HIV Treatment to be free for Undocumented Migrants and non-UK Citizens

In this report: 

The African Institute for Social Development (AISD) welcome the Department of Health efforts to make HIV treatment free for all in England, like in Scotland and Wales, this will encourage Northern Ireland to allow HIV free treatment to all who needs it. AISD colleagues and other HIV advocates led by National AIDS Trust finally see a successful human right cause to its fruition. 

Mr Amdani Juma, the AISD Director said: "The DoH efforts to make HIV treatment free at the point of need in England will assist many Africans and other migrants fight onward HIV infection and will contribute to good health and happier life for Africans living and working in England"; contact Mr Juma at amdani@africaninstitute.org.uk. 

Roger Pebody

Published: 28 February 2012

The Department of Health has announced that it will soon make HIV treatment free for all who need it, regardless of citizenship or immigration status. While the change may be politically controversial, ministers are justifying it on the grounds of public health.

For a number of years, treatment of other sexually transmitted infections, tuberculosis and malaria has been free to all, regardless of normal rules on entitlement to NHS services. HIV treatment will now be provided in the same way, as long as the person seeking treatment has been in the UK for at least six months.

This is a significant victory for HIV advocates, led by the National AIDS Trust, which has persuaded government officials that charging for HIV care discourages migrants from testing for HIV, leads to undiagnosed individuals unwittingly passing their infection on, and means that when people are eventually diagnosed, the treatment they need is unusually expensive.

Citing the HPTN 052 study, the chief medical officer, Professor Dame Sally Davies, noted that effective HIV treatment reduces the risk of transmission by 96%.

However, immigration is a sensitive political issue, and this has led successive governments to tighten restrictions on free-of-charge NHS treatment for people subject to immigration control.

While individuals who are in the process of claiming asylum and people who have refugee status are entitled to NHS care, this is not generally the case for people who have been refused asylum, people who have overstayed a visa or illegal entrants. Moreover, people who have a visa for studies or for a short visit are not usually entitled to healthcare.

Nonetheless, the rules do allow doctors discretion in some areas and there are no charges for treatment of a number of serious communicable diseases.  

Last year, a select committee of the House of Lords, chaired by the former Conservative health minister Lord Fowler, recommended that anyone who is resident in England should have access to free HIV treatment if they need it.

As part of the Lords debate on the highly controversial Health and Social Care Bill, Lord Fowler introduced an amendment to that effect. In response, government ministers yesterday said that Fowler’s amendment was unnecessary as the government would itself introduce changes to theCharges to Overseas Visitors Regulations in the next few months which would have the same effect as his amendment.

Anne Milton, the public health minister and a former nurse, said: “This measure will protect the public and brings HIV treatment into line with all other infectious diseases. Treating people with HIV means they are very unlikely to pass the infection on to others.” However she added: “Tough guidance will ensure this measure is not abused.”

The government believes that early diagnosis of people with HIV will ultimately help cut costs.

Professor Jane Anderson, chair of the British HIV Association said: “I am delighted that Lord Fowler has finally won the argument on this point. It's a decision that will certainly save lives and improve the quality of life of many who were previously shut out from appropriate treatment.”

Deborah Jack, chief executive of the National AIDS Trust (NAT), commented: "NAT has been campaigning for HIV treatment to be free for all those who need it in England for many years - and we regard the Government's commitment on this to be a huge achievement. Free HIV treatment for all is a victory for public health and for the NHS.”

The new rules are likely to come into force in October – until then, charges may be made for treatment. The changes will initially apply only to the regulations in England. However, the Welsh and Scottish health services have rarely charged individuals for HIV treatment in the past. It’s not clear whether Northern Ireland will follow suit.

End of report

African Institute for Social Development(AISD)

www.africaninstitute.org.uk

Chronic Diseases must learn from HIV/AIDS

African Institute for Social Development(AISD) support and welcome the global intitiative to integrate Health in HIV activities. AISD Director, Mr Amdani Juma, who firmly believes in integrating health in HIV has started to get support from both national and international voices. in our news update

 September 2011 - Health officials in sub-Saharan Africa are finally focusing on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cancer, diabetes and chronic lung disease, having spent much of the past decade concentrating on HIV/AIDS and malaria.


