London woman faces HIV GBH
trial
A north London woman in her 30s has been charged with 'grievous bodily
harm with intent and wounding' and committed for trial at Crown Court
this November for allegedly knowingly passing on HIV to her boyfriend.
The groundbreaking case will be the first of its kind in England and follows
a similar case in Scotland last year where a man received five years in
prison for passing on HIV.
Patients barred by dentists
Anecdotal evidence suggesting that people with HIV are experiencing difficulty
in accessing dental services is backed up by an Audit Commission report
last month which found that four out of 10 dentists in England and Wales
will not accept new NHS patients. In many parts of the country there are
no dedicated dental services for people living with HIV and people with
the virus who require dental treatment are advised to ask at their HIV
clinics for dental referrals.
London teenage girls 'at risk'
A new study has found that girls under 16 in south east London who attend
genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinics are three times more likely to have
a sexually transmitted infection than older women. The research, from
University College Hospital in London, found that almost two thirds of
the girls under 16 who attended the clinic in a six month period had a
sexually transmitted infection (STI), a rate almost three times that of
other women attending the clinic.
'Targeting individuals better
than mass safer sex campaigns'
Specific campaigns targeting the most at risk groups for sexually transmitted
infections (STIs) are more effective than large random campaigns, a study
in the journal Nature has concluded. Research from Italy and Spain shows
that targeting safer sex messages to people who have the most sex (gay
or straight) is cheaper and more successful than vague campaigns for the
whole population. The research brings into question the proposed national
safer sex campaigns planned for the UK as part
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