an Aids diagnosis.
Dr Oliver Davidson, a psychologist at the Mortimer Market Centre, ran
through a list of the
feelings his African male patients report, both pre- and post-diagnosis.
For many other positive people they will sound only too familiar: shame,
embarrassment, anxiety, depression, sleep disturbance and sexual dysfunction
- and what he called 'unhelpful coping behaviour', which means trying
to drown your sorrows by drinking, drugging - or casual sex. Pretty familiar!
Grace Kintu, who organised the seminar for Camden and Islington Health
Authority, said: "The more people cannot cope with the stigma of
HIV, the more dangerous they are to their partners."
Given this, are African men and their partners receiving the right kind
of help to prevent further infections? Generally, Dr Davidson said, African
men were in favour of condoms. But while most paid lip service to using
them, in fact 54 per cent said they did not use a condom the last time
they had sex. Seven out of ten men who were monogamous (meaning only one
partner in the last year) did not use condoms.
Condoms are not as easily available to African men as gay men. Stigma
makes them reluctant to get them from GUM clinics. Expense means they
can't buy them in shops and pubs, and clubs frequented by Africans haven't
started to stock free ones as a matter of course. Having said this, there
is a pilot scheme in Camden and Islington. It issues condom packs at 10
local sites - clubs, cab offices, and barbers'
page 2 of 3
contents
of issue 75
back
issues
the
gazette
recipes
small
ads
contacting
us
weblinks
shops - and this is proving a success.
The Terrence Higgins Trust's Cheikh Traoré emphasised the importance
of
