The Church of Scoltland HIV/Aids Project
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The prosecution of a North London woman on charges of grievous bodily harm for knowingly passing on HIV to her boyfriend has been dismissed.
The woman has faced numerous Crown Court hearings over the last six months but before a jury was sworn in to hear the case, proceedings against her were stopped.
A spokesman for the Crown Prosecution Service told Positive Nation that the judge dismissed the case against the woman on the last day of February because she did not know she was HIV positive at the time of the alleged offence.
The woman was arrested by a special sex crime unit of the Metropolitan Police called Operation Sapphire last July.
After this, national tabloid newspapers widely publicised the case, running sensational banner headlines such as 'She gave me HIV' and 'Girl faces HIV case'.
This prosecution would have been the first of its kind in England and would have become a groundbreaking legal precedent if it had been successful. There was a successful prosecution in Scotland last year against a man for passing on HIV to his partner and he was jailed for five years.
In response to the dismissal of the case, Lisa Power, head of policy, campaigns and research at Terrence Higgins Trust (THT), said: "We are very pleased that this case has been dropped, and believe it should never have been brought. Such actions do nothing to protect people from HIV infection, and only serve to further stigmatise people living with the virus.
"We urge the Crown Prosecution Service to review the way in which they handle such complaints."
More than twenty per cent of HIV positive gay men admit they have had unprotected anal intercourse in the last year, according to recent research.
The news comes from the 'SHARPS' study carried out by the Department of Sexually Transmitted Diseases at the Royal Free and University College Medical School on over 400 HIV positive gay men recruited at London's Mortimer Market Centre.
However, the research, published in the journal 'Sexually Transmitted Infections', found that HIV positive gay men on HIV treatment were no more likely to engage in unprotected sex than positive men who were not on treatment.
Nearly three quarters of the sample were on HAART and these men tended to have fewer sexual partners, less unprotected anal sex in the last year and had fewer sexually transmitted diseases.
The researchers said their findings "clearly show that men on HAART do not have higher levels of sexual risk." Leading investigator John Imrie told Positive Nation: "Men on therapy were no more likely to have risky sex than those not on therapy."
But the research is likely to bring new demands for prevention and health promotion campaigns aimed specifically at HIV positive gay men themselves.
 Dr Ade Fakoya |
There are now at least 10,000 Africans with HIV living in the UK, according to latest estimates from the Public Health Laboratory Service (PHLS).
Dr Kevin Fenton made the startling news public at the launch last month of two reports into the health and information needs of Africans living with the virus.
The first in-depth studies into African people with HIV in Britain found that immigration problems, money and practical needs are the most urgent and most important.
'Project Nasah' is an investigation of over 400 Africans with HIV living in England. It found that Africans with HIV in this country are 10 times more likely to have difficulties in getting money to live on, seven times more likely to have problems with poor housing and three times more likely to face stigma and discrimination. Dealing with immigration status in this country was also a huge problem for at least half of those interviewed.
"African people need more and get less," said Peter Weatherburn of Sigma Research. "People are in desperate need."
Eighty per cent of last year's heterosexual diagnoses, and 47 per cent of all diagnoses, are among people who have come to the UK from Africa and the Nasah study also found that a shocking 38 per cent of them were diagnosed only when they had become ill in hospital.
Over a half said they weren't sure about what drugs they were taking - but over 90 per cent said they used treatment information from the HIV positive press, including Positive Nation.
Another study into Africans with HIV in London, 'The Padare Project' - based on the African term for a safe space where people can talk openly about sex and sex problems - also exploded myths about people from the continent with the virus.
The research found that as many as one in five African men with HIV, but only one in fifty of the women, admitted to having same sex partners in the last year. Oliver Davidson, one of the researchers said: "A small but significant number of people in African communities report having sex with other men."
Dr Ade Fakoya, of Newham General Hospital, said he had recently seen an African man with HIV at his clinic, "who waited right until the end of the consultation before saying ' By the way, I have sex with men but don't put anything in my notes'."
 The George House Trust building in Manchester |
The trustees of Manchester's two biggest HIV charities, George House Trust (GHT) and Body Positive North West (BPNW), have agreed to merge later this year.
The merged organisation, which will keep the name George House Trust, will support over 1,500 people with HIV in the North West of England and will become the largest HIV support charity outside London.
GHT is the second oldest surviving HIV charity in the UK and provides a wide range of support services for people living with the virus and BPNW was founded in 1986 as one of the first self-help HIV groups in the country.
Michelle Reid, chief executive of George House Trust, said: "The number of people living with HIV in the North West continues to rise. With a single HIV voluntary organisation working across the region we have the potential to meet the growing needs of HIV positive people."
Ian Jeffery, chief executive of Body Positive North West, said, "The proposed merger offers an excellent opportunity to build on the expertise of both organisations."
After consultations with service users, volunteers and staff together with formal legal and financial processes, the merger is expected to be complete by the end of this summer.
The trustees of Manchester's two biggest HIV charities, George House Trust (GHT) and Body Positive North West (BPNW), have agreed to merge later this year.
The merged organisation, which will keep the name George House Trust, will support over 1,500 people with HIV in the North West of England and will become the largest HIV support charity outside London.
GHT is the second oldest surviving HIV charity in the UK and provides a wide range of support services for people living with the virus and BPNW was founded in 1986 as one of the first self-help HIV groups in the country.
Michelle Reid, chief executive of George House Trust, said: "The number of people living with HIV in the North West continues to rise. With a single HIV voluntary organisation working across the region we have the potential to meet the growing needs of HIV positive people."
Ian Jeffery, chief executive of Body Positive North West, said, "The proposed merger offers an excellent opportunity to build on the expertise of both organisations."
After consultations with service users, volunteers and staff together with formal legal and financial processes, the merger is expected to be complete by the end of this summer.
The
Church of Scotland has launched a special appeal to increase awareness and understanding
from the church's half million members to the plight of people living with HIV
and Aids. Pictured at the launch are Nigel Pounde (left), project co-ordinator
and Rt Rev Finlay Macdonald, moderator of the Church of Scotland. For details,
visit: