As councils across the country ratify budgets laden with cuts  to services and jobs. Swathes of pensioners, mums and dads students and youngsters started to interrupt the process, making sure that those in power ‘NOW’ knew, in no uncertain terms, the outrage of the general populous. It was a good sight to see.

But what are we doing in our own communities to help organisations that support People living with HIV? Are we doing enough? Are we just going too stand by as council’s steal cash earmarked for HIV/Aids support? Leaving many of the charities we have left, facing closure!

David Cameron vision of a BIG Society seems to centre on having an army volunteers busy in our communities ‘making a difference’! The idea that charitable organisations can provide this kind of ‘peer support’, in local areas without being properly financed to is both laughable and ludicrous.

The problem Mr Cameron has is that: his ‘deluded vision’ isn’t backed by the government’s policies. The Aids Support Grant that provided a vital funding stream for HIV charities, had its ring-fence removed last year and is now allocated via the your councils Formula Grant under HIV/AIDS Support.

If you want to find out how much your local authority is being allocated for HIV/Aids Support in 2011/12? Go to this link on NAT’s website (change the zoom percentage to 100%)

http://www.nat.org.uk/Media%20library/Files/Policy/2010/2011%20-%2012%20Settlement%20Grants%20rolling%20into%20formula%20grant-1.pdf

Eric Pickles, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, has asked local authorities to continue to support the voluntary sector, but this may be falling on death ears. And when you see large organisations like Citizens Advice Bureau planning to close operations across the country, you begin to understand the scale of the problem.

When you give cash strapped councils greater powers it becomes the people’s role to scrutinise. There is plenty of money being allocated, but how much of it actually trickles down to the services that we need and use? Lots of that money gets allocated to other local government support services like Social Work Teams! But when was the last time you got support form a Social Worker? It’s virtually impossible service to tap into in London now.

The point I am trying to make is: all HIV organisations large and small are probably going to face funding cuts. But it will be the small charities most dependant on the money that are most under threat. These organisations may find themselves last in the queue when it comes to divvying up the cash.

More than ever, I believe we need to support HIV charities and organisations that deliver essential services like: counselling, peer support, respite care, group work and support for carers.

We can bring about change by challenging MP’s, local councillors and community leaders. The government has already made a few u-turns. They’ve been won by groups and charities that have tirelessly campaigned against government reforms.

In the Welfare Reform Bill that was announced two weeks ago there was plenty of bad news. But there were some u-turns.

• The Lib-Con coalition ditched plans to reduce housing benefit by 10% if they were still out of work after one year.

• There was a u-turn on scraping the mobility element of DLA for people living in care homes.

On HIV social care I recently heard this story.

• The Brigstowe Project in Bristol recently fought off funding cuts by Bristol City Council after they proposed to cut – in full- their Supporting People grant, a decision that would have closed the charity. But with a strong campaign led by the centres manager and its many HIV-positive service users, the decision was overturned.

So if your thinking how can I really make a difference? Think again, you can.

Why not check in with your local charity to find out if they are being targeted with cuts. If they are, ask how you can best help.

Check out NAT’s HIV Activists Network it is packed with resources that can help you campaign for change on HIV Social Care and lots of other issues that affect people living with HIV. http://www.nat.org.uk/Living-with-HIV/HIV-activists.aspx

I hope I have got you all thinking about Activism.

PS if you are experiencing HIV-related symptoms that vary and change over time you may want to check out this survey by NAT. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/G89L86D

I am taking three types of drugs at the moment in two pill formats, one is Sustiva which is my Efavirenz and the other is Truvada which is a combination of both Emtricitabine and Tenofovir. They are not bad sized pills and quite easy to swallow so taking them is not a problem.

Well, I stopped eating around 9pm last night just in case the tablets made me sick.  There is nothing worse than bringing up your entire stomach content as it leaves you feeling worse than ever, so I am erring on the side of caution tonight.

It was just over and hour ago from taking them along with my regular pills that I started to notice a slight tripped-out feeling, as though I were coming up on them; that pleasant feeling you get on a good night out with a little drug-induced help!  So, at that stage I thought it best to try and get some sleep just in case that trippy feeling turned into a drunken room spin state, you know that feeling when you go to bed and you have to sleep with one foot on the floor to stop the room from spinning?

Now this is where it all changed!  By this time all of the lights were out in the flat, but we all know our way around our environments in the dark and even when a little inebriated.  Last night I felt extremely disorientated: I knew where I was in the flat but had to aid myself with the walls and furniture to get in to the bedroom and finally into bed.  When I got to the foot of the bed, I had to let go of the wardrobe to turn around and get on to the bed, That was my most frightening stage because I fell on to the bed, feeling as though I had missed my footing.

