Third Labour term brings hope and fears
Labour’s election victory has raised hopes of improved funding and support
for HIV services.
Public health minister Melanie Johnson (see PN 112, pages 26-28) was a key
casualty of the election, losing her Welwyn Hatfield seat to the Conservatives.
Former Home Office minister Caroline Flynt succeeds Johnson as public health
minister.
The HIV sector was unhappy with Melanie Johnson’s failure to give adequate
weight to HIV
during her time in Whitehall and believe Flynt will give more priority and
funding to HIV services.
Gareth Thomas remains Parliamentary Under Secretary at the Department for
International Development (DFID) with responsibilities for Aids in Africa,
under the leadership of Hillary Benn.
The UK’s presidency of the G8 and EU this summer means promises of action
on aid, debt relief and access to cheap antiretroviral drugs are likely to
be near the top of the agenda for the Gleneagles summit in July.
Meanwhile Neil Gerrard MP, the charismatic chair of the All Party Parliamentary
Group on Aids, was returned to the House with a much reduced majority from
his Walthamstow constituency.
ActionAid activist Simon Wright failed to win against Iain Duncan Smith in
the Tory stronghold of Chingford and Wood Green, while Chris Smith, the only
openly HIV positive MP, has taken a seat in the Lords with the title of baron.
The Positive Place wins £20,000
The Positive Place, which serves the HIV positive population in south London,
has won a £20,000 GlaxoSmithKline Impact Award for pioneering work with
people living with the virus.
The Positive Place offers peer support and mentoring across ten south London
boroughs, including
work with African Caribbean communities. Director Chris Price said the award
was a testament to the hard work and commitment of staff and volunteers.
The Positive Place, 020 8694 9988, or visit www.thepositiveplace.org.uk
Discrimination law protects people with
HIV
People with HIV are now legally protected against discrimination from the
point of diagnosis.
Protection for progressive conditions like HIV and MS came into force after
the new Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) received Royal Assent last month.
The act strengthens existing laws by widening the definition of disability
and offers the best chance yet of legal protection for people with HIV in
Britain. But the new act fails to offer similar protection to people
who experience occasional and unrelated bouts of depression.
Those disclosing their HIV status at work are now protected, and the law makes
it ‘incumbent on an employer to make reasonable adjustments to work
patterns’ and give ‘other help’ that may be required so
as not to discriminate. Under the Act, tenants have also won the right to
make reasonable, disability-related alterations to their homes. And the law
now applies apply to private clubs with more than 25 members.
Disability Rights Commission chair Bert Massie said: “The new duties
for the public sector represents the best tool to substantially up equality
for disabled people.”
Andrew Little, programme director for the Ensuring Positive Futures partnership,
said he was delighted all people with HIV would now get legal protection.
“The law sends a strong message to employers that discrimination against
people with HIV is unacceptable. Now HIV positive people can concentrate on
getting back to work if they wish.”
Howard Wheeler
Birth
of Positive East
A launch party to mark the merger of the Globe Centre in Mile End with London
East Aids Network was held at City Hall last month.
Mark Santos, director of Positive East, said: “Our central focus will
be delivering real and tangible benefits to east Londoners affected by the
virus.”
Pictured (l-r) are: Matthew Hale (co-chair), Mark Santos, Neil Gerrard MP
(chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Aids) and Azad Khaleel (chair
of Positive East).
Fifth man jailed for HIV transmission
A Portugese man has become the fifth man in the UK to be jailed for
reckless transmission of HIV.
Paulo Matias was sentenced in April to three years in prison after admitting
causing grievous bodily harm to his girlfriend by infecting her with HIV.
Leicester Crown Court heard how Matias, 37, began sexual relations with the
woman, who is in her 50s, in 2002, six months after being diagnosed with HIV.
Initially they used condoms, but when they stopped, Matias failed to tell
her he was HIV
positive. She learned of his status as he was rushed to hospital with Aids-related
pneumonia.
Judge Michael Stokes QC, told Matias: “Having sexual intercourse when
you knew you were HIV positive, therefore likely to pass it on to her, is
unforgivable.” This latest case has prompted fears that the Crown
Prosecution Service (CPS) is stepping up prosecutions of HIV positive people,
despite vigorous lobbying by HIV organisations. Another trial, the first
involving a gay man, is due to take place this summer. Meanwhile, two more
cases against people for HIV transmission have been heard before courts in
Scotland.
Christopher Walker, 23, was detained in a psychiatric hospital for deliberately
infecting his girlfriend. And Edinburgh’s Crown Office has issued a
warrant for the extradition of an Italian accused of deliberately infecting
his girlfriend with HIV and hepatitis C. UKC chairman Bernard Forbes
has written to Tony Blair calling on him to halt prosecutions. “Hysterical
reactions from the public and the media do
nothing to reduce levels of HIV stigma,” said Forbes. “The law
is being used to prosecute behaviour previously agreed as not appropriate
to include within the scope of the criminal law.” At a meeting with
HIV organisations in April, the CPS refused to halt all prosecutions but agreed
to consult more widely before producing guidance in December. Amanda Elliot
• Worried about the criminalisation of HIV transmission? UKC are consulting
people with HIV. Have your say at www.ukcoalition.org
HIV cuts: winner and losers
The psychological medicine unit at Europe’s largest HIV hospital
has been saved from closure following a campaign by doctors, activists and
local councillors.
