UK media plays important role

Recognising the important role that the media plays in communicating to the public what exactly it means to live with HIV today, NAT has produced a guide for journalists which will help journalists and editors report HIV issues responsibly. This practical guide gives people working in the media up-to-date information on HIV and sources of further information to help ensure that your reporting is accurate and non-stigmatising.

These guidelines are supported by the National Union of Journalists, the Press Complaints Commission and the Society of Editors. Read the rest of this entry »

The Board of Trustees of The HIV Support Centre agreed to sign the Vienna Declaration which is:

In response to the health and social harms of illegal drugs, a large international drug prohibition regime has been developed under the umbrella of the United Nations.¹ Decades of research provide a comprehensive assessment of the impacts of the global “War on Drugs” and, as thousands of individuals gather in Vienna at the XVIII International AIDS Conference, the international scientific community calls for an acknowledgement of the limits and harms of drug prohibition, and for drug policy reform to remove barriers to effective HIV prevention, treatment and care. Read the rest of this entry »

Following on from our meeting with Dr Ade Adeagbo on Monday 2 August 2010, we are asking for help to support our partner organisation AHPN with their Destination Unknown campaign.

What’s the issue?

AHPN believes that there is a clear contradiction between the UK’s policy aim of universal access to HIV treatment for all those who need it by 2010 and the deportation of people living with HIV who are on treatment to countries where treatment is not readily available or affordable. The withdrawal of treatment increases the body’s vulnerability to opportunistic infection and will result in drastically shortened life expectancy.

AHPN believes that there are strong public health arguments for allowing a concession.  Those awaiting removal may go underground and fail to keep appointments resulting in an increased risk of opportunistic infection with the need for emergency treatment and an increased risk of onward transmission.  The Department of Health has valued the prevention of one single onward transmission as between £0.5 and £1 million in terms of individual health benefits and treatment costs. Read the rest of this entry »