Securing HIV Community’s Future

posted: 10/02/2011

The future for both people with HIV, community and council HIV services is threatened and unstable now because of the government’s responses to the economic situation. Despite the negative outlook, HIV organisations must focus on making the most of what opportunities there are.
 

A new report, Securing Our Future, makes eight action point recommendations for the HIV community sector, based on the views of people with HIV, findings from an online survey, and the views of HIV organisations.

Securing our Future was the work of three London-based HIV organisations - Naz Project London, Positive East and Positively UK (formerly Positively Women), working together as the Counterpoint Policy Alliance.

8 Community Actions

As a result of all the feedback received from the surveys, focus groups and stakeholders, the Counterpoint Policy Alliance identifies eight key action points or recommendations for the HIV charity sector:

1. Maximise the role of people living with HIV working as peers to address their needs and change perceptions about HIV
2. Ensure the sustainability especially of peer-based personal support services (one-to-one, mentoring and support groups), and mental health counselling for people living with HIV and their families
3. Facilitate a process among people living with HIV to build a shared vision of what the HIV charity sector would look like in 5 years, in 2016 
4. Increase innovative sharing and use of peer volunteers across HIV charities
5. Build a unified and strong advocacy voice across HIV charities
6. Initiate a mentoring programme where larger HIV charities are available to assist smaller ones as / if needed, e.g., to understand the changing economic and social environment, and analytical skills to accurately identify what the implications are for the organisation and how best to respond
7. Encourage more partnerships among HIV charities that share back
   office and service delivery functions
8. Explore merger options among HIV charities that avoid homogenisation, and maintain community relationships as well as the ability to target and tailor for specific needs and sub-populations.

As the report tells us “We are moving into an era of radical revamping of the NHS and how health and social care services are provided.

"It is vital that we maximise opportunities to ensure that the needs, views and experiences of people and communities affected by HIV are at the centre of public policy and development.

"In order to achieve this and take forward the above eight recommendations, there will need to be increasing levels of collaboration across the HIV charity sector.”

Securing our Future

Sponsor Lynda at London Marathon

posted: 27/01/2011

In George House Trust's 26th year, Lynda, our Director of Services, is running the 26 miles of the London Marathon, raising money for George House Trust.

For 26 years George House Trust has been campaigning, supporting people and fighting stigma: George House Trust needs financial support now more than ever to make sure we survive the recession and cuts and continue to deliver good quality services to people living with and affected by HIV in NW England.

1st marathon

Lynda only started running 6 years ago, to raise money for George House Trust by taking part in Great Manchester Runs. This is her first ever marathon.

Lynda is meeting all the costs of the London marathon and travel etc herself, so all your sponsorship money goes directly to George House Trust to support people living with HIV.

JustGiving

Lynda has a handy JustGiving page - it is simple, fast and totally secure.

Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to George House Trust and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer.

So it’s the most efficient way to donate - Lynda raises more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for George House Trust.

So please dig deep and donate now. Every donation, no matter how small, adds to Lynda's £3000 target and directly benefits people living with and affected by HIV.

Thank you very much!!

London marathon image from aidsmap 

Risks and HIV Status

posted: 26/10/2010

Gay men using London gyms are revealing more about choosing their partners and taking risks with anal sex. The latest annual sex risk survey of gay men at London gyms has appeared. 36% of the 648 men taking part in 2008 had anal sex without condoms in the previous year. Condomless anal sex is becoming more common, but this headline “masks a more complex picture,” which varies with HIV status, the researchers say.
 

Same HIV status or different status: more risks
Men are now having more sex without condoms with partners who have the same HIV status, than with men whose HIV status is different or unknown to them. But there are also more men reporting sex without condoms with a main partner whose HIV status is unknown or different.
 

1 in 3 taking risks but more choose same HIV status partners
The first study, in 1998, found 24% of men had unprotected anal intercourse in the previous three months. By 2008 this was up to 36%. But in both the two latest surveys (2005 and 2008), more men report having unprotected sex with men of the same HIV status as themselves (“sero-sorting”) than with men of unknown, assumed or different HIV status. In 2008 21% reported condomless anal sex with men of the same status and 16% reported this with men of unknown, assumed or different status.
 

Some positive men choosing positive
Among HIV-positive men in 2008, 14% sero-sorted (chose a partner who is also HIV+) their casual partners. 10% of the HIV-positive men have a main partner who also has HIV.
 

Negative men rarely choose casual partners by HIV status
Among men who reported that their last HIV test was negative, less than 2% chose casual partners who are also HIV negative. However 21% had unprotected sex with a main partner whose last HIV test was also negative. The proportion of supposed HIV negative men reporting condomless sex with men who also last tested HIV negative has risen to 21% since 1998, when 12% reported it.
 

Test together or just talk?
The researchers are worried about how HIV-negative men decide their main partner is also HIV negative. While four in ten men took the HIV test together, the others only talked about their status. This is not good enough, because the longer the time since the last test and the risks taken since that test mean the test result may now be wrong.
 

Men’s relationship risks
Men’s main relationships seem to be where more risks are now being taken, although the numbers are low. There have been significant increases in the numbers of men reporting having unprotected sex with a main partner of unknown, assumed or different HIV status between 2005 and 2008.
 

