Persuading teenagers to look after their sexual health is no easy task - even if they have HIV. David Terry talks to the London clinic that caters specifically for pos adolescents
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It's never easy to convince teenagers to do something
for their own good. It's that much harder when they're HIV positive.
Just when you want to assert your independence, you have to be persuaded
to adhere to daily routines of pill-taking and regular trips to clinics.
You may have also only recently been told about your HIV status, though
treated for it since childhood.
The Mortimer Market Centre in London is the first in the country to run
a clinic especially for adolescents, TEAM. The Teen Spirit group at Body
& Soul came up with the name: Together Everybody Achieves More.
The clinic runs at present from 2pm till 6pm one Tuesday a month, overseen
by the youthful Dr Katia Prime. There are two nurses, one male and one
female, and a health advisor. Background R&B music, a TV and a donated
Playstation help to get the atmosphere right. One teenager commented on
the general clinic at Mortimer Market, "it's full of middle-aged
men!" and was pleased to now be using the much more teenage-friendly
TEAM Clinic.
Katia does her best to encourage her teenagers. She sees them outside
normal clinic hours if necessary. "And I always follow up appointments
with a phone reminder," she says. So far Katia has managed to achieve
100 per cent attendance - 20 per cent more than the average.
She encourages her teenagers to see her without parents; so far all of
them have. But she adds: "I do often see teenagers with a boyfriend
or girlfriend, a buddy or friend."
Most of the teenagers currently being seen have transferred from the children's
hospital at Great Ormond Street. Experience at Great Ormond Street shows
that most teenagers are aware of their HIV diagnosis by the age of 13.
Consultant GUM physician Simon Edwards is aware that youngsters might
get 'mixed messages'. "The child might feel rejected and the parents
may feel they are losing
control," he points out.
As far as children are concerned, HIV is often a 'family disease', and
the children at Great
