Fantastic World AIDS Day Fundraiser for GHT!

posted: 19/10/2011

We’re delighted to announce that the wonderful people at TheGayVillageOnline.com have nominated George House Trust as their charity for this year’s World AIDS Day fundraiser.  it's a Tooty Booty competition, with the grand final being held on the 2nd December at Cruz 101.

In conjunction with Poptastic and Hot Village Magazine, the competition aims to discover the best behind in the village!

Village bars and clubs will all nominate a member of staff from their teams to take part and you get to vote for the winner by text. All cash raised from voting and £1 of each entry purchased for the grand final will go to supporting our vital work here at George House Trust.

For more information visit the Tooty Booty webpage They also have Facebook page, so please show them your support!

Icon Bar are organising a very special Deal or No Deal style night at their bar on Friday 2nd December, where George House Trust have been invited to attempt to ‘beat the banker’ to raise money for our charity.

The evening starts from 8.30 p.m. and GHT would love to see as many of our supporters there as possible, to cheer us on! For details of the venue, visit their website

Poptastic have organised their Annual Big Red Ball on Tuesday 29th November 2011, which will be raising money for George House Trust for World AIDS Day.

Entry to the event at Club Alterego is only £3 before midnight. For more information, you can visit Poptastic’s website

The Tooty Booty, Deal or No Deal and the Big Red Ball event are one of many activities being promoted as part of TheGayVillageOnline.com’s Raising4Red campaign, which encourages local businesses to support  HIV related charities in Greater Manchester, over the World AIDS Day period. They have set a target of raising £10,000 and George House Trust is one of the charities that will benefit.

If you’d like to get involved or want to find out more, you can visit their website
or join their Facebook page

George House Trust’s is extremely grateful for this amazing support.
 

Messaging Gay Men About STIs

posted: 07/04/2011

Manchester gay and bi men using the Royal Infirmary's Hathersage Clinic (along with men using STI clinics in Sheffield, Brighton and at four London STI clinics) now have a new way to warn partners they may have been in contact with a sexually transmitted infection.

The Sexual Health Messaging Service has just begun, launched by GMFA, the gay men’s health charity, and is linked in with the popular gay profile sites Fitlads, Gaydar, Manhunt and Recon, and the cruising app Bender.

Men need to Opt-in for notifications  if they get an invitation, for it to work.

It's funded by the Elton John AIDS Foundation and aims to help cut the number of men with undiagnosed STIs, including HIV. Men who are diagnosed with an STI can tell previous sexual partners by using an online system (anonymously if prefered), so the partners can go and get tested and, if necessary, treated.
 

99% want to know about any STIs

Over a quarter of gay men with HIV do not know they have HIV. GMFA’s study shows that the vast majority of gay men (99.3%) want to be told if any sexual partner gets an STI and 97.5% want to be told if this is HIV.
 

Matthew Hodson of GMFA, commented: “Many STIs don’t show any symptoms, so lots of men may be infected and not know it. While it’s best to tell men you’ve had sex with if you find out you’ve picked up an STI, making that awkward phone call or sending an email can be difficult. As a result, some men choose not to tell, even though they know they should. We’ve made the process as easy as possible by doing most of the work for you – all you need is a contact for your partners and we’ll take care of the rest.”
 

An easy (even anonymous) way to tell

Existing ways of telling partners often require anyone who is diagnosed with an STI to contact their partners direct, sometimes using a pink slip issued by the clinic. GMFA’s research shows these systems often don’t work.

For all kinds of reasons some men can't or won't notify sexual partners. Of the men who do tell partners about having an STI or HIV, only 65% told all their partners. Here's some of the difficulties and reasons for this

• not having partners’ contact details (sometimes only a first name, or only a profile name)
• embarrassment
• not wanting the partner to know about their having an STI or HIV 
• not wanting to see the guy again.

Now men using the Hathersage in Manchester, men in Brighton, Sheffield and parts of London can use GMFA’s new Sexual Health Messaging Service. It  will then be spread across the rest of London later this year and then the rest of the country next year. 

