The Positive Futures Partnership (PFP) has won funding from the European Union’s Social Fund. It means the original Positive Futures will be able to roll out services across the country.
Pictured (L to R): Carl Mills (UKC), Robert Bacher (drug-addicts@work), Elisabeth
Crafer (Positively Women), Andrew Little (PFP) and Martin Weber (Verein Dialog/Needles or Pins).
The National AIDS Trust will be joining the partnership, and to expand services PF will be working with a wide variety of new strategic partners including trade unions like the GFTU and the ITWF, the Disability Rights Commission, George House Trust, NAZ Project (London), Open Door, Zurich Financial Services, Summit Skills and the Northern College amongst others.
“This new source of funding will be of great benefit to all people with HIV around the country, particularly those wanting to further develop their skills and return to work,” said PF director Andrew Little.
A survey published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) has highlighted serious medical flaws in the government’s asylum policy.
Since 2000, the National Asylum Support Service (NASS) has dispersed around 100,000 asylum seekers around the country from London and the South East to spread the cost of healthcare.
However, many are from areas of the world with major HIV/Aids problems, and an unknown number are infected with the virus.
Doctors surveyed said they thought the policy was inappropriate when someone was just beginning antiretroviral therapy or undergoing salvage therapy.
They felt that it was wrong to move somebody currently undergoing medical investigations, or whose care involved multiple medical specialties.
Neither should dispersal be considered for people with symptomatic Aids, the doctors said.
“Dispersing HIV positive asylum seekers around the UK removes people from community support and culturally sensitive medical services and ultimately harms their physical health,” said Deborah Jack, chief executive of the National Aids Trust.
“Dispersal, often at short notice, causes distress and disruption of medical treatment which can lead to serious deterioration of their health, increased mother to baby HIV transmission and even to death.”But the Home Office has claimed that there was no evidence that dispersal increases the likelihood of transmission of HIV to others.
“In assessing suitability for dispersal, NASS takes into account relevant information, including medical considerations.” Government policy towards asylum seekers with HIV was also slammed as unethical by researchers writing in another recent BMJ article.
Regulations deny free HIV treatment to illegal immigrants and failed asylum seekers, but the authors said treatment should be provided when it will prevent serious harm to an individual or to public health. The researchers described the case of a pregnant woman from Africa who was found to be HIV positive yet was denied treatment to prevent transmission of HIV to her unborn child.
“The moral obligation to prevent transmission of HIV to the unborn child is sufficient grounds to treat,” say the authors.
How often do you visit your GP? Do you even have one? Does your GP know you are gay? These were some questions asked of gay men as part of the 2003 Gay Men’s Sex Survey to inform understanding of how gay men relate to their GPs.
“The Department of Health is keen for more GPs to provide basic sexual health services to gay men, so it is important that we gain a better understanding of how gay men interact with GPs,” said Peter Weatherburn, director of Sigma Research that conducted the survey.
Among the key findings of the survey were that less than half of gay men in the UK were ‘out’ to the staff in their GP’s surgery; a third of gay men registered with a GP said surgery staff did not know they had sex with men, and they would be unhappy if this information was given to staff.
Will Nutland, head of Gay Men’s Health Promotion at THT, said: “If men do not feel confident enough to be ‘out’ to the staff in their GP’s practice, then their doctors are not going to be able to provide services that are appropriate or effective.”
Ireland is the most generous donor to the global fight against HIV and Aids when measured against national income, MPs heard last month.
Ireland gives £430 for every £1 million of its national wealth, MP Hugh Bayley told a parliamentary debate on HIV and Aids in the developing world.
Second comes the UK and Norway, each donating £300 per £1 million of gross national income, while Germany and US lag behind, spending just £60 of their GNP to combat the global epidemic.
Bayley, chair of the all-party Africa group, said donations from all countries bought around one billion condoms a year for the developing world, but these were: “One billion far too few.
“In Africa, three condoms are provided per sexually active man per year so it is perfectly clear why the disease is still spreading.”
Hilary Benn, Secretary of State for International Development, said the world faced “no bigger development challenge than beating the epidemic.”
But he insisted the UK was “doing what we can to help halt Aids and reverse the spread of HIV globally.”
MPs heard how 26 million of the international work-force are infected and how the average life expectancy in Botswana has plummeted to 37 years.
Tom Brake, Liberal Democrat MP for Carshalton and Wallington, warned that tens of millions more would die if the UK Government failed to “ruthlessly exploit” its G8 and EU presidencies next year and “unlock the wallets of less generous donors.”
Neil Gerrard, Labour MP for Walthamstow and chair of the all-party group on HIV/Aids, urged Blair to make good his pledge to make Aids central to the EU and G8 strategy.
Amanda Elliot
Three quarters of those questioned in a recent survey, carried out by the Terrence Higgins Trust, believe that the government should make sexual health and HIV an NHS priority.
These findings follow recent reports that the country is in the middle of an epidemic of sexually transmitted infections.
The survey also unearthed “a startling lack of awareness” about sexual health among young people.
“It’s time for a new approach to reverse the parlous state of sexual health in the UK today,” said Paul Ward, deputy chief executive of THT.
This is not the first time that the government has been criticised on this issue. At a Big Conversation conference, it was criticised for long GUM clinic waiting lists, a sharp rise in infections and a lack of adequate sex education.
This follows a growing row in Westminster over the forthcoming Treasury Public Service Agreement which, sources suggest, will keep funding for sexual health low on the priority scale.
Paul Ward said: “I am dismayed the Treasury appears to have ignored the rapidly growing costs of sexual ill-health and HIV. The Public Service Agreement is a golden opportunity to improve the public’s sexual health and save the NHS valuable resources.
Top international cricket stars joined sports journalists at the UKC on 16 September for a presentation on the local and international impact of HIV and Aids.
South African and West Indian players wore red ribbons to mark an HIV/Aids awareness day for an International Cricket Council (ICC) Champions Trophy match at the Oval. Local schoolchildren distributed ribbons and balloons to the huge crowd and appeared on TV broadcasts around the world.Pictured with UKC and PN staff are South African captain Graeme Smith and fast bowler Makhaya Ntini, Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo from the West Indes and Michael Clarke and Andrew Symonds from Australia.
