Guides for More HIV Testing

posted: 04/04/2011

The number of people who got infected with HIV within the UK in the last 10 years has almost doubled. New infections that happened in the UK (rather than abroad) rose from 1,950 in 2001 to 3,780 in 2010.

In response the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE, the body that tells the NHS what healthcare works and is good value for money) has issued new guidance for the testing of the two groups most at risk of getting HIV in the UK, gay/bi men and African people.

HIV testing helps people keep good health

Testing and treating people with HIV helps the person with HIV stay healthy and to live a near-normal life, helps avoid passing on HIV to others, and can save the NHS a lot of money.
 

The NICE guidance aims to increase the numbers taking HIV tests to reduce the number of people who do not know they have HIV and so help prevent HIV being passed on by Africans living in the UK and gay men.

Gay and bisexual men remain the group most at risk of becoming infected with HIV in the UK with 70 per cent more men being diagnosed with HIV in the past 10 years (from 1,810 in 2001 to 3,080 in 2010).
 

‘NAT welcomes the new NICE guidance on increasing testing among African communities and gay men. Not only is the number of people being diagnosed with HIV still too high, late diagnosis is an extremely important problem as it means a person is likely to have had HIV for a number of years – with a high risk of transmission to sexual partners – and it can also reduce the effectiveness of treatment,” commented Deborah Jack, Chief Executive of NAT (National AIDS Trust).

‘It is crucial that HIV testing becomes ‘normalised’ in our society, not just among gay men and African communities, but also amongst health professionals. Many people with HIV attend NHS services for years without being offered an HIV test and this neglect needs to be addressed and stopped.’

'The importance of HIV testing should now be reflected in Government plans as they reorganise the NHS and public health. In particular, it is essential that HIV late diagnosis remain a key outcome indicator to assess progress in public health at the local level. It is also vital that the extensive reorganisation of the NHS does not undermine recent momentum in HIV testing.’
 

‘Public Health England must ensure that the vision for HIV testing amongst gay men and African communities set out in the NICE Guidance is consistently implemented across the whole of the NHS and public health system.’
 

NICE HIV testing guidance for gay/bi men

NICE testing guidance for Africans living in the UK

Source – HPA press release

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Non-Discrimination Law Guide

posted: 04/04/2011

The first ever Handbook on European Non-Discrimination Law is now available. It offers practical guidance to help people with discrimination claims at the UK’s Courts and Tribunals. Since the UK made the Human Rights Act part of UK law almost all discrimination cases are dealt with in the UK. The handbook is based on the decisions made by the European Court of Human Rights at Strasbourg and the European Court of Justice in Brussels.

The handbook is intended for advice workers, human rights organisations, equality bodies like the UK's Equality and Human Rights Commission, as well as lawyers, judges, and prosecutors.

It contains the context and background to European non-discrimination law (including the UN human rights treaties), discrimination categories and defences, the scope of the law (including who is protected), and the grounds protected, such as sex, sexuality, disability, age, race and nationality.

It’s been published jointly by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) and the European Court of Human Rights, and is the first comprehensive guide to all European non-discrimination law.
 

"The Guide will improve access to justice for victims of discrimination across Europe. It sets out the complicated system of rules in a simple and comprehensive manner. It is fitting that this successful joint venture should be launched as we prepare for the accession of the European Union to the European Convention on Human Rights."
Jean-Paul Costa president of ECtHR

Handbook on European Non-Discrimination Law

European Anti-Discrimination Law Review

Human Rights Court - HIV discrimination

posted: 18/03/2011

The European Court of Human Rights has just made a helpful and important ruling about HIV discrimination. The court said discrimination against people with HIV is so widespread that it means people with HIV are a “vulnerable group with a history of prejudice and stigmatisation”.

This ruling makes it easier for other people to make HIV discrimination claims on human rights grounds. This means people with HIV will automatically be treated in future human rights cases as 'vulnerable'. This means one less thing to prove when making a human rights claim in UK courts and tribunals.

With cuts to public services for people with HIV, including access to free legal aid, more people with HIV in the UK are likely to need to use the Human Rights Act. This ruling will help.

