advance ticket purchase)

Tuesday 2nd June
Rugby League Taster with Salford Reds on their own turf!
Imagine this, an evening playing with professional rugby players, showing you how to play Rugby League - can you resist? You’ll need kit - shorts, T-shirt and trainers and a towel. Open to men and women. 7pm - 8.30pm. Free Entry. Just turn up. Map in the calendar on pridegames.org

Wednesday 3rd June
Archery & Orienteering @ Mersey Valley Visitors Centre, Sale

Vote for HIV at Elections

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 11:51:31 +0000

The election matters because the tide of public anger with politicians is high, and most people don't normally vote in either county council or European elections. This time abstentions and protest votes for smaller parties like UKIP and BNP, are likely to be far higher than last time.

The risk is serious that parties and candidates will be elected who are hostile to people living with HIV, especially people who are migrants. George House Trust urges everyone to use their vote.

Some migrants with HIV have no right to vote and many others have not registered. This makes it more important that the rest of us do vote, and vote thoughtfully.

Who can vote?
It is too late now to register for this election because you have to register at least 11 working days before an election. Find out here who can register to vote and how to do this in time for the general election which is due before early June 2010 - simply click here or scroll down this page to the line across the page, for the full details and the weblinks.

One or Two Elections?

There are two elections, but most people in the region will only be able ....

A Timely Contribution

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 09:56:37 +0000

George House Trust volunteers gave over 7072 hours of their time from March 2008-March 2009. This amounts to a financial contribution to George House Trust of £40,522 a year (calculated using the national minimum hourly wage rate for adults).

In addition to their time, volunteers bring a range of skills and experience, warmth, energy, and a huge amount of enthusiasm to their work here. Volunteer roles include one to one support, helping at spaces, fundraising, awareness raising, campaigning, counselling and more. Without their help, much of the support that we provide to people living with HIV in the North West would be impossible!

If you are interested in joining our volunteer team, visit the volunteering section of our website

1st-7th June is National Volunteers' Week; a celebration of volunteers and volunteering.

'Fit Notes', Not Sick Notes

Fri, 29 May 2009 15:45:24 +0000

‘Fit Notes’ will replace Sick Notes from spring 2010. This follows Dame Carol Black’s recommendations on the health of people of working age last year, so the government have announced that GP’s will soon be issuing ‘fit notes’ instead of sick notes.

These new ‘fit notes’ will be given out to people from spring next year. In the words of the Department for Work and Pensions press release, they will:

“….enable people to get the best possible advice about staying in work, and if they can't work, what their employer can do to help them return to work sooner. For example, if the employee has a problem with mobility, suggesting a job where they can work sitting down rather than standing up.”

You can have your say - a 12 week consultation on the Fit Note’s design started yesterday and will end in mid August.

The consultation document is called Reforming the Medical Statement

Having Your Say

Comments on any aspect of the draft regulations to:
Shelley Fuller, Medical Statement Consultation, Department for Work and Pensions,
Health, Work and Well-being Directorate
2nd Floor, Caxton House, Tothill Street, London, SW1H 9DA
020 7449 5586

Part-time Work at Sahir House

Fri, 29 May 2009 10:46:56 +0000

Three part time jobs are on offer at Sahir House, which is the Liverpool-based HIV multicultural support & information centre offering support to people living with & affected by HIV across Merseyside.

One job is 2 days a week, and the others are 1 day a week, and 4 hours a week.

photo credit

Women & Asylum Worker (readvertised)
Sahir House are looking for a suitably experienced female worker to provide support to HIV positive women seeking asylum. The post holder will be required to provide confidential support, network with other agencies, produce monitoring data & influence practice in this area.

Knowledge of asylum system issues is essential, particularly with regard to trauma that women seeking asylum are likely to have experienced and how this affects their asylum claims. Excellent written & communication skills are essential.

2 days per week; flexible hours negotiable.
NJC scale 5: £19,427 – £21,306 pro rata; actual salary of £7,770.80 – 8522.40 (pay award pending).

This post is a re-advertisement – previous applicants will be reconsidered.