The growth of NCDs in developing countries has gone almost unnoticed, having been largely perceived as a problem affecting affluent countries. But NCDs have overtaken infectious diseases as the leading cause of death worldwide, with nearly 80 percent of these deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The UN High-level Meeting on NCDs on 19-20 September sought to identify concrete actions to tackle the issue. The last time the UN held such a meeting on a disease was 10 years ago for HIV/AIDS and the similarities do not end there.

Countries grappling with HIV prevalence are now faced with rising epidemics of chronic diseases. UNAIDS has warned that diabetes cases, for example, will rise by 50 percent globally and by 100 percent in sub-Saharan Africa between 2010 and 2030.

As more HIV-positive people access antiretrovirals and live longer, their risks of contracting illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease are growing. In South Africa, the fourth most common cause of death in people living with HIV is hypertension, while diabetes comes in at number six.

Great resource
According to Miriam Rabkin, director for health systems strategies at Columbia University's International Center for AIDS Care and Treatment Programs (ICAP), HIV and NCDs are often seen as completely separate challenges.

"In fact, HIV and NCD departments are often siloed and separated at every level of the health system, from the health facility to the Ministry of Health, up to the WHO. But from a health systems perspective, HIV, a chronic communicable disease, and NCDs, chronic non-communicable diseases, actually have a great deal in common and it is important for us to learn from each other," she told IRIN/PlusNews.


"In many countries, HIV programmes are actually the first large-scale chronic disease programme, and can be a great resource... it's important to avoid 'reinventing the wheel'," Rabkin noted.


The responses to HIV and NCDs can take similar approaches, including appointment and medication reminders, transport support, and counselling to support adherence and ongoing behaviour change
 
In 2010, Columbia University and the Ethiopian Diabetes Association conducted a study looking at whether the tools and approaches used for HIV could be applied to the care of adults with diabetes. "It was a small study, but we did show that the quality of care for diabetes improved quite rapidly over a period of six months," said Rabkin.


However, Catherine Hankins, scientific adviser for UNAIDS, suggested more could be done to integrate the treatment of chronic diseases into the health sector. "Pregnant women who get gestational diabetes - what happens to them? You may have an antenatal system that has worked really well now for HIV. You know to put them on antiretroviral treatment, but then maybe there is no referral set-up for diabetes because there is no diabetes care," Hankins told IRIN/PlusNews on the sidelines of the recent AIDS Vaccine conference.

Countries are slowly beginning to combine HIV services with chronic disease care. According to Shanthi Mendis, coordinator of WHO's Chronic Disease Prevention and Management, HIV services and cervical cancer screening have been integrated in some settings. Kenya's Ministry of Health and the Kenya Cardiac Association have begun to screen people tested for HIV for hypertension, and to refer them to the appropriate care and treatment services.

Funding gap

Funding, or lack thereof, however, remains a problem for both HIV/AIDS and NCDs - more so for chronic diseases that lack the high-profile activist campaigns and celebrities found in the AIDS sector.

The US Centre for Global Development estimates that less than 3 percent (US$503 million) of the almost $22 billion spent in 2007 on global development assistance for health was spent on NCDs.

"We can be efficient and creative; we can avoid redundancies and build on the lessons of HIV scale-up. But the idea that because we have invested so heavily in HIV we can somehow treat NCDs for free is a dangerous illusion," Rabkin cautioned.

Mendis admitted that social and community mobilization for chronic diseases will "require more advocacy and will take more time", unlike AIDS, which had had a "devastating impact" on families and societies and galvanized communities quicker. "NCDs impact on families but... the impact is more prolonged... People with HIV provide a powerful image of sickness. NCDs, on the other hand, are silent killers and most of the time do not even cause symptoms."
 