It was my partner that taught me to always embrace these feelings in order to turn what normally would be a problem into something positive.  Problems that invoke panic can make the problem worse, but positive experiences you can learn by!

I finally got into bed with the covers over me and it did not feel like I was in bed at all. At one stage, I had to reach out to feel for the wall to make sure that I was not only in bed but in the position that I regularly lay in (that was a comfort and safety thing).  I inclined the head of the bed as I normally do but this time a little higher, not quite sitting up but more ‘propped up’, so that I was not laid out flat.

I was half awake for most of the night and this was a new experience for me. I am able to remember vividly most of the night and it was not all bad.  I can only describe the nights events in patches as at stages I must have really drifted off in to something quite deep yet very relaxing; I wish I had been in that place all night.

It is going to sound really strange for anyone who has never been in that slightly high state and probably will not understand.  It was as though I had been picked up by something and placed in a large open field or a tunnel of air, all around me was empty, yet I felt extremely cushioned and protected.  I know I was suspended because at one point, I reached out to touch the wall and could not feel anything.

As I acclimatised to the feeling of being suspended, I slowly moved down this imaginary shaft of air and then I must have put up some kind of resistance against the feeling because I suddenly felt as though I was being pushed on to my left side. I realised that I was not being pushed but instead that I was turning around a corner. It did not take long to get used to this feeling and I embraced it.  All of a sudden I stopped feeling anything, which must have been the time when I finally fell in to a deep sleep.

I experienced this a few times in the night and that must have been because at several times I awoke to use the bathroom.

This morning when I woke, I felt that I had been spark-out all night but thankfully without those dancing aches and pains.  Let’s hope that the next few weeks are going to be the same and, in all honestly, if those side effects do not go away, then I am happy to keep them, with the hope and challenge to be able to take better control of them.

If anyone is going through this kind of starting point, whether it be a new drug regime or additions to an existing one, then I can only suggest: embrace the feeling, do not be frightened by it and use it to your advantage… enjoy it!

It has got to that stage now where I have time to think what is right for me in the way of antiretroviral medication ARV’s, also known as ‘combination therapy.’

I am looking at it from the view that if I leave it any longer, then I will not have the opportunity to look at the different possibilities; as one particular regime may be right for one person but not always for someone else. In that respect, I need to consider what best fits in with my lifestyle, not just about what possible side effects there could be but also the type of regime; how many pills do I need to swallow? How big are they? Do I need to take them with or without food? A few things to think about then.

A common consideration for starting antiretroviral medication maybe based on the CD4 count being between 300 and 350. At present, I am only just above that, 360, but I think all the time that I am well, despite close to the CD4 count that would typically trigger the introduction of an antiretroviral drug regime, it gives me time to think about and research what medication is available for me. Times have changed dramatically and today’s choices are far greater than ever before. Specialist HIV Consultants are more knowledgeable and have a better understanding of which is the right medication for an individuals needs. They are also more efficient at monitoring the initial side effects and reactions.

So then, what is best for me? I am now aware of the chance that I may be given one drug over another based on its cost. What I’m not so sure of is how much attention is paid to the cost over the efficiency and then the thought of how toxic the drugs will be and the extent of their side effects. These factors I have to think about and not make any rash decisions.

Becoming HIV positive certainly is a lifestyle changing illness in its own right… starting meds then changes it again, so just when your mind and soul starts to cope with the news of the diagnosis, along comes the realisation of needing to start a toxic drug regime, re-surfacing all of those fears once more!

As I sit in the clinic waiting room, various thoughts run through my mind; today may be the day that I start antiretroviral medication. So what choices are available to me? Or maybe, how will my day change in relation to taking medication?

If I am to believe all that I read, I am apprehensive and fearful of what I am about to start taking and how it may change me. But it is combined with an excitement of knowing that hopefully, after only a few weeks of initial illness and discomfort, that everything else will improve; my health, my CD4 and in time, an undetectable viral load. Therefore, I adjust my mindset and accept that some side effects are worth enduring for a short period of time if, in the longer term, I will be able to manage better and be more well, day to day.

To be continued…

One Final Thought…”If A Smile Lights Up Your Day Then Pass It On”

Silvia Petretti, HIV Activist

Here is the speech I gave at The Sophia Forum Round Table meeting, at the House of Lords yesterday.

” I would like to thank the Sophia Forum for inviting me to speak today, and for all of you for being here.

I am a woman living with HIV and I work at Positively UK as Community Development Manager.