The GMFA service means clinics give men a unique reference number so they can log in to the online system and send notifications using a number of contact methods, including

• website profile name
• cruising app profile name
• mobile 
• email.

The message is automatically written and contains links to where their partners can go for testing. While men are encouraged to say who they are, it can be kept anonymous.

The service started its six-month pilot on Monday. The clinics taking part are

• In Manchester, the Hathersage Centre (Upper Brook Street / Hathersage Road corner) 
• In Sheffield, the Royal Hallamshire Hospital
• Brighton, Claude Nicol Centre at Royal Sussex County Hospital
• 56 Dean Street, Soho, London,
• Homerton University Hospital, London
• The Lloyd Clinic at Guy’s Hospital, London
• St Bartholemew’s Hospital, London 

Men can use the service to send messages to partners met through the four participating gay dating websites (Fitlads, Gaydar, Manhunt and Recon) and the cruising app, Bender.

Opt-in to take part 

Profile site members need to opt-in to receive notifications if and when they are sent an invite.
 

Matthew of GMFA tells us: “This is a major project and marks a huge shift in the way men can notify their partners about STIs they’ve picked up. By making the process easy, we hope to make more men aware of any STIs they may have and ultimately reduce the number of STI infections in the community.”

HIV Stigma Rules?

posted: 22/02/2011

You can plainly see HIV stigma and fear in action when eight in ten young people know  that HIV cannot be passed on by sharing mugs, yet three quarters of 12 to 18-year-olds say they still wouldn't share a mug with someone with HIV.

That’s HIV stigma and fear.

Even when people know the facts we often let our fears and prejudices rule.

Two new HIV knowledge and attitudes studies

Two recent studies, the first of teenagers in London from the HIV family charity Body and Soul, and the other of adults in the UK from NAT (National AIDS Trust), both show HIV ignorance and prejudice in action – and this seems to be worsening in recent years.

London teens reveal rejection

A recent study of London students aged 12-18 reveals a significant gap between what young people know about HIV and how they would behave towards someone living with HIV. While the majority know how HIV is passed on, many said that, despite this, they would not share a cup, shake hands with, or kiss someone who is living with HIV.

Social stigmas also rule: many young people said they would worry about the emotional strain and hostile reactions from young people around them, if they had a relationship with someone with HIV.

Despite all this, young people are keen to know more. 41 percent felt they had received too little information on HIV, and more than half (54 per cent) said they wanted to learn more about HIV.

Attitudes to HIV among 12-18 year olds in London: Report to Body and Soul 

The research highlights the contradiction between what young people knew about HIV and how they said they would behave:

• While 81 per cent of young people knew that HIV could not be transmitted by sharing a cup, only 27 per cent of them went on to say that they would drink from the same cup as someone who they knew was HIV positive.
• Likewise, while 69 per cent of young people knew they could not get HIV by kissing, only 24 per cent of them went on to say they would kiss someone who they knew was HIV positive.
• Even some of the youngest people in the sample - 12 and 13 year olds - said they would not share a cup with, shake hands with or kiss someone who they knew was HIV positive, even if they knew it was not possible to get HIV that way. Crucially, this shows that HIV-related stigma starts at an early age.

Schools are the most important place for students to learn about HIV:

• Young people tended to feel that teachers were the most trustworthy source of information on HIV, suggesting that schools are a good route of communicating with young people on the topic.
• Communication by teachers also appears to have the potential to achieve impact: those who said they had been taught about HIV in school not only had higher levels of knowledge about how HIV is transmitted but also - to some extent - appeared to be less prejudiced towards people with HIV.
• Importantly, almost 1 in 3 of the young people consulted said they had either not been taught about HIV in their school, or did not know if they had.

Attitudes to HIV among 12-18 year olds in London

Rising Adult HIV Ignorance
HIV ignorance among adults seems to be rising, but two out of three adults say more needs doing to tackle HIV hate and prejudice in the UK.

