Erasure singer gets more than a little respect
Andy Bell, singer and front-man of the top 80s electro-pop group Erasure,
has announced he has HIV.
Bell, who says he is “positive about being positive”, found out
in 1998 after a bout of pneumonia.
The 40 year old singer said: “There is so much hysteria and ignorance
surrounding HIV and Aids. Let’s just get on with life.”
He said that after starting combination therapy he felt fine.
“In fact I have never felt better.” Bell, with other Erasure member
Vince Clarke, had five UK number one albums and 15 singles in the top 10 chart
including ‘A Little Respect.’
One in four face HIV prejudice from NHS
More than one in four people with HIV still face prejudice from healthcare
professionals, according a new dossier of evidence presented to ministers.
A study of 2,000 HIV positive people conducted by the National Aids Trust
and Sigma research found more than a one in four (27 per cent) had experienced
discrimination in the previous year.
Respondents reported that they had been refused basic medical treatment and
removed from dental or GP’s lists. Some faced irrational fears from
health professionals about HIV transmission or found that patient confidentiality
around their HIV status had been breached.
Many received little or no redress when they complained.
Fabiola Martini (not her real name) told PN about a particularly disturbing
incident after she was admitted to Kingston Hospital, paralysed with toxoplasomosis
last year.
“After five weeks I was moved to a new ward where a nurse shouted out
‘Are You HIV? Are you HIV? You have to move your bed’.
“The nurse told us I was a threat to the other patients. I could not
stop weeping for days. As soon as I was strong enough I moved my care to Chelsea
and Westminster.
“Later I received a form from Kingston asking if I was satisfied with
my stay. I told them about the nurse. I never heard from them again.”
John Pickett, an NHS employee and gay man living and receiving treatment in
London, said he had come up against some “bizarre” attitudes.
“I was having eye surgery and was scheduled for the last slot of the
day. I asked why and was told it was so they could clean the instruments overnight.
It was laser eye surgery. How do you clean a laser for God’s sake?”
NAT have produced HIV in Healthcare, a new information resource for challenging
stigma among healthcare professionals backed by the Department of Health and
endorsed by the Royal College of Nursing, Royal College of GPs and the British
Dental Association.
Will Ford-Young, chair of the GP task group for sex, drugs and HIV, welcomed
this latest challenge to HIV stigma and discrimination.
“These guidelines will help ensure HIV positive people get the same
high level of care from GPs and other primary healthcare staff that all patients
deserve.”
The HIV in Healthcare pack is part of trust’s ongoing Are You HIV Prejudiced?
campaign.
Farewell to another activist
James Quinlan, pictured left, for many years active with the gay men’s
HIV prevention charity GMFA, died peacefully at the Chelsea and Westminster
16 December 2004.
GMFA said James will be greatly missed by the team, his family and friends
and especially by his partner Matt.
James developed GMFA’s ‘+ve’ campaign which aimed to support
men who chose, like himself, to be open about their status.
Carl Burnell, chief executive of GMFA, said: “I always admired the way
James conducted himself, his ability to cut through the bullshit made him
a joy to work with.”
Council turns spotlight on HIV housing group
A leading London HIV housing group is facing a backlash from their clients.
Clients have accused Strutton Housing of a lack of transparency about services
they provide to tenants with HIV.
They claim Strutton has pressured tenants to ensure they sign up to their
services under the new Supported Persons (SP) programme.
Local authorities can pay Strutton up to £75 per client per week for
this service. But clients say they are unsure what they are getting for the
money.
A Camden councillor has now called for Strutton’s contract to be reviewed
following protests.
Problems began when Strutton decided to cease managing properties on behalf
of some partner housing associations and asked tenants living with HIV to
sign off the tenancy changes by 31 March 2005.
But many tenants are uncertain how the changes will affect their social support
once Strutton stop day-to-day management of their flats.
One tenant said: “With the new SP legislation, the government has created
a pot of gold. Support providers like Strutton seems to think because it not
our money we shouldn’t worry.”
Supported people in work can expect to pay around £25 a week for Strutton’s
support service.
Some fear that if they opt out they will be forced to vacate their home, because
homes were originally allocated to people who needed support.
Brad Hepburn, the service user rep on Camden Council’s HIV/Aids liaison
group, said: “At a meeting last October, a group of young mothers told
me they had received a letter from Strutton telling them that if they took
themselves off the support programme their families may not be able to stay
on in the properties if they became ill and died.”
Zoe Littleton, interim CEO of Strutton, denied any such letter had been sent
since she had been in charge. All services were set out in the client user
handbook, she added.
“We are helping people maintain their tenancies and liaise with other
agencies. If someone says I’m fine without your support, that’s
fine. We are not going to impose support. But we want them to be aware of
the implications of that decision.”
Strutton currently manages 480 properties and the initial management changes
will effect Wandle, Circle, Family, and Pride housing associations.
Chancellor unveils ‘big and bold’ plans to fight Aids
Chancellor Gordon Brown speaks to Paul Matoly, a 38-year-old Tanzanian living
with Aids, in Ihumwa Village in Dodoma, Tanzania.
Brown was on a six-day tour of Africa where he set out his $10 billion plan
to get wealthy countries, and the US in particular, to massively increase
funding for Aids prevention, vaccine research and drug provision.
Brown said a doubling of research funding could bring forward development
of a ‘partly effective’ HIV vaccine by 2012.
Executive director of the Global Fund, Professor Richard Feachem said Mr Brown’s
ideas were “big and bold. Just what we need to win the war against this
virus.”
HIV discrimination still rife in Britain
Knowledge about HIV among the general population in Britain is abysmal, according
to a new study.
Dr Catherine Dodds told a meeting of parliamentarians earlier this month that
HIV discrimination was rife.
Presenting research from focus groups of 125 gay men and Africans living with
the virus, Dr Dodds said everyone was implicated in stigma, but government
policy, bad employment practise and biased press reporting made matters worse.
The study, Outsider Status, from the National Aids Trust and Sigma Research,
found gay men and Africans living with HIV in the UK face widespread discrimination
- some personal but much institutional.
Gay men and Africans now make up 85 per cent of people living with HIV in
this country.
Draconian government policy on asylum and immigration contributed to discrimination,
as did prosecuting people for reckless transmission of the virus, the research
found.
The report called for an end to the dispersal of asylum seekers and NHS charges
aimed at asylum seekers.
More had also to be done to protect the employment rights of people with HIV.
