Blackburn Cathedral Vigil

posted: 24/11/2010

A candlelit HIV vigil at Blackburn Cathedral is one of the events in East Lancashire organised for World AIDS Day. The cathedral vigil will be on Thursday December 2nd 2010 at 7.15pm. The service is to be led by Canon Andrew Hindley. There will be speakers from Thrivine and music from the Cathedral Choir and Blackburn People’s choir.
 

Buffet and exhibitions in the Crypt

After the service wine and a light buffet will be served downstairs in the Crypt Cafe where you will also have the opportunity to view the exhibition of The Positive Picture, the results of a project funded by the NHS Dragon’s Apprentice. Painted lanterns and art works by local youth groups will also be on display.

Thrivine awards success
This year the East Lancashire HIV charity Thrivine was nominated for a CVS Community Award, and has recently won the Gilead “Putting patients 1st” Award for England and Northern Ireland, for 'Integrity, Teamwork and Excellence, thereby making a significant contribution to the lives of people living with HIV.'
 

Thrivine are very proud of their achievements so soon after their founding and welcome people to attend the vigil and help put an end to HIV related stigma.

More information
email Thrivine

Manchester Art Gallery World AIDS Day Events

posted: 19/11/2010

George House Trust and Manchester Art Gallery are working together on two events to raise awareness about HIV and challenge HIV related stigma.

The first event is a Family Art Day on Saturday 4th December from 1pm-3pm. This event is open to all families with children aged 6-11 years old and is free. The event is themed around World AIDS Day and using the UK AIDS Memorial Quilt to raise awareness about HIV. The event is completely free. Please arrive at 12:30pm to sign up for activities at Manchester Art Gallery, Mosley Street, Manchester M2 3JL.

The second event is an Imagine Weekend on Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th December, 12noon-4pm open to adults and to families with children of any age. The event will focus on making a work of art from Red Ribbons. This event is completely free. No need to book - just drop in.

Please note that both these events are open to the general public and all activities will be delivered by Manchester Art Gallery staff, not staff from George House Trust. We therefore cannot guarantee confidentiality, if you choose to share personal information at these events.

You can find further information at: http://www.manchestergalleries.org/

Your HIV Aware Ideas?

posted: 20/10/2010

What would people around us do differently if they were HIV aware? For this year’s World AIDS day (Wednesday 1 December) people living with HIV are asked to suggest ways people can show they are ‘HIV aware’.
 

This year's UK World AIDS day theme is Act Aware and it is all about taking action to tackle HIV prejudice and to protect yourself and others from HIV transmission.

Making the world HIV friendly
NAT (hosting the UK World AIDS Day website) plan to encourage people to visit the World AIDS Day website and make a personal pledge about how they will Act Aware.

Wanted: your suggestions
That’s how people with HIV can help – NAT want your suggestions of the sort of things you would like to see people do in a HIV-friendly world.

All NAT want is a short sentence for World AIDS Day. It’s really easy – write your words on this page

The suggestions and pledges will inspire people to do something to Act Aware and make our world more HIV friendly. You can give a name and location, or be anonymous.

What people living with HIV have already suggested on the website ...
 

I would like to see society's attitudes change, so that I don't feel that I have to hide the fact that I have HIV     Alan, London
 

I would like people who are living with HIV whom are confident to do so, to share their own stories about how they have overcome the barriers and challenges of living their everyday lives      Danny
 

I would like everyone to think seriously about HIV and what it means to live with HIV - and therefore be realistic, aware and practical when it comes to safer sex      Maurice, London
 

I would like there to be a focus on education and stigma within younger groups of people, with attention paid to cultural differences and needs      Richard
 

I would like to see more positive role models of people living with HIV      Danny

Please either add yours to this webpage OR e-mail it to NAT 

World AIDS Day 2010 – Act Aware

End to Cheap HIV Drugs?

posted: 15/09/2010

A new report shows that the vast majority of HIV drugs keeping people alive in developing countries are made by Indian generics companies, but new trade rules may prevent them making cheap copies in the future.
Several million people are alive today - and fit and active and looking after their children - who would be dead, had it not been for the roll-out of antiretroviral drugs to treat people with HIV. This is a spectacular success story - even though less than half (4 million out of 9.5 million) people who need HIV drugs are so far on treatment.
 

But will the cheap generic drugs continue to be provided? Much may depend on the cost of the drugs.
 

Cheap generics

The three-drug antiretroviral combinations now in use in the developing world are cheap - really cheap. The prices came down from over $10,000 a year per person to under $100, because Indian generic drug manufacturers make cheap but effective versions, which are approved for quality by the World Health Organisation.
 

Just how much that price plunge mattered is made clear in a report from Brenda Waning and colleagues, available free online, published in the Journal of the International Aids Society today.  Their research shows that the vast bulk of these HIV drugs - up to 87% by 2008 - were supplied by the Indian generics companies.
 

Almost all the rest that are used in poor countries are not first-line combinations, but second or even third-line treatments, for use when the first combination won’t work. HIV is adept at developing resistance to the drugs used against it - it also happens across Europe and the USA.
 

Few 2nd and 3rd line generics

Generic versions of the newer, second and third combination drugs needed to deal with this resistance are not widely available.

Alarm bells TRIP for cheap new generics

Today's report raises the alarming possibility that they may not be made widely available.
Generic companies in India were able to make the basic HIV drugs because India did not recognise the patents on those drugs. But now everything is changing. Since 2005, a global trade agreement called TRIPS (trade-related aspects of intellectual property), has begun to have an impact, restricting the copying of new drugs. Negotiations on further trade agreements are ongoing.
 

The report’s author Waning works for UNITAID, an organisation dedicated to obtaining greater access to HIV medicines for poor countries. This is what UNITAID's executive secretary Jorge Bermudez had to say about the report:
“The findings of this study raise grave concerns for us because UNITAID relies heavily on Indian generic manufacturers to supply quality-assured, patient-friendly, low cost AIDS medicines in over 50 countries. What we need today is a more flexible approach to scale up treatment and not the opposite.”

If Indian manufacturers cannot meet these demands, a lot of the progress we have made in the last seven years against HIV in the developing world will be reversed.
 

Source The Guardian
 

Crunch fundraiser brings in the cash!

posted: 11/12/2009

A massive thank you to everyone who made the
World AIDS Day fundraiser at Crunch Bar such a success. The event raised over £550 in aid of George House Trust, with money still coming in!

The night was a collaboration between Nice 'n' Naughty and Crunch and wouldn't have been possible without the hard work and great fundraising skills of our volunteer, Lee Botham.

We're a small charity. No amount of money raised is ever too small. Every penny counts. Most of our funding comes with strings attached. Fundraised money means we can be quicker to respond to urgent needs and changing demands.

BRIGHT IDEAS is our new Do It Yourself Fundraising Pack - packed with lots of ideas and it also has a handy full size poster on the back to help you promote your event. You can download the pack from our website or if you'd prefer a paper copy or want to talk through your ideas, please get in touch: laura@ght.org.uk