Men’s Group Facilitator
Sahir House are looking for a suitably experienced male worker to facilitate Sahir House Gay Men’s Group & the Men’s Wellbeing Group. The post holder will be ....

Help Yourself

Thu, 28 May 2009 15:42:25 +0000

The nine golden rules of therapy, used by the clinical psychologist Linda Blair, may help everyone figure out better ways to deal with some of life's problems, even without specialist help.

Over the past two-and-a-half years, the wide range of dilemmas Guardian readers sent her, and how clearly they were explained taught the psychologist a great deal. In return, she explains how she tried to solve those dilemmas - using the same methods she employs in face to face counselling.

These nine 'tools' may be useful guides to everyone, or at least get you started on the way to finding a better way.

This is not a set of instructions that must be followed in strict order from one to nine. We are all unique, and so are the problems we all face. So any "one size fits all" approach to therapy is unlikely to be effective.

Find your own unique way

You can learn a lot from those who are familiar with problems similar to your own, it's true. But the best solutions for you will be the ones you fashion yourself. Do bear this in mind if you ever seek professional help. Wise therapists - those whose help is worthhaving - will seek ....

Armistead Regrets to Say

Thu, 28 May 2009 15:21:18 +0000

Armistead Project, in Liverpool city centre, has announced that the member of staff who worked closely with gay and bisexual men living with HIV, Phil Yates, has died suddenly, aged 29.

Phil worked in all parts of Armistead for 10 years. His warmth, kindness and energy touched everyone from the many members of the Positive Group, to the men using the Drop-in, and beyond. Phil was the youngest member of the Armistead family.

Phil had a great capacity to love, but ultimately felt too alone. We all wish he could click those elusive ruby slippers and come home. We hope Glinda was there to meet him in Oz.

Funeral and burial

The funeral is tomorrow, Friday 29 May 2009 at 9.15am.

There will be a Requiem Mass at St Joseph's RC Church, Willowbank Road, Birkenhead, CH42 7JY
and map and directions are here

He will be buried at 10.30am at Landican Cemetery, Arrowe Park Road, Woodchurch, Wirral
Cemetery map and directions

No black, no flowers please, donations welcome
Phil’s family have requested that no black should be worn and no flowers. Phil had happy memories of India and was committed to veganism and animal rights. Donations ....

21st Century HIV Support Needs

Thu, 28 May 2009 12:10:39 +0000

HIV policy expert Chris Morley investigates what support people living with HIV need, as revealed in Sigma Research’s latest report What do you need?

Some things have changed, but in most areas of life similar proportions of people living with HIV have similar needs for support to 7 or 8 years ago, when the first What do you need survey was done.

About 2000 people completed an online and booklet survey, with 10% living in Northwest England, roughly the same as the region's share of people living with HIV nationally. We appreciate the help of all who completed the survey at our website or by booklet.

The survey looked at HIV medical, social care, support and information needs. It asked about 20 issues - from sex to housing, immigration to discrimination, anxiety and depression to the world of work. It asked if people have problems in these areas. There may be no solution to some problems, but there are potentially dozens of ways to help.

Needs into Services

You cannot covert this study of complex and diverse HIV needs into a simple recipe for services. Commissioning of services by the NHS and councils have to deal with the complexities and interrelatedness of many needs. We ....

Positively Speaking Out

Thu, 28 May 2009 11:55:33 +0000

Face to face talks by people living with HIV make all the difference to stigma. Kath Morgan, positive speaker coordinator, reveals our inspiring Positive Speakers’ work.

Challenging HIV-related stigma, the Positive Speaker programme was launched in summer 2008, deliberately to dispel HIV myths and raise awareness of the reality of living with HIV. It does this through powerful personal ‘real life’ presentations. The pilot stage ended in March.

There were 32 sessions in our pilot, for a wide range of groups including schools, further education colleges, healthcare and social care professionals and trainees.

Impactful

How did the talks go? We measured the impact with audience questionnaires, before and after the talks, asking people to rate how strongly they agreed or disagreed with eight statements. We looked at people’s attitudes towards who is at risk, life with HIV, the rights of positive people, and working and being friends with people living with HIV.

