And 61 per cent of cases of malaria in the UK involved non-UK born residents who had travelled abroad to visit friends or relatives.
Overall, the report indicates that the greatest burden of reported infectious diseases affect a small proportion of non-UK born residents, who accounted for about 12 per cent of people living in the UK in 2010.
Dr Jane Jones, consultant epidemiologist and head of the HPA’s travel and migrant health section, said: ‘The majority of non-UK born residents do not have infectious diseases but some are at higher risk than UK born residents because of their exposures and their life experiences prior to, during and after migration.’
The expert pointed out that timely identification of people who are at risk and early diagnosis of infection can help to improve outcomes.
She also emphasised: ‘It is important to remember that risk to non-UK born residents does not end on arrival in the UK.’
The HPA recently advised holidaymakers – including those visiting family overseas – to remember to take anti-malaria tablets when going to countries where the disease is prevalent.
After Canon Gideon Byamugisha visited Leicester in March 2011 we decided to invite him again – to inform and inspire us and the people and communities we work with.
We had hoped that he would be able to visit in November 2011. However he is waiting for his visa so we cannot arrange a date until that is granted.
In the meantime we do have copies of a DVD featuring Canon Gideon that you can borrow. We can also advise where you can buy the DVD.
We are looking forward to his visit and hope that you will be able to join us whenever that is.
Over the festive period, LASS are closing due to Christmas and Bank Holidays. In addition, some of our staff and volunteers are taking holiday or time out.
CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR OPENING TIMES
For Rapid HIV Testing
We are open for HIV Testing until 11am on Friday 23rd December. We will be offering Rapid HIV testing on Wednesday and Thursday 28th & 29th December during opening hours of 9.30 to 4.30.
Regular Activities
We are open from 28th to 30th December from 9.30 to 4.30 pm for anyone who wants to use the services. We will be open again from 3rd January at 9am. We are closed from Saturday 24th to Tuesday 27th December and re-open on 28th December at 9.30 am.
We will be closed over the New Year from 3pm on 30th December until Monday 2nd January 2012.
We will re-open on Tuesday 3rd January at 9am.
EMERGENCIES
There are a number of places that you can turn to for HIV/AIDS related help and advice. The following web page lists services and support available for HIV, AIDS and sexual health in the UK.
If you are in severe pain and need immediate treatment, you should go to the Accident and Emergency (A & E) department at your nearest hospital. A & E is open 24 hours, 7 days a week, including public holidays. Please remember that A & E is not an alternative to a GP and should only be used in an emergency
PEP (Post-Exposure Prophylaxis)
PEP is a course of HIV medication which you can take if you have been at risk of HIV infection. The course of HIV medication lasts 28 days and, if you start taking it within 72 hours of putting yourself at risk, it may be able to prevent you from becoming infected with HIV. Further information on PEP can be found from the following links:
The following post is sent on behalf of Scope and The National AIDS Trust who are supporting this campaign because they are concerned about the impact proposed legal aid cuts in the area of benefits could have on people living with HIV.
For more information please contact Jamie Robertson, Scope Campaigns Officer.
We’re asking for your urgent help to keep legal advice available to all.
Legal aid is a vital lifeline, it helps people who can’t afford the cost of getting legal advice. Last year, thousands of disabled people and people on low incomes were helped by legal aid advisers to overturn inaccurate benefits decisions that had left them struggling without the means to live.
The Government is trying to take it away Yet the Government is trying to close the door of justice by taking away this vital lifeline for all welfare benefits cases. If legal aid advice is removed, people with the highest level of need will be left to navigate their way through a system that requires nearly 9,000 pages of official guidance. At a time of massive change in the welfare system, this means many people won’t get the support they rely on to lead their daily lives.
Persuade Peers that they should throw out this plan From 20 December 2011, the House of Lords will begin the next stage of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill debate, which contains this shocking proposal. If you believe that the right to justice should be available to everyone, please show your support by taking your seat in our virtual House of Lords now.
Take action now!
If we can demonstrate that there is widespread public support by filling our virtual House of Lords, we stand a good chance of persuading the real House of Lords to call a halt to these plans when they debate them in the New Year.
Take your seat in our virtual House of Lords and help maintain access to legal advice for tens of thousands of disabled people and others who rely on this vital lifeline.
Posted on behalf of Jamie Robertson
Scope Campaigns Officer
A review of research studies has identified a growing division within gay communities, in which HIV-negative gay men associate mainly with other HIV-negative men, and vice versa. Moreover stigma has negative impacts on the health of both HIV-positive and HIV-negative men, say the authors, writing in the online edition of AIDS Care.
