Find Out About Membership

posted: 14/06/2010

Thursday 1 July is the date for people who use our services and volunteers to find out about becoming more involved in George House Trust. People using services and volunteers are warmly invited to come and find out more on Thursday 1 July from 5.30pm. You could become a Member. Our membership is free.

Finding Out About Membership is on Thursday 1 July

• refreshments and snacks start at 5.30pm
• the talk and your questions begin at 6
• we will finish by 7pm.

George House Trust is a membership organisation. Members are the people who come to our Annual General Meeting and elect our board of trustees. This board then oversees and steers what we do. Members are the people who can also become trustees on the board.
 

Members Vote
Members also vote on any major strategic decisions for the organisation, either at the Annual General Meeting, or at any special meetings that might be called during a year.
 

Whether you are electing trustees or voting on major strategic decisions, being a member gives you the chance to influence what we do.
 

This event is all about telling you more and answering your questions. You will be able to meet existing trustees and members.

Below we explain in more detail what it is all about for those who are really curious or for people who cannot come to the meeting on Thursday 1 July.

Applying to become a member
To become a member you would need to:

• Use George House Trust services (this includes HIV positive people, carers, family) OR
• Be a current volunteer who is actively involved in the organisation AND
• Able to attend the Annual General Meeting, or to vote by post AND
• Support the aims and objectives of George House Trust.

We need people who know enough about us, support our work, are actively interested in our future, and are able and willing to come to the Annual General Meeting (or vote by post).

You can download the membership forms here:

• Membership information
• Application form
   

Two thirds of our members are living with HIV
We work to make sure that two-thirds of our members are people living with HIV.
We want about 100 members, and will pull names from a hat if too many people apply. We want a good balance of members to represent all our service users and volunteers.
 

Summer Members selection
We only appoint new members once a year – you must apply to be a member by Friday 30th July. By 20 August you should have the written answer to your application.
 

If you have any questions on membership please email 
 

HIV Patent Pool Launched

posted: 09/06/2010

The long-awaited patent pool for HIV treatment drugs is now officially approved, and the international drug companies will now be pressed to give up their monopoly rights in July. Last night in Geneva, the final hurdle was crossed and the first-ever patent pool for HIV drugs got the official go-ahead.
 

After months of negotiations and expectations, the board of UNITAID – the international organisation set up by European donor countries to increase the supply of affordable medicines to the developing world - voted to set up the Medicines Patent Pool Foundation and give it $4.4 million in its first year.
 

The newly launched Medicines Patent Pool Foundation is expected to hit the ground running in July, persuading drug companies to hand over the patents they hold on HIV drugs so that cheap generic copies for people in poor countries can be made. The greatest benefits are expected to be in the manufacture of drugs in suitable formulations for children and in combining drugs belonging to a number of different manufacturers.
 

"What this means in practical terms," said Philippe Douste-Blazy, chair of the UNITAID Executive Board, "is that formal negotiations with the patent holders can now begin. We expect the Patent Pool Foundation to have its first licenses within a year."
 

This could be hard work. Not every major drug company is going to want to hand over its monopoly rights in a good cause, particularly when it comes to HIV drugs, for which there is a lucrative market in rich countries.
This is not the first HIV patent pool. British company GlaxoSmithKline recently set up its own, but while it has very creditably put in patents for drugs that could help against neglected diseases, it has excluded its own HIV drugs – and it holds some key HIV treatment patents. But chief executive Andrew Witty has said he will consider a UNITAID patent pool, so we wait to see what GSK will now do.

Meanwhile UNITAID is less than happy with another drug giant, Bristol Myers Squibb (see report yesterday), which is closing the only factory making a cheap generic version of ddl (didanosine) for babies. Up to 7000 babies in the developing world depend on this fall-back treatment option. The new factory is not due to open until next year.

Less than satisfactory answer

The Guardian’s Health Correspondent has managed to get an answer out of the drug company. This was their reply:
“Bristol-Myers Squibb takes the concerns of UNITAID about supply of [ddl] didanosine very seriously and is committed to working with all stakeholders to ensure peadiatric patients remain on treatment.
We informed UNITAID and other procurement agencies that manufacturing of [ddl] didanosine 25mg and 50mg at our plant in France will cease in June of this year. E.U. regulatory approval of the new U.S. manufacturing site is expected in February 2011.

To avoid disruption, we preventively built up inventory to twice the level of 2009 demand. We also took steps to ensure product availability immediately upon regulatory approval of the new manufacturing site. The European regulatory authorities are aware of the urgency of the situation.

A very significant and unforeseeable increase in demand of [ddl] didanosine 25mg and 50mg has however created a supply strain on Bristol-Myers Squibb products only. Supply of [ddl] didanosine 25 mg and 50 mg tablets remains available through multiple generic alternatives.
We are actively working with procurement agencies to provide [ddl] didanosine to patients in need and to ensure minimal disruption.”
 

