I needed to write in and say how much I agree with Bernard Forbes’ leader
on Mohammed Dica (One
Man’s Crime, PN December).
Only when we are proud of our identity will we be able to deal with confidence
and respect with the communities in which we live and especially with sexual
partners.
Tom Matthews, by email
Your articles on travel insurance for people with HIV/AIDS have been informative
and enabled me to take many holidays I did not think would be insurable.
I have used several insurers mentioned by PN, most recently Rothwell & Towler,
who offer a sound policy with no excess.
The test of whether an insurer is good is how they deal when a claim is made.
Jay Nemes, Brighton, BN1 3DJ.
If the Department of Health (DoH) valued the Expert Patient’s Programme
(EPP - see PN December, page 26) it would be properly funded.
Currently the only trainers funded by the DoH are the few master-trainers who
train lay trainers. So lay trainers, despite the considerable time and effort
involved, have to be resourced elsewhere.
EPP will not attract serious attention in the long term as it only gives the
illusion of empowering patients without proper funding.
Cass Mann, Positively Healthy, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1ED.
The Elton John Aids Foundation, Crusaid, Peter Moores Foundation and NAT have
been working together and have provided some funding to find some way of storing
the memorial quilts which are a piece of Aids history in the UK.
Before all the quilts go into store, we wanted to see if there were any parts
of the country that would be willing to house and maintain quilts from their
area and to display them to help to raise money for local charities.
If anyone is interested or can help, please contact NAT on 020 7814 6767.
Derek Bodell, former Chief Executive, National Aids Trust, London, EC1V FR.
When I emerged onto the gay ‘scene’ in the late nineties I considered
myself to be an adult but nothing could have prepared me for the dangers.
I thought if I ‘put out’ I would be loved and protected. I was
so lonely and it was easier to fool myself into thinking that sex was love.
Feeling this way and shagging anything with a pulse, without a condom, I eventually
got caught out in the end.
A lot of people on the gay ‘scene’ become hard and callous. Some
go out of their way to give filthy looks to anyone who dares to look, stare
through people who they were having sex with two nights before, and bitch non
stop.
We are adults living in a community that revolves around pubs, parties and
promiscuous sex. We have a killer disease in our midst. This is not a game,
it is real life and we need to stick together in this time of crisis. Try to
love more and hate less and try to abide if you can’t love.
We need to grow up or we might not grow old!
Matt Dean, Southampton.
I am writing to express my sadness at the closure of Bethany Respite Centre
in Cornwall.
HIV positive people need places like the Bethany. It can take away the feeling
of isolation and loneliness, it is a safe place that offers security. People
can listen to others and gain strength from each other and get support and
not be alone.
Although people’s lives have improved due to new treatments it should
not be a reason to justify the loss of such a valuable service. Treatment is
just one part of many factors that can help HIV positive people maintain good
health and well being.
My thanks go to all the people at the Bethany Trust who worked so hard for
many years.
James George, HIV Practitioner,Trafford Social Services.
I have been reading PN since its inception and I have been positive nearly
twice as long. It has been a great source of information, comforting and even
has humorous moments. I have enjoyed reading it and I extend my gratitude to
your team.
Lately I have seen lots of ads for support services and projects - mainly for
people in London. I feel like the forgotten HIV folk living in the Home Counties.
I know some places have some fantastic services but where I live it’s
the pits. The social services do not want to know, and even when one wants
to set up a self-help initiative there is no support or funding.
Hatrei, by email.
I would like to congratulate Ian and Naome (‘Wedding Bells are Ringing’ PN97/98)
for having found a relationship through PN.
I have tried both advertising and responding to the small ads without success.
I have found that the men who get in touch or I get in touch with are all not
serious, and just want me as a “friend for sex”.
It’s high time men regard women with respect and not just as a sex tool!
Mary, Glasgow.
I have waited for a decision from the Home Office since 2000. For the last
couple of nights I cannot sleep. All I feel is anger and the disbelief that
HIV/AIDS has actually happened to me. No one can ever know the pain and anguish
these couple of years have been for people like me - the waiting, the longing
for a special delivery from the postman or a call from the solicitor with some
kind of good news.
Matilda, London SE18
