O/T - Is HIV/AIDS awareness still a major issue in the UK?

[KZNSeagull]

Good folk of NSC, I could do with some assistance please.

I have been asked to cobble together an article about the 30th anniversary of the first death in the US atributed to AIDS. The gist of the article is how far SA has got in it's fight against HIV/AIDS (which is not very, but better than it was), but that is not why I am posting.

What I want to ask is - are there still major campaigns in the UK about AIDS awareness? When I were a lad in the 80's, we were made very aware of it. Does this still happen? Is HIV/AIDS treated as a serious thing still in the UK? Is it influencing young people's behaviour (judging by the stories in the papers and the high incidence of teenage pregnancy, perhaps not, but that could just be paper talk)?

I suppose the question to ask is - if you meet someone you have never met before and you end up sleeping with them, is the possibility of catching HIV/AIDS a concern to you or not?

A rather serious topic for a Friday afternoon, but NSC seems to like these type of questions sometimes, so I thought I would guage your opinion.

Thanks in advance

 

[strings]

It is still alarmingly common (souce: my girlfriend works in sexual health). The biggest problem is that many people 'carry' for a while before they know they have HIV/AIDS.

 

[KZNSeagull]

It is still alarmingly common (souce: my girlfriend works in sexual health). The biggest problem is that many people 'carry' for a while before they know they have HIV/AIDS.

Indeed. Has it got to the stage where people no longer think about as a big deal because the perceived risk is small?

 

[Seagull kimchi]

In less fortunate countries the disease is still being spread. We are lucky to have governments that educate and treat the the situation - hence some degree of control has been realised.

 

[Hatterlovesbrighton]

It seems like there is more of a general push on sexual health rather than specifcally on HIV/AIDS.

Sometime hard to discuss this without being accused of homophobia but I remember hearing that the infection level within non drug using hetrosexuals was actually pretty low in the UK

 

[deletebeepbeepbeep]

I think it is yes, the fact is the number of people sleeping around without using protection is shocking.

A school friend of mine died from aids related disease recently, he was diagnosed at 16 and died at 28. All it takes is using a condom unless you're in a monogamous relationship were both people have had a full sexual health screen. It's not rocket science and that's all it takes to negate the risk of HIV/Aids. It's not an easy thing to spread, it can only be contracted by unprotected anal/virginal sex, blood transfer or sharing of needles, but if you slip up once it will effect you for the rest of your life.

Also, people need to be made aware that the testing process is so EASY and nothing to be ashamed about. A simple pin prick and its done. If you catch it early much more effective drugs can be used, and most people with HIV lead a normal and active life. The days of emmaciated people wondering the streets are clearly LONG gone but there's still a lot to do, and it's still a massively taboo subject due to people's ignorance of how it is spread and what kind of lifestyle it means a HIV+ person has.

 

[Simster]

Also, people need to be made aware that the testing process is so EASY and nothing to be ashamed about.

I don't think that is what prevents people getting themselves tested as much as the fact that your insurance premiums will rocket if they find out you have been tested because they then presume you are at risk for even needing to be checked out.

 

[KZNSeagull]

All it takes is using a condom unless you're in a monogamous relationship were both people have had a full sexual health screen. It's not rocket science and that's all it takes to negate the risk of HIV/Aids.

That is precisely the message that is being pushed and pushed in this country. There has been a massive drive to get people tested - something like 9m people have been tested for HIV in the last year. The message is simple - know your status and "condomise".

Are there not campaigns that do this in the UK? If not, why not?

Simster - in SA, you have to be tested for HIV in order to get Health or Life Insurance. If you are not tested, they will not cover you.

 

[deletebeepbeepbeep]

You honestly wouldn't know about any such schemes in the UK unless you visited the sexual health clinic, or maybe saw a poster in the Doctor's surgery. There are of course charities and help centres like the Terrance Higgins Trust in Brighton but generally education is very poor. I'm sure I read about pushing out testing widely in the press recently but that was probably nothing more then a sound bite.

I'm assuming it would cost too much, and the risk factor for MOST people is so low that they don't warrant testing.

 

[Brovion]

It seems to me that for Britain Aids awareness died with Princess Diana as it doesn't seem to be nearly as high profile as it was in the 1980s. Part of that I think is a bit of a backlash as it didn't sweep through the heterosexual non-drug using population of Britain as some commentators claimed it would. Now it just seems to be viewed more as an African problem along with war and famine. Some Westerners do still contract it and die but they're seen as being a bit louche with questionable lifestyles - hence the high insurance for people who get tested.

Not saying I agree with it's Daily Mail-style downgrading in Britain to 'just something that Africans and perverts get', but I definitely don't think it has the same profile as it did. It's all global warming these days, that's seen as the new big threat.

 

[Gully]

The first time I went to South Africa was in 2003, for a hockey tour. On the flight from Jo'Burg to Cape Town I was sat beside a lady who worked for the Government in the Health Department, she was on the way home from a meeting about the AIDS epidemic sweeping the continent. At that stage most African Governments were still reluctant to declare that AIDS was a massive problem, most took the ignore and hope it goes away approach, or even worse complete denial. Anyway, this lady was of the view that it was a massive problem and admitted that they (South Africa) were resigned to losing virtually a complete generation to the disease.

I am sure that it is still an issue in the UK but improved anti-retro drugs and a wider knowledge of how to provent the spread of the disease has reduced the shock and even stigma of talking about it. However, in parts of the World where there is reluctance to practice safe sex, or slightly warped views about how to avoid passing it (have sex standing up or only sleep with virgins!!!, etc) it is still on the increase.

 

[KZNSeagull]

Just looked up some stats on avert.org. There were just over 6000 new cases of HIV in the UK in 2010. New cases peaked in 2005 at over 8000. There are estimated to 85000 HIV+ people in the UK, a quarter of whom are undiagnosed (0.8% of the population). Cumulatively, there have been 115000 diagnoses in the UK. So Brovian could be correct - it didn't decimate the heterosexual population as once thought so it's profile has gone down.

Did you know that last year there were over 383,000 new STD cases diagnosed in the UK and that the incidence of Syphilis has gone up 600% in the last 10 years? So clearly, there is still a lot of unprotected sex going on.

Gully, I assume that the lady you sat next to on the plane was not Dr Tshabalala-Msimang, the then Health Minister, who went to a World AIDS conference and told everyone that the best way to treat AIDS was to eat lots of garlic and beetroot!! Thankfully things have moved on here since then. Bit late though, for the estimated 43% of women in KwaZulu-Natal who are HIV+.

Thanks to everyone who has responded.