You can also find Foreign Affairs .
 
The African Institute for Social Development (AISD)  started , since 1999,to integrate Health in HIV activities and have been inviting local NHS workers to work in collaboration to promote general health and prevent ill health in the community as African are disproportionately affected by Mental Health conditions, TB, Diabetes, Cancers, Heart Diseases etc... these are due to many factors affecting a newly arriving community  including poverty, late presentation and lack of information and advice of how to prevent diseases and keep a healthy live. 
 
African Health Policy Network(AHPN) formaly African HIV Policy Network once our HIV umbrella have now become our Health umbrella and this move have been very well received by AISD both members and clients. AISD can continue to get support both on research and policy from the AHPN and can continue to be an ecceftive regional hub feeding to the national and international work
 
end of news update      
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Better Hope to have healthy children with HIV

First UK use of PrEP for couples hoping to have a Child African Institute AISD looks into the benefits of PrEP Roger Pebody Published: April 2011

Pre-exposure prophylaxis is starting to be used in the UK, to help HIV-positive men and their HIV-negative female partners have children together, Yvonne Gilleece told the British HIV Association (BHIVA) conference in Bournemouth last week. Only a handful of couples have used the procedure so far, but there have been no HIV transmissions. Also this month, other research has shown how couples wishing to conceive value the ‘normality’ that a pregnancy signifies, but find that a medical intervention like sperm washing undermines this normality. When antiretroviral treatment reduces a partner’s viral load to an undetectable level this can enable couples to feel more confident about conceiving through ‘real sex’.

Pre-exposure prophylaxis

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is the use of antiretroviral drugs by HIV-negative people to help prevent infection. Last year an international trial showed that daily PrEP substantially reduced infections in men who have sex with men. European clinicians have previously described using PrEP as an additional tool, alongside HIV treatment that reduces the HIV-positive partner’s infectiousness, to allow heterosexual couples to have timed intercourse in order to achieve a pregnancy, with a low risk of HIV transmission. At the BHIVA conference, Dr Gilleece outlined the pre-conception services provided by the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton and Birmingham Heartlands Hospital. These clinics work with both local couples and those who have been referred from other hospitals. Couples require extensive information, discussion and counselling before proceeding. It is important to explore other options such as sperm washing and adoption, as well as to fully explain the available data on HIV treatment and infectiousness. Moreover, couples need to have a ‘no blame’ attitude and to have considered the worst-case scenario. Because this use of antiretroviral drugs is unlicensed and a risk of HIV transmission remains, couples must provide written consent before proceeding. Gilleece noted some of the reasons couples choose to use pre-exposure prophylaxis - they may be unable to obtain NHS funding for sperm washing (particularly if they already have a child) and unable to pay for sperm washing privately. Sperm washing requires travel to London and disruptive procedures, whereas when using PrEP, conception may feel more natural. However there are a number of situations where the use of PrEP would be inappropriate – when a partner is co-infected with hepatitis, when fertility interventions are required, when HIV viral load is detectable in blood or semen, or when a partner is very anxious about HIV transmission. The HIV-negative partner is advised to take one or two doses of tenofovir or Truvada (tenofovir and FTC combined in one pill) between 24 and 36 hours before sex, and then another dose one to two hours afterwards. Couples are advised to limit unprotected sex to the days of the month during ovulation (and taught how to do so). Only five couples have gone through the programme so far. There have been four pregnancies, resulting in one live birth, one pregnancy that is still ongoing and two miscarriages. One couple stopped using PrEP when the male partner had a series of viral load blips (all men had an undetectable viral load on entering the programme). Couples had unprotected sex an average of three times before pregnancy was achieved (minimum one, maximum five). These numbers are far too small to give any reliable data on safety, but there have been no HIV transmissions. Gilleece said that these early data – the first from the UK – suggests that the approach is a safe and effective way of reducing risk. Demand for it is likely to increase, but current PrEP trials are not exploring this approach. She said that other UK clinics should only use PrEP in collaboration with more experienced centres, and that data from across the UK should be gathered collectively in order to assess the safety and efficacy of PrEP on a larger scale.