Stigma has been defined as ‘‘a process of devaluation of people either living with, or associated with, HIV and AIDS’’. The majority of the research literature on stigma deals with the attitudes of the general population, but the authors wished to draw attention to and pull together reports concerning the stigmatisation of HIV-positive men within communities of gay men.
They describe this literature as “fragmented and largely anecdotal” – and call for more empirical research – but have identified multiple references to stigma that affects gay and bisexual men.
Seven out of ten gay male respondents to a Dutch survey had experienced stigma on the gay scene.
HIV-positive men perceive a ‘‘rift’’ based on HIV status within their gay community.
Fear of rejection by potential sexual partners is widely reported and causes long-lasting harm to the self-confidence and self-esteem of men with HIV.
Older men with HIV feel particularly under-valued, believing that they are at the “lowest rung” of the “gay social hierarchy”, resented for supposedly being dependent on social benefits that are no longer available to younger men with HIV.
Body fat changes and other physical manifestations of HIV and its treatment are regarded as unattractive. Men with such symptoms report a loss of intimacy and the avoidance of particular social spaces because they feel self-conscious or fear rejection.
In the United States, black gay men are perceived to be at higher risk of having HIV compared to men of other ethnicities, and are sometimes avoided as sexual partners for that reason.
Men who only disclose their HIV-status to a limited support network often feel socially isolated.
Some gay men with HIV report keeping social and sexual distance from other HIV-positive men, feeling that being associated with HIV-positive sexual spaces (either online or offline) would compound stigma directed against them.
HIV-positive men who identify as ‘barebackers’ tend to report greater stigma, gay-related stress, self-blame and substance abuse coping.
Men reporting discrimination from sexual partners and breaches of confidentiality are less likely to adhere to their medication.
The authors note that stigma has negative effects on the health of HIV-negative men too. HIV-negative men who rely on trying to avoid sexual contact with HIV-positive men as a way of avoiding HIV infection put themselves at risk – due to infrequent HIV testing, undiagnosed infection and non-disclosure of HIV status.Moreover stigmatising beliefs are associated with lower rates of HIV testing and poorer knowledge about HIV transmission.
They say that effective strategies, validated by research, to reduce stigma are urgently needed. “Such initiatives should foster a renewed dialogue about living with HIV as a gay man, create opportunities to share understanding and experience among HIV positive and HIV-negative men, and aim to reunite gay communities by reducing stigma and offering integrated medical and social support.”
Twelve different organisations, came together and developed a Community Calendar designed to encourage community involvement and help raise funds in this difficult climate. The calendar also highlights important dates for the sector, such as Volunteers Week.
All Charities featured work to improve the lives of people living in Leicester and Leicestershire, and all are featured together in a calendar to display their good work throughput the year.
As you know, last Thursday, 1st December was World AIDS Day.
The following is a message from Rev Canon Dr Gideon B Byamugisha, Goodwill Ambassador on HIV & AIDS, Christian Aid Convener, Global Working Group on Faith, SSDDIM & HIV explaining the SAVE message and encouraging others to join the SAVE Campaign.
The Hardest Hit are planning to send a giant Christmas card to the Government signed by thousands of disabled people, those with long-term conditions and their families and friends. They want to let them know that we are not asking for gifts, but we do want our basic rights protected and the support to enable us to live independently and with dignity.
The card will be presented in December – They’ll be posting more details on their website soon. So please add your message today and encourage your friends and family to do the same.
Disabled and ill people and their families are being hit hard by cuts to the benefits and services they rely on.
Many are living in fear of huge cuts to essential benefits including Disability Living Allowance (cut by £2.17 billion) and Employment and Support Allowance (cut by £2 billion). The total cuts will mean an estimated £9 billion loss to families’ incomes over the next four years, on top of cuts to many local care and support services.
This affects people and families across the UK living with conditions like HIV, Cancer, Dementia, Arthritis, Parkinson’s and Multiple Sclerosis, Sensory Impairments, Learning Disabilities, Mental Health Conditions and Physical Disabilities. Everyday lives depend on support that is under threat.
The Government’s plans to cut billions from support for disabled people and their families. Their proposals include:
Cutting 20% from the budget for Disability Living Allowance (DLA). Disability Alliance estimates that over 700,000 disabled people could see their benefits reduced or removed. DLA helps disabled people with the extra costs of disability and without it more disabled people would be pushed into poverty. The cuts could have a knock-on impact on Carer’s Allowance, leaving thousands of families even worse off.
Taking mobility payments away from disabled people living in residential care and children going to residential schools. Cutting these payments would trap many in their own homes.
