Parliamentary HIV Group News

posted: 08/07/2009

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)

Testing campaign - MPs meet activists

posted: 25/06/2009

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 20,000) are undiagnosed and nearly a third are diagnosed late. As well as risking their own health, people who remain undiagnosed also risk the health of others, as those who don’t know their HIV status account for the majority of onward transmission.

Sir Nick Partridge, Chief Executive of Terrence Higgins Trust said “At the moment, thousands of people with HIV don’t know they have it, so it’s vital we increase testing. It needs to be quick and easy to take a test and clinics should be accessible both in terms of location and opening times. We hope the MPs who came along today will encourage their local NHS to take action and make HIV testing a priority.”

Deborah Jack, Chief Executive of NAT comments “Increasing testing is one of the most significant things we can do about HIV in the UK. It requires national commitment and local action from MPs, health commissioners and those at frontline services. Working together we have a real opportunity to not only improve the health of many people who are undiagnosed but also to stop the spread of HIV.”

Campaign for Work

posted: 26/05/2009

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 world

Many other countries, including France, USA, Italy and Spain, have legislated to tackle the problem and the Equality Bill is the best opportunity we are likely to have for some years to update the law in England.

Most people with HIV want to work and are perfectly capable of doing so. Despite this, it is estimated that under half are in paid work and around one in three report not having enough income to cover their basic needs.

Help this Chance for Change

THT, NAT and mental health charity Rethink are asking the government to add a few words to the Equality Bill which is now going through Parliament. A few extra words would protect people with HIV and mental health problems from discrimination in recruitment.
 

In the blink of an eye (well almost as quickly) you can show you support the campaign and email your MP. Any MP would welcome this rather than all the abuse and hate they are getting over expenses.   

Please support the campaign and email your MP - please start here and click the MP link

Talk with MPs About Testing

posted: 15/05/2009

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 and Sale East (Paul Goggins)
•  Manchester, Withington (John Leech)
•  Manchester, Gorton (Gerald Kaufman)

Salford

•  Salford (Hazel Blears)
•  Eccles (Ian Stewart)
•  Worsley (Barbara Keeley)

Blackpool

•  Blackpool South (Gordon Marsden)
•  Blackpool North & Fleetwood (Joan Humble)

You must be

• able to travel to central London for a lunchtime meeting on Wednesday 24 June, eg train departing Manchester 08.55, or from Blackpool at 08.20, and
• willing to discuss HIV and testing options with your MP, and
• on the electoral roll for that constituency.

THT will provide you with a fact sheet to help you.
 

Expenses

Travel from Manchester and Blackpool by train at peaktime costs around £250 unless you book well in advance. THT will pay travel costs, and lunch is provided at the House of Commons.

George House Trust can book flexible saver tickets for you at about £65 (because we are a charity) for these peak trains.
 

Interested?

If you are interested in taking part, please email Sophie Robinson or call her on 020 7812 1634.
 

Please tell her

- the name of any HIV or sexual health organisation you use (eg George House Trust) and
- which constituency you live in.

If you need more information, please contact Sophie Robinson at Terrence Higgins Trust by calling 020 7812 1634 or email