HIV Babies At Risk?

posted: 08/06/2010

The drug giant Bristol Myers Squibb seems about to shut down their factory in France that makes the only cheap HIV treatment drug that keeps up to 7,000 babies alive in the developing world. Bristol Myers Squibb’s chief executive Lamberto Andreotti has so far ignored a letter of protest from some of the board members of UNITAID – the part of the UN that aims to improve access to HIV treatments in poor countries, especially in Africa.
 

On their website UNITAID say

‘it is deeply concerned that the provision of a key paediatric AIDS medicine produced by Bristol Myers Squibb will be interrupted in June 2010 until at least April 2011. The medicine, didanosine 25 mg and 50 mg, is supplied by UNITAID through the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) to between 4,000-7,000 infants in 40 countries. Interruption of treatment would seriously jeopardize these young children's survival.
 

UNITAID urges Bristol Myers Squibb to take all the necessary measures to ensure continued supply of quality, lifesaving didanosine 25 mg and 50 mg for the duration of its transition of its manufacturing site so as to avoid interruption of treatment for the children whose lives depend on it. UNITAID will continue to monitor the situation closely.’
 

Public Letter

Since the drug giant has not replied, UNITAID board members, representing non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and communities affected by HIV/AIDS of the Geneva-based organisation, have gone public with their complaint and plea.
This is what they say:
 

Dear Mr Andreotti,
We, the UNITAID board members representing NGOs, and Communities affected by HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria, are writing to you to express our deep concern that Bristol-Myers Squibb is to close a factory in France that manufactures a second line anti-retroviral medicine for children infected with HIV/AIDS who weigh less than 10 kg: buffered didanosine (ddI) in the 25 mg formulation.

Closing this factory means that 4,000 to 7,000 babies currently enrolled in treatment plans in developing countries through UNITAID could be left without the medicines they need. Didanosine is the last therapeutic option for these babies and without it they may die. We understand that closure of the plant will take place in June of this year, with no plans for resumption of production before April of 2011 at the earliest when a new plant is due to open. Therefore there is likely to be a shortage of approximately 15,000 packs of ddI 25 mg, across all UNITAID beneficiary countries between now and when production is expected to resume in April 2011. Currently, there is no alternative generic product that has been assessed by WHO and prequalified for use by UN agencies.

We urge you, as the Chief Executive Officer of BMS, a company that prides itself on its high standards of corporate responsibility, to respond urgently to our concerns, outlining the steps you will take to avoid any treatment interruption. We would also like your confirmation that a BMS plant will resume production of this vital medicine in 2011.

We look forward to hearing from you.
 

Source

Saving AIDS Support Grant

posted: 26/05/2010

Before the election, the end of ring-fenced AIDS Support Grant for local councils was announced. The new coalition government has now said it will phase out all types of ring-fenced grants for councils.
 

National AIDS Trust has now written to Paul Burstow (Lib Dem, Sutton & Cheam in Surrey), the new Minister for State for Social Care Services, setting out the need to continue to ring-fence AIDS Support Grant after 2011.

It has also written to Anne Milton, the new Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Public Health.

The new Government has emphasised the importance of public health interventions, and NAT stress the potential public health implications of removing of the ring-fence. Because of this, and given the recent commitment to phase out ring-fenced grants for local authorities, NAT also suggests that the Grant could be paid to PCTs instead, rather than local authorities.
 

Add Your Voice

Organisations and individuals may wish to write to Paul Burstow, or their local MP, to emphasise the vital role of the ring-fenced ASG. NAT’s letter to the minister can be used by people and organisations to make the point that the ring-fence is still needed.
 

Any letters to the minister should reflect the local situation. You might emphasise these points:

• The important role ASG funding currently plays in funding local services
• The impact the loss of the ring fence would have on funding for HIV orgnaisations (it is far less likely that local authorities will continue to fund services without the ring fence - what would happen to people if support is no longer available?)
• Some case studies showing the difference the Grant makes to the lives of individuals and families in your area

NAT 2009 report on The AIDS Support Grant – Making a Difference?

 
Latest Department of Health details on ASG allocations for each council in England and how it should be spent  
 

NW England
AIDS Support Grant 2009-2010 and total HIV population by social services district
download our handy guide for NW England here

The AIDS Support Grant allocations for the current year, April 2010 – March 2011, have not been published – it should be listed as a circular here

Here is gathered information from Freedom of Information requests on AIDS Support Grant in different parts of England 

text of NAT letter to Minister

Back to Work - Try Temping

posted: 19/05/2010

While many people living with HIV are working, many other people feel trapped on the benefits for unemployment, sickness and disability. But temporary part-time and full-time work offers people who do feel trapped on benefits the chance to try working once again.

Going back to work after a long time away worries some, but there are new opportunities to try temporary work in every part of NW England. Temping, working for a short, fixed period of time, is a path back to work that can be without obligation.
 