The European Court case was against Russia. Russia refused a residence permit to a man from Uzbekistan (who is married to a Russian woman with whom he has a child) simply because he is HIV-positive. The Court said this plainly breached their human right to family life. If he hadn’t had HIV he would have been given the residence permit to live with his wife and child in Russia.
 

The court said, "The mere presence of a HIV-positive individual in a country is not in itself a threat to public health."
 

Human Right to Family Life and non-discrimination

Russia was found to have broken Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the right to family life, and Article 14, which bans discrimination.
 

Last October, the European Human Rights Court ruled against Russia because of Moscow's bans of gay pride events. Then the court found that Russia was breaking the European Convention guarantees of freedom of assembly and association, the right to an effective remedy and prohibition of discrimination.

Source

 
More details on this New York law professor’s blog

European Court of Human Rights

Football, HIV and Saving Lives

posted: 16/03/2011

When Birmingham City play Arsenal in the Carling Cup Final this weekend, they are launching a HIV awareness campaign for soccer fans.
 

Birmingham City and England goalie Ben Foster with midfielders Alexander Hleb and Craig Gardner are supporting Football Saving Lives, a national health promotion project.
 

Get Tested, then Stay Negative or Get Treated
“Saving lives is, of course, a lot harder than saving goals,” says Ben Foster, “but I’m a proud to be an ambassador for this campaign, precisely because it makes things so simple: get tested, get treated.

It’s as easy as that. It is definitely in your best interest to get HIV tested if you get the opportunity: if you’re negative, then you can stay that way, and if you turn out positive there are now life saving treatments available ”.
 

22,000 people do not know they have HIV
Football Saving Lives is part of a Birmingham NHS HIV campaign. Dr Steve Taylor says “One in four of those who have HIV are unaware they’re infected. That means that they cannot access the life-saving treatment we can now offer, and in addition they may well be unknowingly infecting others. We need to tackle this problem and diagnose the 22,000 people in the UK who have HIV but are totally unaware.”
 

Football Saving Lives raises public HIV awareness and corrects the wrong ideas people may have about HIV and HIV testing. Being rhis reluctance to take HIV tests, or thinking you are not at risk, remain key reasons why so many are untested and often end up in hospital because of the damage HIV infection causes over time.
 

People still die of HIV even though excellent treatment gives people reasonable health and life propects as long as people are tested and diagnosed early.
Soccer fans may not give much thought to HIV so the players and campaigns hopes to make fans think and act.
 

HIV hasn’t gone away
“I grew up in Birmingham,” says Blues midfielder Gardner, “and I remember the HIV prevention campaigns at school. But I haven’t heard anybody talk about HIV for years – I thought it had just gone away. But to think that there are some 22,000 people out there who have no idea they are infected is a really scary statistic. I’m supporting this campaign because I believe that education and raising awareness are the best ways of helping young people look after their sexual health and start to reduce the spread of HIV.”
 

Testing and timely HIV treatment allows people to live a near normal life. Treatment also helps cut the spread of HIV because people on successful HIV treatment with undetectable viral loads are far less likely to pass on HIV.
 

Almost all pregant women get tested - why not soccer fans?

Ninety-five per cent of pregnant women already receive an HIV test as standard, and if the mother has HIV treatment of the mother and baby means babies now rarely get HIV.
 

“Football Saving Lives is about getting these really important public health messages regarding sexual health and HIV testing out to the public,” summarises Alexander Hleb, on loan to Birmingham City from Barcelona.
 

Football Saving Lives, includes player profiles

Source

HIV Healthcare Training Online

posted: 03/03/2011

HIV and STI doctors and other healthcare staff have an engaging and extensive online learning programme called eHIV-STI. This e-training has been put together by the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV and the Federation of the Royal Colleges of Physicians. Keeping HIV clinic staff well trained is an important part of good HIV care.
 

This eHIV-STI training provides the knowledge healthcare professionals need for treating and supporting people with sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, and related conditions. It’s designed to be used alongside clinic training.
 

3 knowledge levels

They provide training to three levels of knowledge, from introductory, to more advanced and finally specialist knowledge, so people can learn in stages.
 

The 60 sessions of e-learning with video clips and case studies cover most of what HIV and STI clinic staff need to know. The training is open for doctors and NHS healthcare staff in England who register with the site.
 

HIV & STI e-Learning for Healthcare