What people told us shows that as people listen and learn, their knowledge and attitudes towards HIV positive people significantly improve through hearing the Positive Speakers. The most positive changes were in how long a life the audience believed people living with HIV could expect to have now, whether people should be sexually ....

Efavirenz, Atripla with Ginkgo Risks

Wed, 27 May 2009 17:09:47 +0000

The herbal remedy Ginkgo biloba interacts badly with the anti-HIV drug efavirenz.

Ginkgo biloba is mainly used as memory and concentration enhancer, and anti-vertigo agent but evidence now shows the supplement does not prevent or delay dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.

Raises HIV Viral Load

Researchers warn that people who are taking efavirenz (a key first-line drug, which is also in the combination pill Atripla) should not take Ginkgo biloba (such as in capsules or tablets) because it can reduce blood levels of efavirenz leading to an increase in viral load.

Both efavirenz and Ginkgo biloba are processed by the body using the liver. It was already known that Ginkgo biloba has interacted with other medicines the liver processes.

Doctors spotted the interaction because a man with excellent adherence to his HIV treatment experienced an increase in his viral load. The only other drug he was taking was Ginkgo biloba. Using stored blood samples the doctors noticed that the man’s viral load started to increase when he started taking Ginkgo biloba.

Tell your HIV doctor what you are taking

Because of the risk of interactions, it’s important to tell your HIV doctor or pharmacist about any medicines, herbal remedies, and recreational ....

Men - Get it Off Your Chest

Wed, 27 May 2009 14:05:27 +0000

Men know what's just expected and usually perform too - He's the strong and silent type, Be a man, Boys don’t cry.
But men are people not machines. Our upbringing as boys involves harsh 'toughening up' and we see a lot of abuse and mockery if any male 'weakens' and shows feelings. So it is no surprise at all that men often find it really difficult to talk about their feelings. But it's confusing - we are blamed for doing what's been demanded of us since we were babies in arms - Big Boys Don't Cry - but now we are told we are 'emotionally stunted' or and unable to show any feelings. Men can show feelings just fine - watch the crowd at any soccer game.

But everyone can feel low sometimes, and anyone can have a mental health problem. That’s why Mind, the mental health charity, is now telling men to Get it off your chest .

Mind have launched important new research into men and mental health. The findings paint a troubling picture:

37 per cent of men are feeling worried or low

men account for 75 per cent of ....

Final Demand – mental health and debt

Wed, 27 May 2009 13:26:31 +0000

Chris Fitch, a researcher for the Royal College of Psychiatrists, is the author of Final Demand, a booklet written to help health and social care staff, and accompanying resources for to use in support.
He talks here about his background and experience in debt advice with people who are depressed, anxious, or who have other mental health problems, all of which are very common among people living with HIV.

How did you get involved in debt and mental health?
Doing field work in 2003, I met people living with "debt and a diagnosis", and not getting help. At the time, I figured there must be a solution, but when there wasn't one, I tried to fill the gap a little.

What is Final Demand about
Final Demand is a pocket guide about debt and health. It shows health and social care workers how to help indebted clients, with the aim of preventing financial or mental health crises. It has been sent to 110,000 GPs, nurses, psychiatrists and social workers.

What is the relationship between debt and mental health problems?
Debt can be stressful, anxious, and downright depressing. Although associated with economic circumstance, debt can trigger major life changes, and individuals often ....

BBC on HIV Treatment for Prevention

Wed, 27 May 2009 12:29:01 +0000

The BBC website is covering the possible use of HIV treatment as part of a HIV prevention strategy that could really work. As Michael Carter, the editor of NAM, writes, HIV drugs could help stop the spread of HIV.

The main focus for HIV prevention work is still encouraging people to use condoms. Increasing the numbers taking medication would reduce infections to the same degree.

Over the last 15 years, HIV treatment has transformed the outlook of people with the virus. Modern HIV treatment is now so good many with the virus will be able to live a normal lifespan. But HIV treatment also has another desirable outcome - the people who take it are less infectious.
Indeed, the impact of HIV treatment on infectiousness is so great that it might have the potential to stop the epidemic in its tracks if everyone took an HIV test each year and everyone diagnosed with HIV received treatment.