Assessing risk

A separate study of men and women in sero-different couples (where one person has HIV and the other does not) has shed light on how risks and interventions are weighed up when there is a desire to have a child. Carmel Kelly conducted in-depth, qualitative interviews with six women and four men living in Northern Ireland. Some of the participants were HIV-positive and others were HIV-negative, but each had a partner of a different HIV status. The participants were born variously in Ireland, Africa and Eastern Europe. For each interviewee, decisions about having children could no longer be taken for granted or made without discussion with clinicians. Biomedical understandings of risk and possibilities became central to their plans for the future. In fact some participants had previously assumed that it would now be impossible to have a child, and dialogue with HIV clinicians helped many understand and believe that having a baby in the context of HIV was relatively safe and normal. However these feelings could sometimes be challenged by distressing encounters with fertility specialists and other non-HIV clinicians who questioned a person’s aspiration to have a child. “He [doctor] said, ‘I have to think about the protection for my nurses and the doctors and you also have to think about the protection of your wife’. Now he made me feel that I was a threat to the entire medical staff and my family. And I had gone there for help. I didn’t go there to be told, as if I was a divisive enemy or weapon.” Participants talked about how having HIV had affected their sex lives and about wanting things to be as ‘normal’ as possible. Several of the men put a particular value on unprotected sex, which was felt to be ‘real sex’. “I am here trying to cope with treatment, not telling people my diagnosis and now I can’t even have my wife. For how long? A night? Two months? A year? Two years? No. Forever. From now onwards sex is out of the question. I mean real sex. Now that is another prison. Another sentence.” The women were more likely to find condoms acceptable. They were more likely to enjoy sex when they knew they were protecting their partner from HIV. For several interviewees, the decision to have a child with their partner was a key step in their relationship and was a sign of normality for each other and for the outside world. One HIV-negative woman explained how her pregnancy would provide a distraction to community members who had suspicions about her partner’s HIV status. Another interviewee struggled to find the English to explain how fundamental the desire to have a child was to his sense of self. “Since then I have had that idea of having a baby because I consider myself a human being. I was someone who (my English find it hard) to procreate. When we are healthy, when we are born and grow up we have that idea to procreate because we were procreated... But when I became HIV positive I think it is finished for me. I can’t have anymore. Having one woman, one wife and having healthy kids. These things affect me very much. When I think about it I think I am not useful anymore for people... I take the risk to do it because I want to feel as a man.” But the same man and his wife were uncomfortable with the idea of sperm washing: “I talk to the doctors. We discuss, they told me, they showed me the way I could have a baby without harming the baby is [sperm] washing... It is not how people want it. They want to have a baby a normal way, you know. Like my wife, when we discuss, she said, ‘no’, she can’t do this. It is better not having a baby. She born, when she born, she didn’t born that way. All babies she going to have in the future she want to have them the way she was born, normal way, you know.” Sperm washing involves the man’s sperm being treated in a laboratory before it is artificially inseminated in his partner. The high cost of the procedure means that there can be wrangles with health bodies over payments and availability. Each attempt at a conception (of which there may be several) requires a trip to London. Another man had considered sperm washing but expressed his preference for a pregnancy “the normal way, without any of the interventions”. It is notable that the reduction of viral load through antiretroviral treatment felt normal to him and was not perceived to be an extra intervention. “You know they had suggested the various ways of how we could do it and we sat down and we discussed it and thought, ah well, seeing that I have been able to control the virus, and maintaining the viral load we will just do it the normal way, without any of the interventions.” A number of participants had had unprotected sex on numerous occasions (sometimes including a period before HIV had been diagnosed), and this informed a faith or confidence they had in the possibility of having sexual relations without transmission occurring. This faith had been augmented by a growing awareness of the relevance of medication and viral load to transmission risks. One HIV-negative woman explained how the transmission risk came to feel unexceptional to her. “The second time [second pregnancy] it had become quite normal. You know it was not a big deal... You know, having unprotected sex with someone who is HIV-positive to become pregnant. To another person would be, like ‘what, you have done what, are you crazy?’ you know whereas to us now it’s like, you know, yeah, if you want to have another one.” However her confidence in a low transmission risk applied only to times when she was trying for a baby; unprotected sex was not an option at other times. Concluding her study, Carmel Kelly says that her findings demonstrate how personal priorities and meanings are central to the negotiation of risk in sexual relationships. Biomedical understandings of risk (including those based on viral load) are balanced against a broader set of expectations, meanings and desires.

