African Asks of Government

posted: 05/05/2010

This is a compilation of the voices, issues, needs and thoughts of African communities living with and affected by HIV in the UK, put together by the African HIV Policy Network.

These are the issues African people living with and affected by HIV in the UK want the next Government to deal with.

We ask the UK Government to: 
 

1. Provide free HIV testing, treatment and care for any person living in the UK, including those who are detained or in the prison system.
2. Invest in public awareness, prevention, research and education programmes on HIV and sexual health to challenge stigma at all levels of society.
3. Address the level of mental health problems affecting Africans living with HIV and seek to improve the health and well being outcomes for African communities in the UK.
4. Put measures in place for effective management of the transition of children living with and affected by HIV into adolescent services, and from adolescent to adulthood, ensuring that the rights of families remain protected.
5. Promote the elimination of all forms of discrimination of people living with HIV and eradicate any discriminatory practice in public and private spheres.
6. Reverse the law on criminalisation of HIV transmission as it is not an effective tool for prevention. It instead reinforces stigma and discrimination of the most affected communities.
7. Review the impact of current immigration guidelines and practice on people living with HIV and take an approach that is embedded in Human Rights, equality, dignity and respect. 
8. Review the rights of asylum seekers and their right to work as this would save the state money and encourage integration into the UK society.
9. Invest in community development to achieve active and meaningful involvement of communities and individuals living with and affected by HIV, so that their voices influence decision making. For example, we ask that a person living with HIV have a seat on the All Party Parliament Group on AIDS (APPGA).
10. Influence and ensure better EU-wide HIV and health policy that affect African communities and involve Africans in the diaspora in decisions that are being made regarding development in Africa.

African HIV Policy Network wants to see:

• Communities less at risk
• Strong and strategic communities’ voices
• Sustained support for communities’ well being

Some key facts:

• There are over a million Africans in the UK and this is growing significantly, especially in London
• Of the 83,000 people living with HIV in the UK, about 25,000 of them are Africans, 7,000 of whom don’t know they have HIV
• Africans make up more than half the people diagnosed with HIV in England every year and late diagnosis is still a major problem
• Africans generally experience worse health and social problems and African people living with HIV usually have particular health and social care needs
• HIV stigma is a still a problem, threatening valued means of support, personal networks, health and wellbeing of Africans in the UK.

AHPN 10 Asks of the Government

Election Acts

posted: 27/04/2010

The election is a great time for extracting politician's promises about HIV. With under two weeks to voting on Thursday May 6th, use this time to ask your parliamentary candidates what they will do about HIV and sexual health, if elected.
 

Visit the SHout loud website for their Election Guide which has suggestions for what to ask and how to ask for it. 
Want more ideas?

Other questions to ask candidates include

• What do you plan to do locally to stop so many people being diagnosed with HIV late?
• How will you ensure that local HIV prevention budgets are protected during times of public spending cuts?
• The AIDS Support Grant is vital to ensure that people with HIV locally receive the support they need but is only guaranteed until 2011. Will you support continuing this funding after 2011?
• What will you do to tackle the HIV-related stigma that continues to persist in our community?
• Will you support free prescriptions for people with long-term conditions including HIV?

We hope these are helpful but they're just some suggestions. You can ask your parliamentary candidates about any key issues faced by you, and people living with and affected by HIV. 
 

They have information on HIV in NW England and we have spotted an unfortunate error, which we have asked them to correct. It says there were only 398 new HIV Infections in NW England in 2008. We wish it were this low. In 2008 another 854 new people who are living in NW England were told they have HIV.  HIV & AIDS in the NW of England, 2008 table 2.2

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Election gay HIV ‘risk’

posted: 22/04/2010

David Cameron was urged by the Home Secretary, Alan Johnson, to sack one of his Conservative frontbench team, for claiming that the age of consent for gay / bisexual males should not have been lowered to 16, because it put teenage youth at "serious physical risk" and in danger of catching HIV.
 

Julian Lewis, the shadow minister for Defence, and Conservative parliamentary candidate for the Hampshire seat of New Forest East, wrote to a constituent last week saying he had been "very strongly against" lowering the age of consent for gays from 18 to 16 because of the "seriously increased risk of HIV". He appeared to compare it with the decision to prevent service personnel aged under 18 from fighting on frontlines. Last night, Dr Lewis repeated this, telling The Independent that anyone aged 16 to 18 who had unprotected gay sex was "at risk, and potentially at risk of their lives".
 

George House Trust comment

George House Trust is mystified about what he means by ‘seriously increased risk of HIV.’ Risky sex is risky sex whatever your age. Being 16 or 17 doesn’t make the risk of infection any better or worse. Going back to criminalising 16 and 17 year old gay youth for having a sexual life would probably worsen their risks of HIV infection. Importantly, the age of consent is all about the equality and human rights of his young gay constituents, rights he appears to ignore. And does he really mean to suggest that unprotected gay sex is equivalent to fighting in Afghanistan?
 