'Zero risk?'
The currently available treatment cannot cure a person of HIV. Instead, taking a combination of three different drugs every day can reduce levels of HIV in the blood to undetectable levels. Because there is hardly any HIV around, the immune system can stay ....

Got a Problem? - Complain Online

Wed, 27 May 2009 10:17:52 +0000

A new website has been launched for anyone to use to help you make and follow up complaints about most day to day problems. The website, disputer, is a UK secure site which has sections for complaints about home, travel, public services, and personal complaints (eg employment). They describe disputer as 'the simple way to handle and resolve your complaints.'

Home covers water, gas, electricity, broadband, cable, satellite, mobiles, repairs, tenancy;

Public Services covers local government, benefits, NHS, housing associations, police;

Travel covers airlines, cars, insurance, trains, travel agents, hotels, buses, holidays, parking;

Personal Disputes and Complaints covers i am owed money, personal disputes, business disputes, neighbourhood, employment.

The website is very new and some of the sections are not yet working.

Disputer - 3 steps to satisfaction

free registration - enter your complaint details at no charge into our automated case builder and send off to the organisation in question.

No charge recommendations - disputer will automatically recommend when you need to escalate your case, and knows the best complaints procedure.

get the justice you deserve - reach a resolution to your complaint, or send an e-file of your complete case to the regulatory ....

Campaign for Work

Tue, 26 May 2009 14:55:29 +0000

Join the campaign to end HIV checks as part of applying for a new job. While HIV has less and less impact on people's ability to work, employers are still behind the times. Employers have yet to catch up with the much improved health and life prospects of people living with HIV, and fail to see how stigmatising and unnecessary pre-employment questions about health are. HIV and health questions have a serious impact on employer's willingness to hire people with HIV.

Currently, it's legal for employers to ask a wide range of questions about a job applicant's medical history, even when the answers can have no bearing on people's ability to do the job. Additionally, employers often require entirely unnecessary medical examinations, which can include blood tests.

These "blanket" medical enquiries often put off perfectly able people who decide they will not take the risk of telling about HIV, even though it would not affect their ability to do that job.

Employers are not supposed to discriminate based on what people tell them about health, but in 2003, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development found more than 60% of employers said they threw out those applications.

Time to catch up with the ....

Talk on HIV in China

Tue, 26 May 2009 13:50:15 +0000

The Chinese Arts Centre in the centre of Manchester is hosting a talk on children orphaned by HIV in China. Chung To, director of a Hong Kong-based HIV charity will give a talk. During the 1990s, blood selling became a popular way for poor peasants in central China to earn extra income. It was a disaster in the making.

The talk is Thursday 11 June between 3.30-5pm in the Jasmine Suite, Chinese Arts Centre, Thomas Street, Northern Quarter, Manchester M4 1EU

Find your way there with this map and directions

Due to unsanitary blood collection practices, such as re-use of needles, unsterilized equipment, blood pooling, and re-injection of blood back to the donors after plasma extraction, many blood donors contracted HIV and other blood-related diseases. Some rural areas became seriously affected by HIV, with an infection rate as high as 40% to 60% among the adult population.

The HIV epidemic has created a growing orphan population. As more and more adults die with HIV, the children they leave behind become orphans. Growing up without the love and care of parents, these children may not be able to go to school due to lack of financial means, ....

HIV Prosecutions Guide

Tue, 26 May 2009 12:52:42 +0000

A handy guide for people living with HIV about prosecutions for HIV transmission is now available. THT and NAT have produced this guide for people living with HIV.

Yusef Azad, Director of Policy and Campaigns, NAT, commented:

“Today the majority of investigations into HIV transmission do not go to court but they can still cause much distress for all involved. NAT is still campaigning for an end to prosecutions for reckless transmission of HIV through consensual sex. But while prosecutions occur we are working with THT to ensure that all those involved – lawyers, prosecutors, police, support organisations, healthcare workers and most importantly people living with HIV understand the law. Everybody living with HIV in England and Wales should read this leaflet.”

