People with HIV living in London have been asked to contribute to an enquiry by the Greater London Authority (GLA) into their experiences and needs. The GLA’s Health Committee is proposing to hear oral evidence at three sessions in late 2003, and through focus groups organised at local HIV centres. The Terrence Higgins Trust has been commissioned by the GLA to run the focus groups in November 2003. Further details can be obtained from Andy Cooper at THT on 020 7816 4654, or by emailing andrew.cooper@tht.org.uk
Millions of pounds are wasted each year in Britain by doctors over-prescribing medicines which are not needed, a report found last month. A Task Force on Medicines study, published in the BMJ, said that more than £230 million-worth of medicines are returned to pharmacies for disposal each year in Britain and a great deal more is disposed of by patients themselves.
A survey claims that programmes that started in 1998 giving sex advice to teenagers at sexually-transmitted infection (STI) clinics have actually increased the number of STIs they caught. “Across the country, the estimates imply that the increase in clinic sessions between 1999 and 2001 caused sexually-transmitted infection rates to increase by 1.42 per cent,” said Dr David Paton of Nottingham University. But Melissa Dear of the Family Planning Association said: “STIs have been on the rise since the early 1990s. To link STIs to an increase in clinic advice sessions is a weak argument. The increase in STI diagnoses is due to more teenagers coming forward.”
On 20 October, Dame Diana Rigg successfully sued The Daily Mail at the High Court resulting in libel damages of £30,000. Rigg said she thought the Mail was interviewing her about her involvement with the Children with Aids Charity (CWAC) but the paper only printed untrue allegations about her private life. Dame Diana has donated all her ‘winnings’ to CWAC.
It has been announced that the Vice-President of Kenya, Michael Wamalwa, died of an Aids-related illness in London’s Royal Free Hospital this August. Wamalwa, 58, had been expected to succeed President Mwai Kibaki in 2008. He was a prominent Aids campaigner. Hillary Maloba of United Science of Africa said: “Kenyans will miss Wamalwa’s lovely smile. He was a truly original man, and the best public orator in Kenya’s history.”
The African HIV Policy Network, Crusaid, the National Aids Project London and the UK Coalition of People Living with HIV and Aids protested outside the National Union of Journalists offices in London last month against the lack of media coverage of the HIV epidemic in the UK. National Aids Trust Media Officer Thomas Yocum said: “The coverage of HIV issues here in the UK is minimal.”
The HIV funding crisis is getting worse in Britain, Dr Anton Pozniak told the autumn British HIV Association (BHIVA) conference. The government has pumped an extra £8 million into GUM services, he said, but HIV needs an extra £22 - £30 million now. The annual UK budget for HIV treatment of £345 million has not kept pace with the number living with HIV, and with the average cost of a lifetime’s treatment for each patient estimated to be over £150,000, this meant that hospitals were having to make cutbacks.
The National Centre for Independent Living (NCIL) celebrated its own independence from the British Council of Disabled People (BCODP) at a relaunch party on 30 October in London’s Bonnington Hotel. “It’s been a very difficult 18 months with us going independent from BCODP,” announced Menghi Mulchandani, NCIL’s chair, at the widely-attended reception. “We are determined to stay here as a group of disabled people and continue to push forward the Direct Payments scheme for disabled people.”