References

Gilleece Y et al. Pre-exposure prophylaxis exposure for conception as a risk-reduction strategy in HIV positive men and HIV negative women in the UK. 17th annual British HIV Association conference, Bournemouth, abstract O27, 2011.

Amdani Juma the Director of AISD would like to extend our thanks to NAM and all our NAHIP partners for the valuable work we all provide nationally and those who read us internationally.

Please contact us at africaninstitute@live.co.uk, visit us http://www.africaninstitute.org.uk/, and http://www.doitright.uk.com/ text us on 07834459076 or call us free on 0800 0967 500 for HIV and Sexual Health information and advice it doesn't matter whether you speak English, French, Arabic, Swahili, Shona, Luganda, Lingala, Portiguese etc... we are here happy to help and we are always recruiting more volunteers for healthier and better communities

HIV costs lives and funds as we age and can be prevented

African Institute AISD is looking at HIV, Aging and other health conditions linked to HIV from our NAM updates Jan 2011

Thanks to treatment, many people with HIV can expect to live well into old age.

But there is concern that some people with HIV are developing diseases associated with older age sooner than would be expected in the general population.
The causes aren’t clear, but they could include damage caused by HIV, lifestyle factors such as smoking, and the side-effects of some anti-HIV drugs.
Now US researchers have found that ‘ageing’ of the immune system may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease for HIV-positive women.
The immune system deteriorates as we age. For this study, doctors in New York compared the immune function of HIV-positive and HIV-negative women. They found that women with HIV were more likely to have an ‘aged’ immune system.
This was linked to changes to the carotid artery that can increase the long-term risk of cardiovascular disease.
Separate research has also shown that some diseases of old age meant that people with HIV were less able to perform daily tasks.
But overall the study showed that differences in physical function between HIV-positive and HIV-negative people were small.
Staying active and exercising regularly were associated with an improved ability to perform daily tasks.
The December edition of HIV Treatment Update includes a report (‘The prescription for old age’) on the recent British HIV Association community symposium on ageing.
HIV Treatment Update is available free to anyone affected by HIV – and paid subscriptions are available to professionals. Contact us on 020 7840 0050 or info@nam.org.uk for more information, or browse the online archive for a flavour of the content.

Cost of HIV care in the UK

The annual cost of HIV treatment and care in the UK could be over £750 million by 2013, a new study suggests.
The National Health Service (NHS) provides some of the best quality HIV treatment and care in the world. Taxation funds the NHS. All the services and treatment provided by NHS clinics are free at the point of delivery to people who are entitled to use the NHS for free.
Annual HIV costs increased substantially between 1996 and 2007, and researchers think they’ll increase still further, reaching around £750 million by 2013.
The increases in cost are because treatment means that people with HIV are living longer and treatment is lifelong. They are also due to high levels of new diagnoses.

Analysis conducted by the researchers showed that early HIV treatment, and therefore reducing levels of HIV-related illness, was cost-effective – the cost of HIV treatment and care increased as patients became sicker.