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital’s service faced imminent closure this
spring because the local Primary Care Trust (PCT) said it had to make savings
of
£7 million this year. Cutbacks of half a million pounds to the
service were reversed following a campaign by patients, the press and local
doctors. Dr Pepe Catalan, unit head, thanked Positive Nation, the UKC and
patients for their support which helped bring about a change of heart.
But other HIV services across the country remain in crisis because of financial
cutbacks.
Body Positive Strathclyde closed its doors after 15 years after three regional
Scottish health boards withdrew their funding. Meanwhile, people living with
HIV in Southampton are up in arms at the cutting of a specialist HIV social
worker job. Southampton City Council was accused of prejudice by some but
others said the cuts were part of a wider strategy to shift away from statutory
help towards the voluntary sector support. The gap left by the cuts is now
being plugged by the city’s Ribbons Centre.
‘Life Tribute’ created
A permanent memorial to honour those who have died has been set up by HIV
agencies in Edinburgh. The ‘Life Tribute’ has been placed on
a city river walkway and a bench placed opposite a weir where stones have
been carved with messages and a red ribbon. See www.waverleycare.org
news on the side
NHS relies on foreign doctors and nurses
Two thirds of new doctors and 40 per cent of nurses in Britain came from abroad
last year, the British Medical Association (BMA) reports. A large numbe of
these doctors and nurse end up working in the NHS and directly benefited patients
in the UK. But recruitment from developing countires is contributing to a
severe healthcare emergency in the developing world. The BMA says billion-dollar
efforts to tackle global health problems such as HIV and Aids are being undermined
by the skills drain.
Compulsory blood testing in Scotland
HIV Scotland has asked for responses to Scottish
Executive proposals to enforce testing of criminal suspects for HIV and hepatitis
by 6 June.
The consultation follows
a call from the police for the compulsory testing of all
suspects charged with a criminal offence. For details, visit www.hivscotland.com.
“I can’t be HIV positive - only old people get it”
A Royal College of Nursing (RCN) conference has heard that school nurses have
to deal with children as young as 14 who are either HIV positive, addicted
to drugs or who may be involved in prostitution. One nurse said teenagers
in her locality were indulging in multiple-partner sexual activity, known
as
‘daisy-chaining’, while another told the conference about one
14-year-old boy, diagnosed with HIV, who said: “I can’t be HIV
positive – only old people get it.”
Peter Smit - a clarification
Dutch HIV activist Peter Smit has asked us to point out that he is a pro bono
adviser to the Dutch Association of People Living with HIV and Aids and member
of the European Union HIV law group, not chair of the Dutch HIV Association
as we reported in our feature on the criminalisation of HIV in last month’s
(May edition) Positive Nation.
Government sued over PEP
Two HIV positive men are suing the government for failing to publicise the
availability of Post Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) drugs which, they say, could
have prevented them contracting HIV. Campaigners are calling on the government
to give everyone, not just healthcare workers, the right to access the drugs
if they have been possibly exposed to HIV.
Law Lords reject asylum plea
A Ugandan asylum seeker who has HIV has lost her legal challenge against deportation.
The Law Lords ruled that deporting her would not violate her human rights
but said that the Home Secretary could still reverse the ruling. The woman
was raped by Ugandan security forces, arrived in the UK in 1998 and then found
to be HIV positive. Her lawyers argued she would probably die if she was returned
to Uganda but the Law Lords said extending the European Convention on Human
Rights to cover people with
HIV would risk drawing large numbers of people into the UK.
Andy Bell shakes his new hips
Erasure’s Andy Bell has told journalists following his US tour that
he is coping well with HIV and can shake his bottom elegantly again following
a double hip replacement. The singer, 40, told Newsday: “I hate having
secrets and there were all these rumours flying around. I’m pleased
it’s out in the open.”
HIV up in Italy, down in Spain
Italy now has over 120,000 people with HIV, according to the Italian Society
of Infectious Diseases, but most are unaware they are infected. In Spain the
rate of growth of new cases has fallen by 10 per cent partly as a result of
sex education, condom campaigns and effective antiretroviral treatments, the
Madrid Health Ministry said.
UK firms divert African Aids drugs
A BBC Radio Five Live investigation has revealed that cheap antiretroviral
drugs (ARVs) meant for Africa are being sold back to Europe at a vast profit.
The scandal emerged when drugs were exported back to Brussels from Senegal.
Two British companies have now been prosecuted and manufacturers are changing
pill colours and labels to prevent future illegal trade.
Axe murderer gets 15 years
An HIV positive Sydney man who murdered his stepmother after a heavy drinking
session has been jailed for 15 years. Gary Dolan, 42, killed her when she
said she was unwilling to care for him after he disclosed his HIV status.
Safety net disappearing in US
Eleven states in the US now have long waiting lists of patients waiting for
ARVs, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Federal funds assist 136,000
HIV positive people annually, but by March 2005, thousands were still waiting
for therapy, with underpriveleged blacks and Latinos particularly suffering.
Activist Craig Miller told POZ magazine: “I cannot
subscribe to a policy of timidity towards the Bush administration… whose
domestic HIV policies are callous and evil to the core.”
Caribbean ‘failing to turn the tide’
Mediocre progress in improving access to ARVs means thousands of people with
HIV in the Caribbean are facing imminent suffering and death. Health GAP (Global
Access Project) reports that 200 people a day in the region are dying because
they can’t afford
life-saving drugs and promises from governments and international donors have
not materialised.
