what I try and do is to empower people to act for themselves."
As a former chair of Brighton Body Positive, with
experience on both Sussex Aids Helpline and Open Door management committees,
Paul is well placed to act for the local HIV community.
"I don't see my role as going round banging on tables and demanding
better services. It's more about consultation, because we've already got
one of the best HIV clinics in the country here.
"Brighton is a big regional centre. The biggest HIV group is still
gay men - about 90 per cent - but we also have an increasing number of
black Africans. The city acts as a magnet for young gays and it is estimated
that the gay population is now over 30,000 which is one in ten of the
local population."
Is his role a PR exercise or does he have any real say?
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"It's a volunteer post, but they do appear to take notice. One of
the key things is to make my role work and get a degree of trust and respect.
The sort of issues which come up are those about a basic standard of care:
when to start treatments, referrals to the community nursing team or pharmacist
for adherence support, how often patients get viral load tests and if
resistance tests and drug monitoring are available.
"One of the big issues at the moment is access to other sexual health
services. In some clinics it's just not offered but here in Brighton you
don't have to ask. It's simply done within the HIV clinic.
"But I am worried about DoH plans to have Primary Care Trusts led
by GPs running
the national HIV and Sexual Health Strategy. GPs are not famed for their