But they think that the only real way to reduce costs is to cut the number of new infections. They call for increased emphasis on HIV prevention. and AISD director, Mr Amdani Juma, stressed this as it is the good deal for our communities who represent the real future active population who contribute into the UK economy and form an important source of income for their large and needy families in Africa


Once-daily darunavir approved for treatment-experienced patients

The boosted protease inhibitor darunavir (Prezista) is an important treatment option for people who have been on other anti-HIV drugs.
This powerful drug usually works against HIV that is resistant to other protease inhibitors.
It’s now been approved for once-daily dosing for treatment-experienced adults, as long as they don’t have any resistance to the drug.
The once-daily dose is 800mg, taken as two 400mg tablets, with 100mg of ritonavir (Norvir).
But treatment-experienced patients are recommended only to take the once-daily dose if their CD4 cell count is above 100 and their viral load below 100,000 copies/ml.
Patients with a lower CD4 cell count or a higher viral load should take the twice-daily dose – 600mg darunavir with 100mg ritonavir.


HIV and cardiovascular disease – stroke

The proportion of HIV-positive patients in the US hospitalised because of stroke has increased, new research shows.
Researchers looked at admissions to hospitals because of stroke between 1997 and 2006.
Stroke can occur when arteries are damaged by factors such as smoking or the build-up of cholesterol.
In 1996, just 0.09% of stroke patients were HIV-positive. This had increased by 67% to 0.15% in 2006.
The number of people with HIV admitted to hospital because of stroke increased from 888 in 1997 to 1425 in 2006.
The researchers also noticed that it was only strokes caused by blocked blood vessels in the brain that were increasing.
Stroke occurred at a younger age in HIV-positive patients than HIV-negative individuals.
Reasons for the increase in stroke may include the inflammatory effects of HIV, or increases in cholesterol caused by some anti-HIV drugs.
Screening for the early warning signs of cardiovascular disease is an increasingly important component of HIV care.

Fatty liver disease and hardening of the arteries

US researchers have found a possible early warning sign of future heart problems.
Research involving 223 adults showed that hardening of the coronary artery was associated with fatty liver disease.
Just over a third of patients had some evidence of hardening of the coronary artery, and 13% had fatty liver disease.
Overall, 59% of patients who had a fatty liver also had hardening of the arteries.
The researchers conclude, “Fatty liver disease is associated with underlying cardiovascular disease and should be considered as a novel marker for risk stratification among HIV-infected persons.”

Predicting the success of HIV treatment

Researchers have developed an online computer programme that can help doctors choose the best possible combination of anti-HIV drugs for patients who’ve taken a lot of treatment in the past (‘treatment experienced’).
The programme considers factors such as resistance, treatment history, CD4 cell count and viral load and then suggests the five most appropriate drug combinations.
Two studies showed that doctors found the programme useful, but they sometimes changed the combinations suggested by the programme to take into consideration the preferences of their patients.
The programme is still in development, and its researchers have emphasised that it’s intended to be used by doctors. It should not be considered a replacement for proper consultations between doctors and patients.
The online programme is available on the HIV Treatment Response Prediction System website. To use the system you have to register for an account, confirming you are a healthcare professional or research scientist.

HIV prevention is possible if we can defeat Stigma, will we? Take a HIV test now!

In our world estimation and from the UN Aids programme own admission yesterday, we have deep believe at the African Institute AISD that it is possible to reverse HIV spread in Africans and the world if stigma is seriously combated.

The number of new HIV infections and deaths from AIDS are falling globally, according to new statistics from the UN's programme on HIV/AIDS.

Michel Sidibe, photo above, says the statistics show the spread of HIV has halted in some places. And Mr Juma from African Institute invite Africans in the UK to come out and take up a HIV test.


There are now signs the epidemic is declining, it says, however, stigma and discrimination continue to cause problems for the estimated 33m people living with HIV.

Last year there were 2.6m new HIV infections.

This is down almost 20% since the peak of the Aids epidemic in 1999.

In 2009, 1.8m died from Aids-related illnesses, down from 2.1m in 2004.

Mixed progress

The report says rates of treatment using anti-retroviral drugs have risen from 700,000 in 2004 to over 5m people in 2009.

Sub-Saharan Africa continues to be the region most affected by the epidemic, with around 70% of all new HIV infections occurring here.