Positive men risks
Among HIV positive men, 2.5% reported having unprotected sex with a main partner of unknown, assumed or different HIV status in 2005, and it was 8.1% in 2008. For about half the positive men, in fact their partner’s HIV status was known to be HIV-negative.
 

A significant proportion of HIV-positive men (19%) report unprotected sex with casual partners of an unknown or assumed HIV status, although this has fallen a lot compared with the earlier surveys.
 

Negative men risks down
Fewer than 6% of HIV-negative men report unprotected sex with casual partners of an unknown or assumed HIV status, the lowest level in these gym surveys. The researchers comment: “This is an encouraging trend and is likely to reflect consistent and sustained health promotion campaigns targeting gay men.”
 

Summing up, the researchers say that their data “suggest that main partners may have become an important source of HIV risk among London’s gay men.” They recommend that more health promotion campaigns should focus on HIV risk within relationships and on HIV testing among couples.
 

Source with reference details

HIV Tests at Casualty

posted: 27/07/2010

Every person who goes to London A&E departments could soon be tested for HIV under plans being considered by NHS London. In the first move of its kind, the HIV checks could become routine at emergency units and will be offered to any adult attending casualty. The move is being rolled out at Chelsea & Westminster NHS foundation trust following a hugely successful Department of Health funded study at the south-west London hospital.
 

2 people diagnosed every month at one A&E

It comes because of the numbers of people with HIV and the rise in HIV across London. The pilot HIV testing at Chelsea and Westminster’s A&E department found nearly half a dozen new people with HIV in only three months.
 

The Health Protection Agency recently recommended that the NHS should as a matter of routine do a HIV healthcare check everyone when they go to an A&E department in any areas with higher rates of HIV. Now a number of other health trusts are already seriously considering this.
 

North West Too?

In NW England, Manchester, Salford and Blackpool have rates of HIV high enough to justify routine HIV screening in A&E.
 

Better Health and prevention

HIV testing at A&E is one way to improve the health of people with undiagnosed HIV. New figures show that at least one in every four people with HIV do not know they have HIV. Late diagnosis worsens people’s health and shortens people’s lives. Undiagnosed HIV means people don't get the treatment they need for good health and people may be passing on HIV unwittingly to their sexual partners.
 

Under 18s

Dr Rachael Jones, from Chelsea and Westminster hospital, said she has treated nearly a dozen patients under 18 in the last three years in West London but this was just “the tip of the iceberg”.
The consultant blamed ministers for focusing on underage pregnancy instead of on safer sex and said HIV tests should be routine for everyone, regardless of their sexual orientation. She said: “For a long time it was men having sex with men presenting with the virus. Now we're seeing teenagers coming through for the first time with HIV. It only takes one episode of unprotected sex for them to become infected.”
Dr Jones said that the “Don't die of ignorance” shock campaign of the Eighties failed to have a lasting impact and that many teenagers do not even know what HIV is.
 

Source 
 

1 in 7 London gay scene men are HIV+

posted: 22/07/2010

HIV is far more common on the gay scene in major cities than most men realise. A new anonymous survey in bars and clubs in London shows 1 in 7 men on the scene there have HIV. Many on the gay scene across the country don’t even know they have HIV.

A few years ago the same survey showed Manchester, London, and Brighton all with 1 in 10 men on the scene having HIV. If it is 1 in 7 in London now, Manchester is unlikely to be far behind.

Using a simple anonymous HIV saliva test of 1,251 men in gay bars, clubs and saunas, 15.2% were found to have HIV. This is much higher than the Health Protection Agency estimate for gay men in London in general. Men using the scene are more likely to have HIV than gay men who aren’t regularly out on the scene.

1 in 7 Bus

There’s now a campaign running in London using the iconic red London Routemaster bus, with ‘1 in 7’ as the destination on the front. It’s to be seen in adverts in London gay magazines, on Gaydar, and as posters in London bars, saunas, and sexual health clinics.
 

Alan Wardle, Head of Health Promotion at Terrence Higgins Trust, said: “Men who have seen the campaign in focus groups have been genuinely shocked by the ‘1 in 7’ figure. Yet the reality is that, after Brighton, London has the highest HIV prevalence of any city in the UK.

"Many gay men wrongly believe that you can tell someone’s HIV status by what they look like, how they act, or who they’re friends with. But you can’t tell whether someone has HIV by looking at them, and with a quarter of gay men who have HIV currently undiagnosed, he may not even know himself.
 

"The assumption that HIV is visible is almost certainly affecting whether men use condoms or not. 47% of gay men surveyed reported having unprotected anal sex with at least one partner, and a quarter reported doing this with more than one casual partner. With this in mind, it’s vital this campaign reminds men that the best way to protect themselves and others is to use condoms.”
 

Source

Gay Men’s Sexual Health Survey 2009 in 36 gay venues. University College London / Health Protection Agency. Between December 2008 and February 2009, HIV prevalence of 15.2% was recorded among 1,251 men taking OraSure oral swab HIV tests in 36 London gay bars, clubs, and saunas.