Following a dramatic rise in the purity and availability of heroin, Edinburgh is, once again, set to become the drugs and Aids capital of Europe. However, unlike the drug scene in the 1980s, the problem is not confined to the capital’s rougher housing estates and now includes affluent
suburbs and schools.
HIV awareness plummets among teenagers
Awareness of HIV and its causes has fallen among Britain’s 14-15 year olds by 11 per cent since 1995, according to figures produced by the Schools Health Education Unit. The Health Protection Agency reported that new HIV cases in 2003 increased by 20 per cent, largely as a result of unsafe sex.
Islington’s mayor Cllr Joan Coupland rolled up her sleeves and got stuck in when she formally opened the newly refurbished Food Chain kitchen in Highbury. The charity, which delivers nutritious and tasty meals to housebound Londoners affected by HIV, last month received the Queen’s Award for volunteering.
Local people do not wish to be involved in running the NHS, according to the British Medical Journal. Professor Rudolf Klein, of the London School of Economics, said most NHS trusts had found it difficult to persuade enough people to join their governing councils. Even more surprising was the apathy among staff. But a Department of Health spokesman insisted: “The first elections to foundation trust boards have been encouraging.”
Lincoln prison is set to become a regional centre for the treatment of prisoners with HIV and other disabilities. Following the death of a prisoner considered too dangerous for release, the Prison Service is helping to fund training for the project with a grant of £50,000. “There are increasing numbers of disabled patients being admitted to prison, and Aids and HIV is on the increase. The hospital prison nursing staff have been able to take specialised nursing courses in Aids and HIV and in palliative care," said Fred Wheeler, director of patient care for the St Barnabus Hospice, Lincolnshire.
East London’s two leading HIV service organizations are to merge this autumn. Trustees for London East Aids Network (LEAN), based in Stratford, Ilford and Walthamstow and the Globe Centre, in Mile End, have approved the merger. The Globe has been in financial difficulties for some time and has already had to reduce staff, but the merger is expected to improve support services for the diverse HIV positive population in the east of the capital.
Professor Brian Gazzard and NAM are holding a free feedback session on the Bangkok Conference looking at latest treatment developments on Monday July 26 from 7pm-9pm at the University of London Union.
For more details, call NAM on 020 7840 0050 or visit: www.aidsmap.com
If you live outside London and want to find out what happened at the International AIDS Conference in Bangkok as soon as it is over, PN writer Robert Fieldhouse is hosting a series of feedback meetings at selected venues across the UK during July and August. The events are free as they are kindly sponsored by Gilead Sciences and everyone is welcome.
To receive an HIV diagnosis is never easy, but imagine the anguish of a witness at a Leicester court last month who was delivered the devastating news during his cross-examination. The police handed over a blood sample of a witness to the defence team and they commissioned an HIV test without his knowledge. The judge ordered an injunction barring the man from being named. The sample, the judge said, should have been destroyed. A spokeswoman for the Terrence Higgins Trust said the error contravened all rights of confidentiality:"To be tested for HIV without your consent is absolutely wrong."