Lisa Power, Head of Policy, Terrence Higgins Trust, said:

"It's really important that everyone with HIV knows what the law says and does in relation to their lives. We've supported many people - both complainants and defendants - who got involved in prosecutions for passing HIV without taking proper advice and regretted it later. This leaflet would have helped them."

As well as producing guidance for individuals living with HIV, George House ....

Removing Your Electronic Medical Record

Tue, 26 May 2009 10:45:28 +0000

NHS patients can now delete the electronic summary of their treatment from the new national medical database.

The decision represents a significant concession in data protection policy following talks between health service officials and the Information Commissioners' Office (ICO).

Until recently the Department of Health resisted pressure from sceptical patients and doctors critical of the security risks generated by confidential records being transmitted across the NHS broadband computer network known as the Spine.

Many people with HIV have significant concerns that news of their HIV status could become widespread or that the data could be made public, lost or misused.

Department of Health changes of mind

Only last month, officials described the cost of deleting individual summary care records (SCRs) from the system as prohibitive. The Department of Health had offered instead to "mask" or "suppress" unwanted files, making them difficult to access – a process that would nonetheless leave personal details on the database.

SCRs are being introduced as part of an NHS-wide initiative being rolled out across the country to provide clinical staff with information on those they treat.

Any doctor or nurse will have instant access to a summary of a patient's past medication, adverse drug reactions, allergies and conditions – which could be ....

HIV Respite Centre on YouTube

Tue, 26 May 2009 10:27:54 +0000

The Tyddyn Bach HIV respite centre in North Wales has launched an online video to provide a voice for those directly affected by HIV.

The short film is on YouTube and is narrated by writer and broadcaster Nick Turnbull.

The video explains the role of the Tyddyn Bach Trust in Penmaenmawr and the support it provides to people living with HIV.

Tyddyn Bach manager Philip Kearton-Smith believes the attitude towards HIV in North Wales is one of ignorance.

He said: “There’s still enormous stigma attached to HIV and people are quite often afraid to come forward with their views. Tyddyn Bach is often misunderstood as a hospice or care home but people come to stay here for a boost in confidence. If you are suffering from a life-changing illness then the last place you want to be is on a hospital ward. Everybody who comes here is referred, and guests usually stay for a week or two. It is not just a holiday, it is a learning curve in their lives and a real confidence boost for them to deal with the illness. Volunteers help guests cope with the disease and offer hope along the way.”

Former guest Tommy describes in the video ....

NHS £1.7bn Surplus v. Treatment Charges

Thu, 21 May 2009 14:44:14 +0000

NHS bosses were urged to pump more money into frontline services after it was revealed that the NHS has amassed a record cash surplus of £1.7bn. The underspend, confirmed by the Commons public accounts committee yesterday, represents a rapid turnaround in health finances: three years ago, the organisation recorded a £500m deficit.

The exceptional figures delivered under the current health secretary, Alan Johnson, are in contrast to the experience of his predecessor, Patricia Hewitt, who was slow handclapped at a nurses' conference during a debate about NHS debt.

Large reserves, however, constitute a different form of political embarrassment. "It's not the case that the bigger a surplus the better," said Edward Leigh, chairman of the PAC. "Patients lose out if too much NHS funding is sitting unspent in bank accounts.

"The needs here and now of patients in parts of the country for drugs and better quality care must not be forgotten. [The surplus is] almost twice the amount planned and over £1bn more than the surplus generated in the previous year."

Janet Davies, of the Royal College of Nursing, said: "A £1.7bn surplus is £1.7bn which must be spent on improving patient care and the government must make clear how it plans to ....

Outrage at Blood Scandal Payout

Thu, 21 May 2009 13:18:06 +0000

The government is accused of meanness to save money, rather than give justice for survivors, in the worst treatment scandal of NHS history. It decided not to increase compensation for people infected in the 1970s and 1980s with hepatitis C during routine blood transfusions. A small increase is to be paid to people who became infected with HIV in the same NHS scandal.