But infection rates are falling, particularly in South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia.

There is a mixed picture in other parts of the world.

Eastern Europe and central Asia show sharp rises in new infections and Aids-related deaths.

And the UN says bad laws and discrimination, particularly in respect to drug users and homosexuals, continue to hamper the fight against Aids.

"We are breaking the trajectory of the Aids epidemic with bold actions and smart choices," said Mr Michel Sidibe, executive director of UN-AIDS.

"Investments in the Aids response are paying off, but gains are fragile - the challenge now is how we can all work to accelerate progress."

'We can speed up our response if promise are not broken and our community address some of media negative myths around HIV' end of article by AISD

Sexual Health Week 2010

Sexual Health is GOOD for PEOPLE of all ages

We are having a very good start of our SEXUAL HEALTH WEEK that is running from 13 to 19 September. We are giving plenty of information out and oureaching people from all ages from young people to midle aged people who are right at the centre on this years sexual health week. African Institute is providing information, condoms, HIV Prevention DVDs, Do It Right gender campaign from NAHIP programme, and are doing demonstration of proper condom use for small groups in African Small Business.

AISD Campaigners in Nottinghamshire joined others nationally to say many middle-aged people and pensioners are either embarrassed about buying contraception, and because of the stigma associated with venereal disease “VD” among older generations they are less likely to ask for advice. VD is being known as STIs (Sexually Transmitted Infections)

Others are said to believe, wrongly, that using condoms is unnecessary if they can no longer have children.
But recent figures show that almost 13,000 men and women over 45 years old were diagnosed with a Sexually Transmitted Infection last year, double the numbers recorded a decade earlier, while more older men contracted herpes than teenage boys.
In response, FPA, the sexual health charity, has launched what it believes is the first-ever awareness campaign aimed specifically at the over-50s.
Called The Middle-age Spread, it involves fashion adverts from the 1970s that have been turned into posters with a photograph of a condom and the slogan: “Remember wearing this? Then remember to wear this!”
Julie Bentley, chief executive of the FPA, said: “We celebrate the positive and fulfilling sexuality of the over 50s, but we also have to get the message across that STIs don’t care about greying hair and a few wrinkles. This is a concerning situation which unless we take action now is only going to get worse.”
She went on: “There is very little sexual health information and services for the over 50s, and current campaigns, however good, are exclusively for the young.
“Sex is something very personal, we can all find it difficult to talk about and this can be particularly true for older generations.
“Many over 50s, relieved contraception is no longer an issue, forget about using condoms. Others haven’t had to think about using condoms for decades, let alone go into a shop and buy them.
“Worries about confidentiality stop them going to clinics which tend to be more geared for young people. We often have the over 50s asking our helpline whether they are allowed to attend because of their age.
“We need to do more to encourage the over 50s to access sexual health clinics. Running sessions specifically for the over 50s would make people feel more comfortable about using services.”

Prevention is key in addressing incurable STIs, such as HIV & herpes. Mr Juma ,AISD Director said on Saturday 11th Sept while launching sexual health week for this year near the African House in Nottingham City

The most effective way to prevent sexual transmission of STIs is to avoid contact of body parts or fluids which can lead to transfer with an infected partner. No contact minimizes risk. Not all sexual activities involve contact: cybersex, phonesex or masturbation from a distance are methods of avoiding contact. Proper use of condoms reduces contact and risk. Although a condom is effective in limiting exposure, some disease transmission may occur even with a condom.

Ideally, both partners should get tested for STIs before initiating sexual contact, or before resuming contact if a partner engaged in contact with someone else. Many infections are not detectable immediately after exposure, so enough time must be allowed between possible exposures and testing for the tests to be accurate. Certain STIs, particularly certain persistent viruses like HPV, may be impossible to detect with current medical procedures.