• one in five adults do not know HIV is passed on through sex without a condom between a man and a woman
• Only three in ten adults (30%) can correctly pick from a list all of the ways HIV is and is not transmitted
• Rising numbers wrongly think spitting and biting pass on HIV
• 1 in 5 say someone in their family getting HIV would damage their relationship with them
• More than two thirds of British adults (68%) agree more needs to be done to tackle prejudice against people living with HIV in Britain.

NAT (National AIDS Trust) has just published the findings from its fourth HIV public opinion poll HIV: Public Knowledge and Attitudes 2010, carried out by the opinion polling organisation Ipsos MORI, amongst adults in Britain.
The report reveals a worrying rise in HIV ignorance over the past ten years.
 

Dispelling the transmission myths and misconceptions
The British public is confused about how HIV can be passed on. One in five people weren’t clear that sex without a condom between a man and a woman, or between two men are ways of getting, or passing on HIV. Public HIV knowledge seems to be falling, because around 1 in 10 more people knew this ten years ago.
 

Only three in ten people (30%) correctly picked all the ways HIV can and cannot be passed on.
 

One in 10 people believe the impossible – that spitting or kissing passes on HIV. This result is twice as bad as ten years before.
 

One in six people (17%) don’t feel they know enough about how to prevent HIV transmission during sex.
 

African and Carribbean people need more

 Many African and Caribbean communities know less about HIV because they shy away from discussing it. The NAT survey shows that people from ethnic minorities are more likely than white people to say they 'don't know' the routes of HIV transmission.
In addition Asian and particularly African and Caribbean people 'are also likely not to mention sex without a condom between two men as a method of transmission.'
In the survey, 46 percent of African and Caribbean people polled did not mention sex between two men compared with 20 percent of whites.

Life with HIV
Encouragingly, most adults (70%) know people getting HIV won’t all die within three years, but 1 in 10 do think this. Two out of five wrongly believe that HIV test results aren't reliable until three months after HIV infection, and nearly half wrongly think pregnant mothers with HIV will always have babies with HIV. 
 

People need a better grasp of the facts because knowledge curbs HIV fears that can discourage people from taking HIV tests and telling others about having HIV. More than two out of five adults want to know more about life with HIV here today, and more than half of all young people under 25 want to know about HIV life.
 

Deborah Jack, Chief Executive of NAT (National AIDS Trust), told us:
 

‘As the number of people with HIV in the UK approaches 100,000, it is crucial for everyone to understand the facts around how HIV is passed on so they can protect themselves and others. Many people are unaware of the basics such as using a condom to protect themselves, whilst myths such as transmission from kissing and spitting are still perpetuated.
 

‘One of the most concerning aspects of this survey is the fact that knowledge of HIV transmission amongst the general public has declined significantly over the last ten years. With the number of HIV infections in the UK still going up, one in six people feeling they do not know enough about how to prevent HIV transmission during sex is simply too high. When it comes to protecting yourself from HIV infection, knowledge is power.

'The Government must take the lead in acting to improve understanding and so protect public health.’
 

Support or stigma and prejudice?
Most of the public have a supportive attitude, with two thirds (67%) saying they have sympathy for people with HIV and three quarters (74%) agreeing people with HIV deserve the same level of support and respect as people with cancer.
 

However, a significant minority of people continue to hold stigmatising and discriminatory views.

One in ten adults say they have little sympathy towards people with HIV, and this rises to three in ten if people got HIV through unprotected sex. Since almost everyone with HIV (95%) got HIV through unprotected sex, this rate of public blame and rejection looks worrying.
 

Friends, workers and relations
Feelings are affected by people having HIV. One in five people felt HIV would damage their relationship with a HIV positive family member or neighbour. At work, although two thirds agree they would be comfortable working with someone living with HIV, more than one in ten admitted they would be uncomfortable working with that person.
 

‘Tell the workers too’
Over a third of people think employers should tell other workers that one of them has HIV. The idea that workers have a ‘right to know’ is pointless as protection, because there is no risk of HIV transmission at work. This 'right to know' demand shows how HIV stigma undermines HIV workers’ rights to privacy and confidentiality.
 

