Well, anything fashionable eventually becomes unfashionable. There are various reasons for this.
Some good, some, not so good. The success of combination therapy has
meant that a lot of positive people are leading more normal lives. They
are working, they are studying, they are getting on with things. They
no longer need the intensive interventions of a service like the advocacy
project.
Or are they? Quality of life is not just about how well we're feeling.
It's about having a decent home, enough money to live on and effective
support if things go wrong. It remains to be seen if the new model of
advice services that are now in place - shorter interventions, cheaper
results - provides that support.
This is why the Advocacy Project will live on - as part of the new Positive
Advice Service. Peer advisors will continue its work, with the added benefit
of a legal advice line. Lack of funding means that it will be volunteer-run
and led. But this brings with it one huge advantage - we won't have to
turn anyone away because they live in the wrong postcode.
It will initially be a pilot project of six months, to see if there is
still the need for a peer-led, peer-managed advice service. The UKC strongly
believes there is now, as it did in 1996. So it's not the end. It's the
beginning again.
page 3 of 5
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Being HIV positive and having a pressing legal or welfare problem is a common scenario. Someone needs time off after an illness or positive test, but has concerns about their employer's attitude to this. Another person, in the UK as a student, tests
positive and fears that they may not receive adequate treatment in their country of origin. Both are serious, and not uncommon legal issues that