Significant numbers of those infected are haemophiliacs who regularly required concentrated blood products made from many donors - such as Factor 8.

An independent inquiry into the scandal, chaired by Lord Archer of Sandwell, in February recommended better payouts for nearly 3,000 affected haemophiliacs, as well as help for widows and dependants.

A Little more for HIV. For Hepatitis C: government will reconsider, in 2014

Their hopes were dashed today by a response from the Department of Health offering an increase for the minority who were infected with HIV but nothing more than a review in five years' time for the rest.

Archer condemned the response as "deeply disquieting" and a "faltering step that only compounds the anguish of the afflicted and bereaved".

He said: "It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that humanitarian impulses have come a bad second to ....

Clinic Offers 20 Minute Saliva Test

Thu, 21 May 2009 12:52:45 +0000

One London NHS trust has become the first in the country to offer an HIV saliva test that provides definitive results on the spot in 20 minutes.

The test uses a toothbrush-like wiper to pick up HIV antibody from your gums.

Barts and the London NHS Trust hope more people will take HIV tests, more often, because this avoids giving blood and waiting perhaps up to a week for results.

The UK has the highest number of newly diagnosed people in Western Europe - more than 7,700 in 2007.

Gay men accounted for 41%, with the bulk of heterosexual infections happening abroad.

But these figures do not take into account the one third of HIV-infected people who don't yet know they have HIV.

Home saliva tests are banned in the UK because counselling is not to hand, but Barts has become the first to offer the mouth swab on the NHS and provide almost immediate results.

250 tested already

About 200 people in the trust's clinics have undergone the test since March, and they hope about 250 people will take this saliva test each month.

"We have got to a point in this country where HIV is a long-term treatable condition akin to diabetes. That message hasn't yet ....

Talk with MPs About Testing

Fri, 15 May 2009 14:34:24 +0000

MPs are to be lobbied to push for more HIV testing in the HIV hotspots of the country. We are looking for people from Manchester, Salford and Blackpool, to go to London and lobby their MP about HIV testing.

On Wednesday 24 June 2009, Terrence Higgins Trust [THT], with NAT [National AIDS Trust] and the All Party Group on HIV/AIDS, is meeting at the House of Commons to encourage more HIV testing in the HIV hotspots. Manchester, Salford and Blackpool are the only HIV hotspots in the North of England.

People living in the 34 Primary Care Trust areas with the most HIV in England will meet with the MPs and PCT staff from their area.

Want to talk with your MP about testing?

Do you want to talk to your MPs about increasing HIV testing by GPs and in the community, and how to do this?

THT is looking for one person from these 10 Northern constituencies. You can easily find out which is your constituency and MP if you enter your postcode.

Manchester

Blackley (Graham Stringer)

Central (Tony Lloyd)

Wythenshawe ....

Beating the Blues Online

Thu, 14 May 2009 11:38:26 +0000

Most people with depression need some kind of therapy, but could a computer replace a counsellor? Tim Lott of The Guardian tried out the online Cognitive Behaviour Therapy website Beating the Blues. This is available from many Primary Care Trusts - check the list here for NW England.

Although I am not depressed - I am merely someone who has experienced a depressing amount of depression - I have just completed eight weekly sessions of a cognitive behavioural therapy course, which is available on the NHS.

Big deal, you might well remark. But this course is unusual because I didn't have to leave my desk or even talk to another human being. The therapy is administered entirely by a computer programme. Beating the Blues is an attempt by the NHS to meet the growing demand for mental health treatment without spending a fortune on face-to-face therapy.

My instincts were against it - I was insulted by the idea that my difficulties could be solved online. So I logged on to my first session with some trepidation. I was introduced by a honey-voiced computer to five other "co-sufferers" - Andrew, Elaine, Jean, Bob and Heather - who were going to share my journey.

They ....

Pride Games Programme

Thu, 14 May 2009 10:33:53 +0000

In 2009 PrideGames celebrates its fifth birthday. PrideGames is the largest LGBT multisport event in the UK and was voted best gay sports event two years running by readers of the Pink Paper in 2007 and 2008.
PrideGames 2009 runs from Sunday 31 May - Sunday 7 June.