‘I’m no expert’ admission
Challenged about his views on the dangers of homosexual sex, he said: "I do not hold myself up as any kind of expert in this and I am willing to be shown I'm wrong if I am wrong, but I honestly don't think I am wrong." George House Trust suggests that when you don't know it makes sense to ask before mouthing off nonsense that reinforces HIV stigma and homophobia.

Conservative gay disarray
His outspoken views have reopened debate about the Conservative party's stance on gay and lesbian rights. Two weeks ago, the shadow Home Secretary, Chris Grayling, suggested that owners of bed-and-breakfast hotels should have the right to turn away gay couples.
 

Seriously increased risk 
The age of consent for gay men was lowered from 18 to 16 in 2000. Dr Lewis wrote last week: "There is a seriously increased risk of HIV infection from male homosexual activity. When it comes to legalising practices that involve serious risk, I believe the higher limit should apply. This is the reason we no longer allow 16- and 17-year-olds into frontline situations in the armed forces, for example."
Dr Lewis, 58, has a history of voting against legal equality for gay people. He opposed adoptions by gay couples and the repeal of Section 28 – a law enacted by Margaret Thatcher's Tory government in 1988 to prevent schools from "promoting" homosexuality.
 

Defending his comments last night, Dr Lewis said he would have supported keeping the age of consent for gay men at 18. He said he had not intended to make the "preposterous suggestion" that gay sex was as dangerous as fighting on the frontline. However, he went on to say that engaging in unprotected gay sex put teenagers "at risk, and potentially at risk of their lives". Dr Lewis added: "It is nevertheless true that someone is just as much dead if they are among one of the much smaller percentage of people who would be unfortunate enough to contract a deadly disease through a form of sexual activity as they are if they are in the frontline and they find themselves being injured or killed."
 

Sacking Call

The Home Secretary, Alan Johnson, urged the Conservative leader to sack Dr Lewis from his shadow cabinet. He said: "[Mr Cameron has] been seeking the votes of gay people ... but [his] frontbench team includes people who are against any notion of homosexual equality. [He needs] to show some leadership and sack Mr Lewis."
 

Last night, the Conservative leadership distanced itself from Dr Lewis' remarks, but allowed him to keep his job as shadow defence minister. " These are Dr Lewis' long held and personal views," a spokesman said. "They are not the view of the Conservative Party and the terms in which he expressed them is wrong. Under this Labour government we have seen a massive increase in HIV infections and STDs across all the population – straight and gay."

Source The Independent

Source Pink News

More details in PinkNews

The letter, which Dr Lewis' office faxed to PinkNews said:

"I was very strongly against lowering the age of consent from 18 to 16. My reasoning was that there is a seriously increased risk of HIV infection arising from male homosexual activity. When it comes to legalising practices that involve serious risk, I believe the higher limit should apply. This is the reason we no longer allow 16 and 17-year-old into front-line situations in the Armed Forces, for example."

Parties Sign Asylum Pledge

posted: 22/04/2010

Party leaders and many general election candidates have signed an election pledge to "never play fast and loose" with the UK's commitment to offering asylum.
 

Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Nick Clegg and hundreds of parliamentary candidates have signed up to the pledge organised by three rights organisations. Liberty, once called the national council for civil liberties, along with the Refugee Council and the Scottish Refugee Council are all campaigning for the Asylum Election Pledge.

HIV and asylum

A significant proportion of people with HIV in the UK are people who have sought or are applying for asylum (13% in NW England), so the treatment of asylum seekers is a significant HIV issue. At the end of 2007, there were 600 asylum seekers with HIV still waiting for a decision in NW England - and 162 who have been formally granted asylum so far. The majority are people who have fled the political and social crisis in Zimbabwe.  
 

Abhor racism and xenophobia in political debate

The pledge states that there is no room for "racism and xenophobia in modern British politics". It asks the signatories to accept that "no democratic debate is advanced by the denigration of the most vulnerable in our country" and to remember those who do not have the right to vote in elections.
The pledge declares:

"I promise to remember the importance of refugee protection, even in free and wide-ranging debates about immigration policy. I will never play hard and loose with the proud tradition of a nation that must always offer succour to those in genuine fear of persecution."

Shami Chakrabarti, Director of Liberty, said: "It is very good news that even in the heat of election battle, all three leaders have promised to honour the importance of refugee protection. No one should underestimate the ocean of common decency in Britain and we intend to hold our politicians to this proud tradition."
 

Get your candidates to sign up before May 6

The pledge will be open until May 6th and Liberty want you to urge your election candidates to sign up. Check if your constituency candidates have signed
 

If your constituency candidates haven’t yet signed the pledge, please ask them here to sign - it's quick and easy.

The top countries of origin for refugees coming to the UK in 2009 were Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, Iran, China, Sri Lanka, and Eritrea. The UK is home to less than two per cent of the world’s refugees, with 80 per cent living in developing countries.
 

Source
 

Health Party Politics

posted: 13/04/2010

The health policies and the manifestos of the three main political parties in England are on their websites.

Conservative health policy        Conservative manifesto              

Liberal Democrat health policy   Liberal Democrat manifesto      

Labour health policy                Labour manifesto