Most know about HIV stigma
Two thirds of the public believe that there is still a great deal of stigma in the UK today around HIV and a similar proportion agree it is right there are laws to protect people with HIV from discrimination and that more needs to be done to tackle prejudice against people living with HIV in the UK.
 

Women are keener than men to tackle HIV prejudice, with 73% of women wanting to see action on this problem, compared with 62% of the men.
 

Time for government action

Deborah Jack, Chief Executive of NAT (National AIDS Trust), concludes:
‘Whilst HIV treatment has advanced rapidly in the last ten years, knowledge and attitudes have sadly not kept pace – resulting in stigma and discrimination.
 

'In addition to improving knowledge of HIV, intensive work also needs to go into tackling the often deep-seated judgments and beliefs held about HIV and the people affected.
 

'The Government made a concerted and effective effort to tackle this stigma in mental health, and now it is time for HIV to be addressed in the same way.’
 

HIV - Public Knowledge and Attitudes 2011 - full report and data tables

HIV ‘Inbetweeners’ and ‘Misfits’

posted: 21/02/2011

Life in my shoes challenges the stigma and prejudice around HIV and corrects misunderstandings about HIV transmission and treatment.It's a new campaign aimed at teenagers and families affected by HIV, organised by the London family HIV charity Body and Soul.

Life in My Shoes is fronted by actors from the popular television shows The Inbetweeners and Misfits, to appeal to teenage interests, and it offers young people exciting opportunities.

Could you be their star?
Life in my Shoes is a film which will be distributed to secondary schools. The campaign has begun with a competition to find a young person to star in the film. There’s a short script about HIV misconceptions and prejudices. You upload your auditions to the online gallery.

Help spread the word about Life in my Shoes - visit the website, and encourage young people to join the competition. The competition is for all between 14-21 who have stars in their eyes to be on screen, whether or not your life has been affected by HIV.

You can audition and star without saying anything about whether or how HIV affects you.

Young people with or affected by HIV should check the other wannabe stars in the audition gallery. It is a treat to see young people, who may not have thought much about HIV previously, reading the script and showing support for young people whose lives are touched by HIV.

Audition and upload

Upload you audition using their script before Thursday 17 March – St Patrick’s Day
 

Life in my Shoes  is a response to findings from research commissioned by Body & Soul and undertaken by OPM into the attitudes of teenagers to HIV.

Download their report Attitudes to HIV among 12-18 years olds in London 
 

HIV Teenagers to Adults

posted: 21/02/2011

Older teenagers with HIV are our HIV pioneers because they are the first generation of young people growing up with HIV. Being the first at anything is often exciting, but with HIV it can be much less fun and more of a struggle.
 

Making the change better

The Children and Young People HIV Network are working to make it easier to move from being a teenager with HIV to being an adult with HIV.

Young people with HIV have two main challenges 

• growing up from a child to adult with HIV (e.g. beginnning sex and relationships with HIV)
• moving from children's HIV clinic and education, into adult HIV services and employment or claiming benefits with HIV.

The Children and Young People’s HIV Network have now finished checking all the expert articles and books about changing from child to adult with HIV in a ‘literature review’.

They looked to learn lessons about improving the change from child to adult, including learning from experience with other conditions like diabetes and epilespy.

The HIV child to adult change literature review is here 

The review 

• has statistics about young people with HIV in the UK
• finds existing policies and guidelines for the child to adult change
• looks for useful lessons from other longterm conditions, like diabetes
• considers the needs of carers and family
• considers rural areas with very low numbers of young people with HIV.

Professionals tell us

Last week we pointed out the useful article where HIV health workers describe helping teenagers to make the change from child to adult with HIV, which is in the 200th issue of HIVTreatment Update.

Teens talking life with HIV
Two young people making these changes talk about their own lives. JD Bailey (20, female) talks about growing up with HIV, and Max, (19, male) talks about telling others about HIV
 

‘Transition of care from a paediatric to adult setting is not specific to HIV … However there are important differences … with HIV which may make this process more difficult’  Lyall, 2007.