Cutting off payments of contributory Employment and Support Allowance after a year to people struggling to get back into work due to disability or serious illness.
The Hardest Hit campaign brings together disabled people and carers and organisations and groups who represent them and to send a message to Government - you are hitting disabled people and their families the hardest: stop these cuts.
We are pleased publish our local advert to promote HIV testing, in our office location in Leicester Town Centre, on Regent Road.
This advert speaks with 15 languages internationally. This advert cost marginally and considerably less than the Governments 1987 “Tombstone” Advert.
Our message is clear, it is better to know your own HIV status and you can get a HIV test at LASS, and have the result within a minute!
Our team of volunteers have specialist training to provide a free and confidential test, we also have a fantastic support team to provide after-care and further information if required. We also have established network links so we can refer to more specialist agencies all around Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland so you can be sure to get expert advice for your needs.
We also have a support group called LhivE, a group of people from Leicester, Leicestershire & Rutland who are living with HIV. Living with HIV brings a whole set of its own issues and LhivE demonstrate that people living with HIV can lead fulfilling and safe lives with choices.
We hope you like our new advert and hope that you’ll feel comfortable to contact us if you would like a free and confidential test.
The city of Leicester has the fastest-rising HIV rate in the east Midlands and the sixth-highest in the country.
Meanwhile, in 2009/10, national research demonstrated that community testing was effective in delivering tests to those at risk, preventing late diagnosis and thereby reducing onward transmission. As there was no such community testing service in Leicester, we set about creating one!
It is the training of our volunteers which makes the project unique as a method of engaging with specific African communities which are considered to have a high need. As well as delivering courses to train volunteers to carry out tests among Zimbabwean and Congolese community groups, we also provide a safe and confidential place for people to receive a test.
Our volunteers have created a 50-second advert promoting the value of knowing your HIV status in 15 languages.
We have delivered more than 400 tests, more than half of which are to the BME communities in the region. While the first phase of the project involved delivering tests only from our building, funding has ensured we can use our van to take testing to more venues across Leicester, Leicestershire & Rutland.
We were delighted to be highly commended by the Charity Awards, the UK charity sector’s most prestigious awards scheme earlier this year, after being short-listed in the Healthcare & Medical Research category. This means we have been judged to be of the best 32 Charities in the whole country. Our sincere thanks go to all our service users, volunteers, staff and people in partner organisations who are the real reason we have achieved such a magnificent accolade. Community based HIV testing and our advertisement for this service were the basis of for our application.
WIDESPREAD TESTING IS URGENTLY NEEDED – Health Protection Agency.
The Health Protection Agency (HPA) predicts that unless more focus is given to HIV prevention and routine testing, more people could become infected.
It is 30 years since the first case of HIV was formally diagnosed, and since then there have been several major breakthroughs in medical treatment resulting in longer life expectancy for those infected by the virus.
But some medical experts now believe because of the success of anti viral drugs in prolonging the lives of carriers, it has led to complacency.
HPA figures show that in the last three decades 115,000 people have been diagnosed with HIV in the UK alone, with 27,000 people having gone on to develop full-blown Aids – and 20,000 of those having since died.
We need a complete and wholesome approach to treating HIV and most importantly help prevent its spread – Dr Rupert Whitaker, a long-standing HIV survivor
But what is worrying the medical profession and campaign pressure groups is that, despite all the medical advances over the last three decades, the number of HIV cases in the UK is expected to rise next year to 100,000 and some of those cases will be people who do not yet realise they have been infected by the virus.
Dr Valerie Delpech, Head of HIV surveillance at the HPA, believes widespread testing is urgently needed to help get new cases diagnosed.
“It is so crucial when treating someone who is HIV positive as quickly as possible. That way their lives can be prolonged considerably,” she said.
“Provided someone is tested within the early stages of infection, so they have only had HIV for a short time, and they receive effective medication followed up by effective therapy, then their life expectancy is very good.
“In fact we can safely say HIV is no longer a life threatening illness but a chronic life long condition which if treated correctly can mean people can live to their normal life expectancy.”
LASS are registered for JustTextGiving which enables supporters to make donations of up to £10 by text message.
It’s easy to donate to LASS, and it takes no time at all, simply text: “LASS25 £10″ to 70070. (You can change the amount of your donation to: £1, £2, £3, £4 or £5 if you prefer) and you’ll receive a text message receipt, and the chance to add Gift Aid by text or in web form. More details are available from this link.
Good evening everyone just a quick reminder that we’re closed on Bank Holiday Monday & reopen as usual on Tuesday 7th. Have a good weekend. 2 weeks ago
