Sexual Health News items
Revised consultation on the Future of Gay Men's HIV Prevention: October 2007
October Sexual Health Independent Advisory Group Newsletter
Public consultation on the proposal to relocate HIV service at Archway Sexual Health Clinic as a combined HIV service at the Mortimer Market Centre
Medicines watchdog alerts UK health professionals over recall of Viracept
Review of parts 2, 5 and 6 of the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984: A consultation.
Health Protection Agency - A Complex Picture HIV and other Sexually Transmitted Infections in the United Kingdom: November 2006.
The newsletter from the Independent Advisory Group on Sexual Health and HIV
HIV and AIDS has been a significant healthcare challenge for the last quarter of the century. We have seen enormous improvements in treatments which mean that HIV and AIDS - instead of being a death sentence - is managed as a chronic condition. This is an astonishing achievement.
Yet figures for sexually transmitted infections over the last 10 years show a worrying increase. Dr Evans, in his piece on STIs, points out that annual new diagnoses of HIV have risen from 2764 in 1997 to 7093 in 2006. This large increase was mainly made amongst people who were from, or had acquired their infection in Africa as well as ongoing high number of diagnoses amongst men who have sex with men (MSM).
To download the October Newsletter, click here for the pdf. For more details on the IAG, click here to link to the Department of Health site.
Relocation of Archway Sexual Health Clinic to Mortimer Market Centre
The HIV service at Archway must move premises, because the lease expires on the clinic building. Camden PCT are proposing to move services to Mortimer Market Centre, near Warren Street Tube Station and for the move to occur in the autumn of 2007.
The GUM clinic - providing STD screening, sexual health advice and HIV testing - will also need to move within the next 12 months, and Camden PCT are planning to move that part of the service to Hill House, on Highgate Hill.
A six week consultation process, on the transfer of HIV services to Mortimer Market ran from to 21st September 2007.
Medicines watchdog alerts UK health professionals over recall of Viracept
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (NHRA) is alerting health professionals tonight [6th June 2007] concerning a contamination with a genotoxic substance affecting the production of all batches of the medicine Viracept (nelfinavir).
Patients prescribed Viracept should contact their doctors immediately.
For the press statement refer to MHRA - For further details refer to Aidsmap News
Review of parts 2, 5 and 6 of the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984: A consultation
A Department of Health consultation paper that sets out the English Government’s proposals for changes to the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984 appears to considerably widen the potential use of coercive powers of justices of the peace (JPs) or magistrates and may even criminalise HIV-positive individuals who have unprotected sex, according to Dr Matthew Weait, an expert on HIV and the law.
The document implicitly suggests that HIV, as well as AIDS, should be covered by this new legislation
For a summary of the issues refer to Aidsmap website. The full consultation paper, which can be found on the Department of Health website, is concerned solely with the law in England.
The consultation ran until 25th June 2007.
Health Protection Agency - A Complex Picture HIV and other Sexually Transmitted Infections in the United Kingdom: November 2006
An estimated 63,500 adults are now living with HIV in the UK , according to a report released today by the Health Protection Agency. This latest figure includes both those who have been diagnosed and also around a third (20,100) who remain unaware of their infection.
The report called A Complex Picture is being launched ahead of World AIDS Day and contains the most up-to-date description of both HIV and AIDS and sexually transmitted infections in the UK.
Dr Valerie Delpech, an HIV Expert at the Agency said,
“We are seeing an ever increasing pool of people living with HIV and AIDS in the UK . This is due to people living longer with HIV due to advances in treatment, sustained levels of newly acquired infections in gay men, further diagnoses among heterosexuals who acquired their infection in Africa, and cases being picked up earlier.
“The high level of new HIV cases being diagnosed continued in 2005 with 7450 cases recorded, including almost 2400 new cases in gay men. Three in every hundred gay men who attended an STI clinic last year acquired their HIV infection during 2005, most probably within the UK."
For full details of the report, click here.
Revised consultation on the Future of Gay Men's HIV Prevention
A proposal for radical changes in the provision of HIV prevention work for gay men has been put forward and you can have your say. This is the first time gay men in London have being asked to give their views on the commissioning of HIV services in London. If the proposed HIV prevention work does not meet the needs of gay men, the community suffers and increasingly scarce resources are wasted. To ensure that these prevention services are appropriate it is vital that that the users of these services, gay men themselves, have a voice.
The new commissioning intentions for the London HIV Prevention Partnership have been published and can be accessed by clicking the link below.
Due in part to the introduction of a programme of prevention work for African people without a corresponding increase in the overall budget, the "indicative allocation" for gay men's HIV prevention had fallen from £1.7m to £1.1m.
The commissioners are committed to include user input in the new process. To view the documents and feedback on them visit the Kensington & Chelsea PCT website.
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