Rise in Over 50s HIV Infections

posted: 21/07/2010

People over 50 are as much at risk from unsafe sex as younger people, the UK’s Health Protection Agency (HPA) has just warned. Today it revealed evidence, at the International AIDS Conference in Vienna, that the number of people over 50 who are catching HIV has more than doubled in seven years.
 

In 2000 there were just 299 new HIV infections among the over-50s, according to the HPA. But in 2007 there were 710 people infected.
 

Gay and bi men are the majority infected when older, but white heterosexual men infected abroad - typically in Thailand - are another significant group of older men who are diagnosed.

Late diagnosis common
Half of those diagnosed when over 50 were diagnosed late. Younger people are much less likely to be diagnosed late. Late diagnosis is bad news when you are older - during the eight year study period three quarters of the deaths among people aged 50 and over occurred within one year of the diagnosis, with half of those diagnosed late. Unfortunately, late diagnosis with HIV reduces people's life expectancy and quality of life. If treatment is started late it cannot undo all the unnoticed damage already caused by HIV.

Some people diagnosed after 50 were infected when they were younger. After some early symptoms (such as flu-like symptoms with a rash), many people after HIV infection remain apparently fit, healthy and continue to feel well, without suspecting they have HIV, for as long as 10 years.

Most are recently infected by risky sex
But half of the over-50s diagnosed had recently been infected, through taking chances without condoms.

Getting away with risks in your earlier years doesn't mean that luck will continue.

Letting down your guard just because you are older can still catch anyone out. We often hear older people say, rather sheepishly, 'I should have known better'.
 

Keep on testing - and condoms
"This highlights the importance of HIV testing, whatever your age," said Ruth Smith, a senior HIV scientist at the HPA's Centre for Infections. "We must continually reinforce the safe sex message – using a condom with all new or casual partners is the surest way to ensure people do not become infected with a serious sexually transmitted infection such as HIV."
 

Her co-author, Dr Valerie Delpech, head of HIV surveillance at the HPA, said people in the older age group needed to be aware that they were just as much at risk as young people if they had unsafe sex.
 

"Although adults aged 50 and over account for just 8% of all new HIV diagnoses, the fact that cases have more than doubled in recent years serves as a timely reminder that anybody is at risk of HIV infection if they do not use protection and practise safe sex," she said.
 

More information from HPA

Source
 

HIV Microbicide Success

posted: 20/07/2010

A vaginal microbicide gel containing the anti-HIV drug tenofovir (Viread) reduces the risk to women of HIV infection by 39%, results of a study show. This is the most hopeful news in the years long search for something that women can use to protect themselves from HIV risk. There was a recent flurry of hope about another microbicide which showed some signs of working but further study showed it wasn't good enough.

Women who used this new gel more reliably, during four out of the last five times they had had sex saw their risk of HIV infection reduced by 54%. The microbicide also had another useful sexual health benefit, halving the risk of infection with genital herpes.
 

Other reports about this microbicide explain that women must apply the gel 12 hours before sex and once again as soon afterwards as possible.

There is more work to be done before this microbicide can supplied publicly, but this was a top-notch scientific study, a randomised, placebo-controlled trial – called CAPRISA 004 – in South Africa. 889 HIV-negative women were randomly divided into two groups, one was given the tenofovir-containing gel and the other group was also given gel that looked exactly like the first but without any tenofovir in it. No-one (neither women nor the clinic staff) knew who was getting what. Both groups of women got advice about safer sex and free condoms. The women were monitored for two and a half years.
 

Results from the study will be officially presented to the AIDS 2010 conference in Vienna today, but they have already generated a lot of excitement.
“This is an important day,” said Yasmin Halima, director of the Global Campaign for Microbicides. “We now have evidence that a vaginal gel can help prevent HIV. This is good news for women, good news for the field and a good day for science.”
 

Next Steps

To stimulate and prioritise rapid action, WHO and UNAIDS announced that they will convene an expert consultation in August with women’s health and HIV prevention advocates, scientists, microbicide research teams and product developers, and public health experts to discuss the next steps with the product.

A webcast of this session and interviews are available on the Kaiser Family Foundation website

More information from NAM/aidsmap.com

Image - Prof. Quarraisha Abdool Karim, Associate Scientific Director of CAPRISA, explains how to use an applicator with gel       from blogs.timeslive.co.za

Disclosure Workshop - Telling Others

posted: 24/06/2010

Come along and take part in this interactive workshop about the who, why, when and how of telling people about your HIV status. The evening will be an opportunity to learn from other people’s experiences of disclosure - and to share what you’ve learned from telling others about having HIV.

• Who should I disclose to?
• When should I tell?
• Why should I tell?
• How should I tell others?
• Where is a good place to tell?
• What are the advantages and disadvantges? 

This interactive workshop will be led by Colin Armstead and Daniel Murphy, both Service and Development Managers at George House Trust.

Wednesday July 7
5.30pm (for light refreshments) to 8pm

There will be NO CRÈCHE at this workshop.

TRAVEL EXPENSES will be available to people who qualify.

This Disclosure Workshop is for ALL George House Trust service users.