Pride Games takes place over 7 days and includes a range of taster events, tournaments, cultural events and socials.

Sporty?

If you already take part in sport, PrideGames provides an excellent opportunity to raise your game and compete against other LGBT sports people.

Not sporty?

If you don’t take part in any sport, PrideGames, with its range of taster events, skills sessions and coaching opportunities is a great way to start getting active.

In addition to the events listed below, many of Manchester’s LGBT sports groups open their doors to new members during PrideGames week and you’re guaranteed a friendly welcome. So come and join in the fun and, GET YOUR KIT ON!

Registering for PrideGames
PrideGames operates an online registration system, which means you can book your place at a tournament well in advance.

Here’s how to register:
Go to PrideGames
Click the registration tab on the left of the page.
Click ....

HIV - the Basics

Wed, 13 May 2009 15:05:44 +0000

NAM's new information resources, the basics, are now available online. Written in simple, plain English - and in French - the series of ten leaflets covers the top questions people have.

This completely new series of ten illustrated fact sheets covers key health messages and is intended to help in discussions between healthcare workers and people with HIV. Awarded the Crystal Mark by the Plain English Campaign, the simple language and pictures really bring the information to life.

Each leaflet focuses on a few key facts, and uses simple language and colourful diagrams to make the information accessible and useful.

The leaflets can be used by individuals as an introduction to HIV healthcare issues.

Available in English and in French, the basics are free to download and print - and NAM welcome your feedback on them.

Leaflets

HIV and the immune system

7 ways to look after your health

CD4 and Viral Load

An HIV Treatment Journey

When should I start treatment?

How Treatment Works

Undetectable Viral Load

Taking Drugs on Time

Side Effects

Having a Baby

Copies for clinics and ....

French - Treatment as Prevention

Wed, 13 May 2009 14:24:40 +0000

The Swiss, the Germans, and now the French have all recently issued ‘treatment as prevention’ statements. The French statement recommends campaigning about the benefits of HIV testing and treatment, and advises against using compulsory testing.

The idea of using HIV treatment as a means of prevention implies a major shift in the way HIV treatment is regarded, a statement issued last month by the French National AIDS Council said.

The statement on 'The appropriateness of treatment as an innovative tool for fighting the epidemic of HIV infections' first details the mathematical models and studies showing that having more people on treatment could considerably reduce HIV transmission.

One study was the British Columbia mathematical model, which demonstrated that achieving an undetectable viral load in more than 50% of the HIV-positive population should result in a slow decline in HIV prevalence.

The authors of the French statement point out that even in the good conditions of France, in which 72% of people with HIV are diagnosed, 85% of those are on treatment, and about 74% are undetectable, only 46% of the total HIV-positive population has undetectable viral load (the proportion in the UK is about 43%). Higher rates of testing and diagnosis, starting ....

Sorry Say Police and Prosecutors

Tue, 12 May 2009 15:11:30 +0000

Police and prosecutors sometimes break the law in dealing with crimes affecting people with disabilities. Often police and prosecutors badly let down people with disabilities - especially those with stigmatised conditions - such as learning disabilities, mental health problems, and HIV.

One police and prosecution failure - a teenager who was robbed - has now had an official £70,000 payout to compensate.

Many disabled victims of crime are being failed by the system. There have been two recent cases where the Crown Prosecution Service and the police were forced to apologise for not taking the crimes seriously.

Last month Gareth Williamson, 19, became the latest victim of crime to receive damages after the police accepted they were guilty of "serious failures" in their investigation of a repeat robbery of the teenager.

Williamson, who has mild learning difficulties, received £70,000 including legal costs from Northamptonshire police after they did not adequately investigate the reported crime, despite the fact that it was caught on CCTV and confirmed by several witnesses.

His mother, Alison Williamson, said: "As soon as it was mentioned to the police that Gareth had special needs, it became obvious not much was going to be done. It's unbelievable the way he was treated – ....

People diagnosed with HIV seen by clinics in NW England 2002-2008

2008