Drug users need a voice too
I want to congratulate Andria Mordaunt and Positive Nation for her column
(PN125-7).
As an ex-heroin user, I am impressed and glad someone's taken the initiative
to voice our needs, opinions and grievances.
Every other band of people in society has their own platform. In HIV, black,
gay or Latin people all have somewhere to go. But what about us? It's hard
to be a drug addict and more so with HIV.
I am fed up of people calling us ‘those addicts’ or ‘those
people’ as if they are holier than us. But feeling bad about how we
are treated is not enough.
No one can do it alone. It involves team work. We have to connect, share ideas
and come together wherever we are. Governments everywhere enact increasingly
draconian laws and most fervently want to put drug-users behind bars. They
are prepared to pay any price to achieve this. The saddest part of this zealous
vindictiveness is that it simply does not work and drug use goes on, as do
HIV infections.
Andria - you are indeed a woman of substance.
Bojo Jam Paite, Bangalore, India
Thanks, elite Brits
I just wanted to let you know that, thanks to the recent article in Positive
Nation on our search for ‘elite viral controllers’ (PN126), we
have received many emails from British HIV controllers interested in participating.
We will be looking at both the immunologic and the genetic aspects of HIV
control, bringing the power of the human genome project to the study of HIV
controllers. Thanks so much for your help
Rachel Rosenberg, Massachusetts
Wonderful and informative
I have just received the edition of Positive Nation with the report from the
Toronto Aids conference (PN126). First, let me say what a wonderful and informative
magazine it is over all. Second, I want to say how much I appreciated the
nice article on me. It was gratifying to know that perhaps some of the things
I have tried to do to make a difference in people’s lives may actually
have made an impact. Thanks for all you do to get the word out and for all
of your commitment to the issue.
Helene D Gayle MD, CEO, Care USA (former president of the International
Aids Society)
Remembering Mark
Some will remember Mark Ashton whose exuberant dancing and dress style were
matched only by his tireless campaigning for gay rights.
Mark was killed by HIV nearly 20 years ago but his name will live on, if only
as a footnote in the queer history books of the 20th century, as co-founder,
with Mike Jackson, of Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners, during the 1984-85
miners' strike. Mark came from Portrush, Northern Ireland; spent time in Bangladesh,
becoming politicised as a result of his experiences there; joined London Gay
Switchboard on his return to the capital and threw his energetic self into
countless campaigns. He was one bona queen; greatly loved, terribly missed.
His friend Jimmy Somerville wrote a song about him after his death, For a
Friend, and the album containing it was dedicated to Mark.
February 2007 will be the 20th anniversary of Mark's death, and some of us
are planning a get-together. If you would like to join us or contribute to
the event email me or call 020 7736 3104.
Chris Birch, London. CHRis@chrisbirch.me.uk
All change…
I have just been reading in PN about the cutbacks in the London area. Here
in Leeds we are also facing changes. The PCTs in the Leeds area are merging
and have recently placed an advert in The Guardian for a tender to combine
two HIV services (presently provided by THT and Barnardos). The feeling and
hope of many people in the area is that a new and efficient service will be
formed and the users of the services have been kept informed by the local
authority.
I realise merging services into vast ‘one stop shops’ will have
an impact but with all the cutbacks taking place we will have to learn to
live together as people living with the virus, regardless of our differences.
Daniel Clarke, Leeds
Live and let liver
I am very pleased to be able to tell you that your news item (PN127, p13)
about the first liver transplant in Britain taking place in Scotland is incorrect.
I had my liver transplant at King’s College Hospital, London in 2002
and am fit and well almost five years on. Publicity has been kept to a minimum,
I feel, due to the fear about an adverse effect on organ donations.
In the original article in The Times, Margaret Watt, chair of Scotland Patients
Association, expressed reservations about the decision, and said: “Everyone
in need of a transplant should get it but only if they will have a better
quality of life. If they do not, then the organs should go to someone else.”
That sounds like homophobia/HIV phobia to me. I can assure everyone my quality
of life is a lot better after transplant. My doctors told me that the success
rate for transplant in people with HIV is equivalent to the success rate for
people with type 2 diabetes. And as long as someone has full viral suppression
and a CD4 above 200, there should be no reason not to include them on the
waiting list.
Simon Randerson
Please
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