For more information please email Colin or Daniel - or ring Colin or Daniel on 0161 274 4499

Africans HIV Prevention in England

posted: 23/06/2010

HIV prevention among black Africans in England describes the major prevention challenges and highlights the actions that are needed and details the sexual health needs of Africans in England. It’s a useful briefing paper with helpful information on where to find more information and guidance. It is one of a series of briefings from the Race Equality Foundation.

Its key messages are that

• Black Africans in England have the highest rates of heterosexually acquired HIV. Black Africans are about 1% of the population, but have nearly half of new HIV diagnoses. Many of these infections occurred abroad, but a rising proportion happen here.
• The majority of black Africans in England are tested for HIV very late; this makes onward HIV transmission much more likely. Most, particularly men, are diagnosed at such a late stage that treatment does not work as well as it should. This cuts the quality and length of life.
• There are many more same-sex relationships than reported among black Africans in England. Often men have relationships with both women and men.
• The sexual health of black African communities is worsened by many socio-economic factors.
• There are many unmet sexual health and social needs among black Africans living in England, making people far more vulnerable to HIV.

It concludes with a shopping list of the main unmet needs that require action. These include

• Late HIV testing and undiagnosed HIV are serious issues. All myths and misconceptions about testing and treatment need challenging to encourage testing. More information about the available services, and more support to encourage their use are needed, particularly to reach men and new migrants. There need to be good referral systems within and between organisations.
• Prevention interventions and information should target people with lower education, and young black Africans. People, including late teenagers, lack basic information concerning condom access and use and negotiating safer sex, for example. Interventions should target heterosexual men and men who may have sex with men.
• Educating men especially about consistent condom use is critical because many women are vulnerable to HIV infection due to socio-economic factors, lacking the power or authority to safely insist on condom use. Positive women often face the same problem with negotiating in safety for condom use to avoid onward transmission. Condom distribution, including of female condoms (femidoms), needs to be intensified to improve condom accessibility.
• People diagnosed with HIV should be involved in the development and implementation of interventions (sometimes called ‘positive prevention’), because people with HIV have a key part to play in halting onward transmission and reducing HIV-related stigma and discrimination. However, ‘positive prevention’ needs to respect human rights and dignity, incorporate shared responsibility and avoid reinforcing HIV stigma and discrimination.
• Service providers working with Africans should be aware of HIV trends in the countries of origin of their service users, and the local prevalence data in England, in order to plan and target their interventions appropriately. NW England annual district level detailed HIV statistics
• The majority of black Africans are involved in various religious faiths, making religious leaders key contacts for reaching wider audiences. Interventions should be sensitive to faith issues. Many religious leaders would benefit from training in HIV issues.
• Service providers should recognise that there are many more same-sex relationships among black Africans than reported, and tailor their services appropriately. Providers should not assume having same gender sexual relationships has much or any connection with the gay and bisexual sexual identities familiar in England. However services should also seek out Africans who do have gay or bisexual identities. Whatever the sexual identity a person has, it is same sex behaviour that gives rise to significantly higher HIV transmission risk and unmet sexual health needs than with exclusively heterosexual black Africans.
• There is a need for continuous information, education and communication on HIV and sexual health, targeting not just black Africans but also the general population, in order to reduce stigma and discrimination, which undermine the impact of current interventions. Tightly targeted interventions risk increasing HIV stigma among and directed towards black Africans.
• GPs (family doctors) can play a leading role in HIV diagnosis among black African communities. This needs handling with sensitivity. 

HIV prevention among black Africans in England

UK HIV Prevention for Africans

posted: 22/06/2010

‘Testing is the only way you can tell if you are infected with HIV’ is the message of the new HIV campaign by the African HIV Policy Network. The campaign theme TALK and TEST aims to signpost Africans wanting to talk about HIV testing or about living with HIV, to the free and confidential African HIV information helpline: 0800 0967 500 – Monday to Friday, 10am – 6pm.
 

They are keen for people to visit the African HIV information website Do-It-Right for facts and figures about HIV, to find out more about HIV testing, and take part in the Life Check interactive HIV information quiz. This hopes to offer a fun way to find out more about everything from the basics of HIV, to taking HIV treatments.
 

Untested worries
TALK and TEST is based on results from the latest Bass Line survey of 2,500 Africans living in England. Bass Line found that almost 40% of African people living in England have never tested for HIV, and among the untested, 1 in 10 feel too afraid to test because of fear about having HIV.
Another one-in-eight want to test for HIV but did not know where to go for an HIV test.
 

Ford Hickson, the leading researcher on Bass Line, said: “Many African people in England would test for HIV if they knew where to go for a test. However, influencing testing in other Africans requires increasing their perception of risk from HIV infection, and increasing their understanding of the benefits of testing and the potential harm associated with not knowing their HIV status.
The vast majority know that
• HIV is a virus that can be passed during sexual intercourse
• that HIV cannot be passed through everyday contact
• that there is a medical test that can show whether someone is infected.”

Jabulani Chwaula – National African HIV Prevention Programme Manager says “Those who lack social power turn out to be those with the greatest need for skills and confidence to help them avoid getting or passing on HIV. Resolving this means paying attention to treatment access, stigma, discrimination, and immigration policy.”
Free and confidential African HIV information helpline: 0800 0967 500 – Monday to Friday, 10am – 6pm.
African HIV information website Do It Right
African HIV Policy Network 020 7017 8910
e-mail
NAHIP website