AISD Microbicides News and Conference in 2010: African Women Will kill HIV Virus

African Women Test Vaginal Ring To Kill HIV Virus

African Institute for Social Development(AISD) has been involved in international efforts to bring about changes and lasting solutions to HIV virus in African Communities and the world. The virus that causes AIDS would not have a vaccine for many more years to come. In the effort to combat the virus, Scientists have been running trials of Microbicides(= substances that kill viruses on contact) which could bring about the lasting changes and prevent many people from become infected during sexual contacts.

We are pleased to publish the new trial that has been launched in June 2010 and will involve women from 7 countries in southern Africa. David Brown from Washington Post wrote the following news report :

By David Brown
Washington Post Staff Writer June 2010
The first test of a long-acting vaginal ring loaded with an HIV-preventing drug has begun enrolling women in southern Africa.
With no prospects for an AIDS vaccine in the next decade or longer, the AIDS community has high hopes for "microbicides," the general term for substances that kill viruses or bacteria on contact. None of the compounds tested to date, however, has worked, and one of them actually increased a woman's risk of becoming infected.
The new study is the 15th undertaken by the International Partnership for Microbicides, a nonprofit group in Silver Spring that has helped lead the search for a discreet, woman-controlled means of protection.
"This is the one that is most likely to work," Zeda Rosenberg, the head of the organization, said last week at Women Deliver 2010, an international conference on maternal and child health held in Washington.
Elizabeth Mataka, the United Nations special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, said she was "very excited about the prospect" of a long-acting microbicidal ring. She told reporters that its advantage is that "nobody needs to know, nobody needs to agree" when a woman uses it.

Heterosexual intercourse is by far the main mode of HIV transmission in the world, with women at somewhat greater risk than men. Of the 33 million people living with AIDS worldwide, 16 million are women age 15 and older. Two-thirds of HIV-infected people live in sub-Saharan Africa, and 60 percent of them there are women.
The product manufactured by the Silver Spring nonprofit is a silicone ring similar to one used in contraceptive devices such as NuvaRing. It is impregnated with dapivirine, an antiretroviral drug. The drug is released into the vagina over a month, after which it is replaced.
The study is recruiting 280 women and will evaluate the ring's safety through blood tests, pelvic exams and interviews with users. The first women were recruited in South Africa at the end of April; other volunteers will come from three nearby countries.
Whether the ring successfully prevents HIV infection will require a much larger study that won't begin until next year. It will recruit up to 8,000 women in seven countries, will cost about $90 million and is expected to have results in 2015.
Previous studies have shown that a woman's sexual partner is aware that she is using a vaginal ring about half the time. Some experts are worried that if a woman uses the ring without informing a partner, she might risk becoming the victim of violence if he finds out.
"I think women are incredibly resourceful and will figure out how to place this in the context of their relationship," Rosenberg said.
An 889-woman study of a vaginal gel containing the antiretroviral drug tenofovir is underway in South Africa. Preliminary results on that microbicide will be revealed next month.
A vaginal ring that contains both contraceptives and an antiretroviral drug is also under development with support from the U.S. Agency for International Development, said Régine Sitruk-Ware, an endocrinologist with the nonprofit Population Council. It would be removed once a month during the menstrual period and could be used for a year

We at AISD encourage members of African Community in the East Midlands region and England to play a part in these developments or at least stay informed. We therefore invite all our readers to join our feedback conference in London:

MICROBICIDES 2010 Conference

‘Building Bridges in HIV Prevention’ Feedback Session
You are cordially invited to the Microbicides 2010 conference feedback session. The session will highlight new studies and findings, key messages and emerging issues presented at the conference in Pittsburgh, USA.
Please find below details for the session
DATE: Friday 2nd July 2010
TIME: 14.00 – 16.00
VENUE: African HIV Policy Network, 3rd Floor West Wing, New City Cloisters, 196 Old Street, London, EC1V 9FR
Please confirm your attendance to the session by email to Mariama.kamara@ahpn.org or call 0207 017 8910 by Wednesday 30th June 2010.

For further help please do not hesitate to contact us at http://www.africaninstitute.org.uk/ or call AISD director Mr Amdani Juma on 07834459076