UNITAID – the problem remains
UNITAID is not impressed "The problem persists," said a spokeswoman. The generic alternatives are not WHO-approved and therefore UNITAID will not buy them because there are not the essential permissions allowing their use. "We would like them to ensure they take all the necessary steps to ensure there isn't an interruption."
 

Source

North Manchester General Hospital

posted: 08/06/2010

False rumours about some changes at North Manchester General Hospital (NMGH) are going around. The service at the HIV clinic is not changing. All that is happening is the hospital is making better use of its beds in some of the wards.
 

Cynthia at the hospital tells us that to meet demands on their services and to use their facilities better, the Hospital will be making changes to some Infectious Diseases wards over the coming weeks.

They want people using the hospital to know just what is going to happen and to end worries caused by rumours and wrong information.
 

What ward changes are planned?

• The services now used on ward J5 will be moved to another ward area within the hospital.
• J6 will stop being an Infectious Diseases managed ward.
• Both ward J5 and J6 will reopen as ‘Fast flow wards’ and the Infectious Diseases Department will keep admission rights to those wards.
• J3 and J4 will continue unchanged.
• There are no plans to relocate the Department of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine to another site.

Cynthia Murphy, Manager – Infectious Diseases Research Department & HIV / Hepatitis Support Coordinator
 

Election Acts

posted: 27/04/2010

The election is a great time for extracting politician's promises about HIV. With under two weeks to voting on Thursday May 6th, use this time to ask your parliamentary candidates what they will do about HIV and sexual health, if elected.
 

Visit the SHout loud website for their Election Guide which has suggestions for what to ask and how to ask for it. 
Want more ideas?

Other questions to ask candidates include

• What do you plan to do locally to stop so many people being diagnosed with HIV late?
• How will you ensure that local HIV prevention budgets are protected during times of public spending cuts?
• The AIDS Support Grant is vital to ensure that people with HIV locally receive the support they need but is only guaranteed until 2011. Will you support continuing this funding after 2011?
• What will you do to tackle the HIV-related stigma that continues to persist in our community?
• Will you support free prescriptions for people with long-term conditions including HIV?

We hope these are helpful but they're just some suggestions. You can ask your parliamentary candidates about any key issues faced by you, and people living with and affected by HIV. 
 

They have information on HIV in NW England and we have spotted an unfortunate error, which we have asked them to correct. It says there were only 398 new HIV Infections in NW England in 2008. We wish it were this low. In 2008 another 854 new people who are living in NW England were told they have HIV.  HIV & AIDS in the NW of England, 2008 table 2.2

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Parties Sign Asylum Pledge

posted: 22/04/2010

Party leaders and many general election candidates have signed an election pledge to "never play fast and loose" with the UK's commitment to offering asylum.
 

Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Nick Clegg and hundreds of parliamentary candidates have signed up to the pledge organised by three rights organisations. Liberty, once called the national council for civil liberties, along with the Refugee Council and the Scottish Refugee Council are all campaigning for the Asylum Election Pledge.

HIV and asylum

A significant proportion of people with HIV in the UK are people who have sought or are applying for asylum (13% in NW England), so the treatment of asylum seekers is a significant HIV issue. At the end of 2007, there were 600 asylum seekers with HIV still waiting for a decision in NW England - and 162 who have been formally granted asylum so far. The majority are people who have fled the political and social crisis in Zimbabwe.  
 

Abhor racism and xenophobia in political debate

The pledge states that there is no room for "racism and xenophobia in modern British politics". It asks the signatories to accept that "no democratic debate is advanced by the denigration of the most vulnerable in our country" and to remember those who do not have the right to vote in elections.
The pledge declares:

"I promise to remember the importance of refugee protection, even in free and wide-ranging debates about immigration policy. I will never play hard and loose with the proud tradition of a nation that must always offer succour to those in genuine fear of persecution."

Shami Chakrabarti, Director of Liberty, said: "It is very good news that even in the heat of election battle, all three leaders have promised to honour the importance of refugee protection. No one should underestimate the ocean of common decency in Britain and we intend to hold our politicians to this proud tradition."
 

Get your candidates to sign up before May 6

The pledge will be open until May 6th and Liberty want you to urge your election candidates to sign up. Check if your constituency candidates have signed
 

If your constituency candidates haven’t yet signed the pledge, please ask them here to sign - it's quick and easy.

The top countries of origin for refugees coming to the UK in 2009 were Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, Iran, China, Sri Lanka, and Eritrea. The UK is home to less than two per cent of the world’s refugees, with 80 per cent living in developing countries.
 

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