North West ‘Treatment as Prevention’ seminar

posted: 18/05/2012

George House Trust will be holding a day seminar on ‘Treatment as Prevention’ to be held at George House Trust in Manchester on Friday June 22nd from 10 am to 3pm (with registration open from 9.30am). Lunch will be provided.

The concept of ‘treatment as prevention’ is one which is currently the focus of much discussion amongst HIV organisations and people living with HIV.

The seminar will provide an opportunity for representatives from HIV organisations across the North and North West to discuss some of the aspects of the ‘treatment as prevention’ concept and the implications for people living with HIV.

It will provide a space for discussion about how - and if - the ‘treatment as prevention’ concept might change the way in which organisations work with, advise, and support people living with HIV.

We are delighted to announce that Gus Cairns, HIV activist and editor of NAM’s ‘HIV Treatment Update’ will be joining us to give a keynote address and lead some of the discussions.

We are inviting people to reserve a place on this seminar by emailing colin@ght.org.uk - please provide the names and job titles of people from your organisation who would like to attend.
Places will be strictly limited and so you are advised to reserve your place as soon as possible.

There will a nominal registration fee of £5 per person attending – however, we will only request this payment from you, and provide you with details of how to pay – once your place or places are confirmed.

We look forward to welcoming you to what we are sure will be an interesting and stimulating day.

All Saint's Musical Productions perform Rent at The Lowry

posted: 08/02/2012

A musical production at the Lowry aims to donate some of their proceeds to helping people living with HIV at George House Trust.  RENT by the All Saints Musical Productions will be at the The Quays Theatre from Tuesday 1st – Saturday 5th May 2012.
 

This extraordinary rock musical tells the heart-breaking yet optimistic story of a group of artistic friends that struggle to survive whilst living with debt, unemployment and HIV/AIDS.  There is a rollercoaster of emotions where controversial issues are taken head-on and dealt with openly and without judgement, offering a gritty and intimate snapshot of 1990’s New York. 

Featuring ‘Seasons of Love’ and a tribute to La boheme, the Puccini opera on which it is based, RENT is a musical like no other that will both move and inspire you.

Tickets can be purchased here and are £12 & £15 if you buy 10 then you get the 10th ticket free.

Further information about the All Saints Musical Productions can be found here
 

Thank you to our Team GHT Runners!

posted: 20/05/2011

George House Trust would like to say a HUGE thank you to all those who ran in Team GHT last Sunday, 15th May.

Our Team braved the cold and the rain to run and raise vital funds to support people living with HIV in the North West.

Big thanks also go to Christian from Active Health for providing some much needed free sports massage before and after the race and to the Cooperative, Crunch Bar and Durex for sponsoring our running vests. Also to our team of supporters who provided some fantastic encouragement along the route!

There's still time to sponsor our runners. You can find them at: http://www.justgiving.com/ght

Guide for GPs About HIV

posted: 19/05/2011

The popular booklet HIV in Primary Care has a brand new edition ideal for the many GPs unfamiliar with HIV, to help GPs provide high quality care for people living with HIV.

Tell your GP to use this
People living with HIV can help their GP provide better healthcare by telling them about this booklet – it is free to download from MedFASH, or doctors can buy a copy for only £10.

Diagnose and Test

With over a quarter people with HIV in the UK still undiagnosed, the new booklet HIV in Primary Care will help doctors and practice nurses to consider HIV as a possible diagnosis and to test new patients. Testing all new patients is advised in the UK National Guidelines for HIV Testing, which recommend the routine offer of HIV testing for patients with certain conditions or risk factors, and particularly in areas such as Greater Manchester and Blackpool, where HIV prevalence is high.

Better care for patients with HIV

GPs can also help improve their services accessible to people living with HIV by reassuring patients about confidentiality in their practices and by making links with local HIV clinics.

As well as covering testing, the booklet also offers up-to-date information on primary healthcare for patients with HIV, covering day-to-day issues such as contraception, immunisation and cervical screening, as well as side-effects of HIV antiretroviral drugs and potential drug interactions.

