Human wrongs
As a person affected with HIV I sat and watched the Red Nose Day programme
and saw the devastation of the virus in Africa. I was touched by a series
of short films, especially about a young man named David and his mother Alitena
who sat and watched her son die and could not do a thing. David eventually
died. At the end of the film the caption read ‘he was too poor to live’.
I myself am facing deportation and know too well I face a similar fate. Who
knows, next Red Nose Day I might be one of the statistics. What will my caption
read?
My question is why are people campaigning so hard to eradicate the virus in
one part of the world, while people who are here now and need help are being
handcuffed and deported to their country to die? I think we who are here and
need help are human too and need the same consideration as those you try to
raise millions to help. Sending us home to die is a crime against humanity
and we need your help and compassion. Please give us a chance.
RM, London
HIV in Britain: the reality
When I was diagnosed with HIV 12 months ago I was living with my partner and
four children. At the time I gave her the chance to leave but she said we
would sort things out together. But by December things were going wrong and
by Xmas I was sat in an empty flat with nothing. Since then she has stopped
me seeing my children because I have HIV, though she uses other petty excuses
with her solicitor. I am now getting death threats from her new boyfriend
and I am now hiding out at a friend’s house. I have never been so frightened
and lonely. I have been left with nothing and have contemplated suicide. My
solicitor is fighting my cause and the staff at the hospital have been very
supportive, but my life is so empty without my kids.
Name and address supplied
Not just another STI
On 5 April, I read a short article in The Metro’s health section regarding
STIs. I was disturbed to see they were classifying HIV equally with the other
STIs. Besides there being no cure for HIV/Aids, unlike all other STIs, many
people infected with the virus die. This is to say nothing of the impact of
HIV on mental health, and the issue of disclosure. I fear this is another
move by the government to make further cuts in public spending for HIV. As
a homosexual man living with the virus for over 24 years, reading the article
made me angry. People who are recently diagnosed do not understand the suffering
of those who died of Aids, when the only drug available was morphine to ease
the pain. I have lost numerous friends, and it is an awful experience to see
somebody die of Aids.
Many young people are being infected because they do not practise safe sex.
Others infect people unaware they are carriers of the virus. As a gay man,
I get disgusted to think that some gay men might have unprotected sex in dark
rooms, saunas or sex clubs. Unless the government take drastic measures, by
in investing money for sex education in schools and promoting safe sex, I
can foresee things getting worse.
HIV/Aids is the end of the word for many men and women. It’s not a question
of only taking tablets, but of living with a life-threatening infection. It
is not ‘OK’ to be positive, as some HIV people claim. It is the
end of the world for many who live in developing countries, and either do
not have access to or cannot afford the drugs. It is also the end of the world
to many who cannot cope with the diagnosis or the strain of living with the
virus.
I realise that there is more to life than having sex, so I have abstained
from sexual intercourse, rare for an ‘active’ homosexual man.
But I feel much more in touch with my inner feelings, spiritually richer,
and saner. I astonish myself being able to cope with life without sex and
feel ‘normal’. I feel clean and pure, and free from any STIs except
HIV, which I classify as a chronic infection, not just a simple STI, because
I live daily with the virus inside my body, and it’s NOT OK.
JB by email
Of mice and men
Regarding the article on mice with HIV: Aids is a uniquely human disease and
can readily be studied in humans and their blood. Everything we know about
HIV and Aids has been learnt from studying people with the disease, while
many years of research in other species has produced nothing but disappointments.
AIDSVAX, developed in chimpanzees, totally failed to protect 8,000 high-risk
volunteers in clinical trials.
Extrapolating from other species is doomed to failure. The immune systems
of different primate species are so diverse that data from one species does
not even translate to another species, much less to humans. Using mice as
model humans serves merely to deflect scientists from the real task of studying
HIV in the only species it afflicts - human beings.
Kathy Archibald, Director, Europeans for Medical Progress
DLA defender
Yes, that's right, I'm just a work-shy benefits scrounger. Why do you continue
to print letters like this? (The benefits of work, PN110) I would love to
go back to work, back to delivery driving (10 years). The fact that all that
sitting down gave me two deep vein thromboses and a lifetime of rat poison
medication (warfarin) plus an interaction with my combo meaning a dose of
14mg daily (ask your doc if that's a lot!) What employer would be willing
to give me a job when I cannot say in advance which days of the week I will
be able to work (fatigue, nausea, "the runs", evil wind problems,
total inability to concentrate for more than two hours at a time) and also
the risk that if I cut myself I will probably bleed to death before the ambulance
turns up. Perhaps I could be a politician.
Name and address supplied
Battling on
Following your report on funding cut-backs to HIV services, I'd just like
to clarify that the Gay Men's Group at Lighthouse West London will not be
affected by cuts this year. All our services are funded for the coming year,
and we are working to secure funding for subsequent years. The cuts in funding
do make things difficult for us, but we are doing what we can to minimise
any disruption to services. We'll keep everyone using our services informed
of any changes in the months ahead.
Adam Wilkinson, Regional Manager, Lighthouse West London
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