Back to Work Help
Anyone living with HIV in NW England who is interested in returning to work, education or training, should contact our Services Team for help, information about your employment and other rights, and advice.
 

It is worth knowing that there are ways for some people to try some work for a while and if things don’t work out as you hoped, you can return to your old rate of benefit. You need to see a benefits expert. You might impress them by asking them to tell you all about ‘therapeutic working’ – which is the benefits jargon for trying work while keeping the right to return to previous benefits.

Other back-to-work help is also available.
 

Census 2011
The Census provides a lot of temporary / casual / PT work opportunities. It's an opportunity for people to try working, wherever you live. Find out more at the new census jobs website 

How to apply and what jobs are / will be available 

What working on the 2011 census offers
The 2011 Census will offer a wide range of opportunities throughout England & Wales. Benefits include:

• Flexible working hours that you can fit in around your current commitments
• The opportunity for a short term income boost
• Opportunity to add new experience to your CV
• Competitive salaries
• The chance to work within your local community
• The opportunity to meet a wide range of people from various backgrounds
• Job satisfaction that can be gained from helping others
• The health benefits that will be gained from working outside
• The chance to play a part in gathering the information needed to make good decisions on things that affect local communities.

Contact our Services Team about going back to work.

Blackburn Thrivine Meeting

posted: 04/05/2010

UPDATE 11 May 2010 - This AGM is cancelled.

THRIVINE, the HIV community in Blackburn, East Lancashire, has its first Annual General Meeting on Tuesday, 18th May 2010 at their office on Eanam Wharf.

Around 6 months ago THRIVINE moved from the warm embrace of the Jarman Centre to its own place. The move was exciting and challenging with many hurdles and new things to learn.

Find out for yourself what THRIVINE has been up to and its plans for the year.

The Annual General Metting starts at 6pm.

To book a place at the Annual General Meeting please email THRIVINE or print out the attached document, complete it and then please post it to            

THRIVINE
Unit 20
Blackburn Business Development Centre
Eanam Wharf
Blackburn
BB1 5PL

 

Please note that THRIVINE at Eanam Wharf does not have disabled access. They apologise for this inconvenience.
 

Proud to Halt HIV Child Deportations

posted: 30/04/2010

It was New Year's Day 2008 when Martin Narey, head of the children’s charity Barnardo’s, opened the letter he had been waiting for. Inside were the names of 63 HIV-positive children and their families who had at last received a reprieve from the British Government. They no longer faced deportation back to Malawi and Rwanda, to an almost certain death.
 

In a candid interview before he steps down as chief executive of the children's charity Barnardo's, Mr Narey told The Independent that the letter was the proudest moment of his professional life.
The 54-year-old former head of the prison service had fought long and hard to keep the children in this country, lobbying Tony Blair to argue that it would be "cruel and inhumane" to return them to die when anti-retroviral treatment in the UK could give them a near normal life expectancy.
 

Behind the scenes
George House Trust and the Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit work closely with Barnardo’s Gregory’s Place to support HIV positive children and their families in NW England remain in the UK. He came to Barnardo's met families and staff from both organisations. We all fed him the facts and harsh realities facing HIV positive migrant children and their families.

Martin Narey instantly grasped the inhumanity of deporting HIV positive children to an early death. He used his unrivalled access to people in power and his passionate commitment to justice and care for children to win protection from removal for 63 children with HIV.
 

Manchester visit sparked action
"On a visit to one of our services in Manchester I met Josephine, a mum whose appeal against a decision not to grant her asylum had just been rejected. Josephine and her son Michael, then 14, were about to be deported to Malawi," he said. George House Trust and the Immigration Aid Unit had given expert evidence and pleaded the family’s case at the immigration tribunal.
 

"Both Josephine and her son were HIV positive. The clinical evidence I was subsequently able to read indicated that without anti-retroviral treatment in Malawi, both would die within months, whereas Josephine's life expectancy here was considerable and Michael's was essentially that of any other 14-year-old. What most shocked, upset and moved me about Josephine was not her quiet acceptance about her own death, but her abject fear over the reality that because she had a radically lower blood count she would die first and leave Michael to die on his own a few weeks or months after her.”
 

Take it to the top
"I went straight from there to the Labour conference in Manchester where I was speaking in a Fabian Debate and I spoke very frankly about what I'd seen. That got me in front of the All Party Parliamentary Group on HIV. That got questions asked at PM's Questions. That got me a meeting with Tony Blair and eventually – and to his enormous credit – a list of more than 60 children, all HIV positive, and their families were given indefinite leave to remain.
 

"The reprieve list, which was sent to me on New Year's Eve and I opened on New Year's Day 2008, was, and I suspect always will be, the best moment of my professional life."
 

Source