GPs who have traditionally not had any or much contact with patients with HIV will see more people with HIV in their surgeries for non-HIV-related problems, because HIV clinics are no longer providing general medical care.

Doctor says
Dr Surinder Singh, a GP from Deptford in London and co-author of the booklet, said: “With the move toward shared care models for people with long-term conditions, GPs will undoubtedly find themselves dealing with people with HIV. In fact it is no more difficult than managing patients with diabetes. The essential element is trust. Ensuring that patients feel confident to disclose their positive HIV status is key, and we hope this booklet will give GPs the information they need to feel confident to provide primary care for HIV-positive patients. Remember that the local HIV specialist unit is available to answer questions from GPs.”

Over 25,000 copies of the first edition of HIV in Primary Care have been distributed since its launch in 2004 and it has received excellent feedback from users.

Getting HIV in Primary Care booklet

Copies can be obtained from MedFASH at £10 per copy, or it can be downloaded free of charge  from MedFASH.
 

The direct download link is here

HIV in Primary Care: an essential guide for GPs, practice nurses and other members of the primary healthcare team by Dr Sara Madge, Dr Philippa Matthews, Dr Surinder Singh and Dr Nick Theobald.

Drs Matthews and Singh are practicing GPs, Drs Madge and Theobald are HIV specialists with a background in general practice. All the authors are involved in GP education.

Treatment Protects Partners

posted: 13/05/2011

There’s been a lot of publicity in the last day or so about HIV treatment helping stop the spread of HIV. 96% of HIV transmissions among couples are blocked by early treatment of the partner with HIV, was the headline result from a multinational study.

The results were so striking that the study was stopped three years early and everyone with HIV who was not already on HIV treatment was immediately offered HIV treatment.

The results show that treating people living with HIV is at least as good as using condoms to prevent HIV transmission.
 

Universal access to treatment goal
This treatment for prevention success offers an extra reason for pushing the world to achieve the internationally agreed World Health Organisation goal of universal access to HIV treatment, prevention and care. The goal was to reach universal access by 2010, but better late than never. Millennium Development Goal 6 includes halting and beginning to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015.
 

Gay men too?
The study included hardly any gay couples (only 3% were gay), so the results don’t prove a 96% reduction in transmission in gay couples. Other evidence already strongly suggests gay men living with HIV on successful treatment are also much less likely to transmit HIV, but probably not by the same amount. (Anal sex is riskier than vaginal sex for passing on HIV, gay men tend to have more partners than heterosexual couples, and other sexually transmitted infections also raise the risks).
 

What they found
The study began in 2005 of 1763 couples where one partner has HIV and the other did not (97% were heterosexual couples). They wanted to find out whether HIV treatment prevented the uninfected partner from getting HIV. It was an international study at 13 sites in Botswana, Brazil, India, Kenya, Malawi, S Africa, Thailand, USA (only one couple were from the USA), and Zimbabwe.
 

They split the couples in half randomly and half the partners with HIV immediately started HIV treatment (with CD4 counts higher than normal for starting treatment at between 350 and 550). The other half of positive partners only started treatment when their CD4 count fell to 250 or less, or they developed an AIDS defining illness.
 

• 39 (2.2%) of the negative partners out of 1763 got HIV
• Up to 11 of the 39 got HIV from someone else, not their partner in the study
• 28 (1.5%) got HIV from their partner in the study, and all but one of those were infected by positive partners who were in the delayed treatment half of the study.

That result was so stark they stopped the study and offered immediate treatment to everyone with HIV not already on treatment because the prevention effect of early treatment was so clear. Early treatment also prevented partners from getting tuberculosis (TB) with only 3 of the people treated early getting TB, compared with 17 of those treated after their CD4 count fell below 250. There were slightly more deaths among the deferred treatment group, but the difference was not statistically significant.
 

You can read the report from the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases here  and their Q&A page about the study here
 

Aidsmap’s report