At Positively UK we speak to hundreds of HIV positive women every year. We meet them in support groups, through the help-line, we meet them in hospitals and during outreach to prisons. In spite of all of our efforts we only reach several hundreds of the over 21,000 women who have been diagnosed with HIV in the UK. And reaching those women is becoming harder and harder as funding for women’s specific services shrinks.

As you have heard from my colleagues as women living with HIV we face many challenges: Sophie has highlighted the challenges of those of us who go through the Criminal Justice System and Angelina the different layers and complexities that HIV adds to motherhood.

From a strictly bio-medical point of view many of us are doing really well. And I have heard so many times that HIV should be ‘normalized’ and treated like diabetes. But for most of us who are living with HIV in the UK I know that it takes more then pills to live with dignity and safety.

An area in which positive women find enormous difficulties is the area of relationships.

This is a sphere of particular importance for women. Of course every human being has a basic need of feeling loved and appreciated. However, this need is amplified for women. The way gender plays in society means that women still gain a lot of status through being in a stable relationship and having children. HIV on the other hand comes with an immediate loss of value as a person in society, and this on top of other socio-economic disadvantages women face.

The pressure of being in a relationship, combined with the anxiety of being rejected because of our HIV status pushes us very often into dangerous relationships.

2011 has started with some stark reminders of those dangers. During the Christmas holidays I was threatened with violence by an ex partner: the fact that I am a woman living with HIV, made me a potential ‘killer’ and of course of dubious morality. This was very much at the centre of the verbal attack and the threats of physical violence. In my ex-partner’s mind I obviously deserved to be treated like that because I have HIV.

I was shaken, and hurt, but thanks to the support of friends and family I was able to feel a certain degree of safety. For many women for whom HIV is still a dark secret to be protected at all costs, it would be impossible to talk to anybody about such an episode and this sense of safety would be unattainable.

When I returned to work I found out that another positive woman, a close friend, had been physically assaulted and beaten. Within the first few days in January I also received a phone call from a young positive mother who is in an abusive and violent relationship, which is profoundly damaging to her and her baby.

The truth is that hardly a week goes by at Positively UK that we do not hear of a positive woman being emotionally blackmailed, abused, threatened or physically attacked.

I have used my personal example because I want to dispel the myth that violence against women is something that affects only ‘certain’ women: the ‘vulnerable’, or the ‘African Community. I am afraid that among women with HIV in the UK this goes across class and colour: it’s part of our reality. I do also recognize that poverty, immigration issues, isolation and fear of HIV status being revealed: create insurmountable obstacles that lock positive women in these dangerous relationships.

I do not have a research paper to back this up. I have 10 years of experience working for a women’s helpline and facilitating support groups.

On a global level the UK through Department for International Development has widely acknowledged the strong link between gender inequity, gender violence and HIV. However this link has never been acknowledged in any national HIV policy strategy here within the UK.

At a very personal level I have asked myself: why has this happened to me? why is this happening to us as positive women? Are those men just individual ‘monsters? Who else, or what else, has a role to play in this? And I believe it is important to recognize that these are not isolated episodes but they continue to happen in the context of our societal views and attitudes towards women and HIV.

Today I would like to ask you here in this room, many of you being influential policy makers: what is your role in shaping those attitudes? What is your role in stopping violence against HIV positive women in the UK?

Obviously when HIV positive women face such complex and difficult circumstances as those I and my colleagues have highlighted it is not a surprise that our health, physically and mentally, is affected. Research shows that women have worst outcomes in regards to HIV treatment. This is due to several factors, including low numbers of women in clinical studies, and lack of studies focusing on women’s issues outside pregnancy. It is no wonder then that there are still only about 30 of us women who are fully open about our status here in the UK: just 30 out of about 33,000 women who have HIV here.

However, I know from the work we do that peer-lead support enables women to regain a sense of self-worth, and this has a positive effect on our mental and physical health. Peer support is important in enabling us to disclose our status, or in giving us the confidence to leave abusive or violent relationships. Being more open about HIV improves our adherence. Adherence means less resistance to treatment and no need to switch to more expensive regimes. Being successfully on ART, with an undetectable viral load, combined with openness about HIV status, also creates the foundation for preventing onward transmission. And we all know that new infections are very expensive to treat, as well as a personal tragedy. Finally, when women are appropriately supported in their psycho-social needs they require less face to face contact with their health-care providers. In brief: peer-led support for HIV positive women not only has health outcomes, but makes economic sense.

To conclude I would like to point out some recommendations which will allow us to continue to do our work, I also hope that this session will enable us to hear your ideas on other ways forward:

Firstly, we need some robust evidence to back our work. We need resources to develop participatory research around how gender, HIV related stigma and gender violence affect our lives as well as research on the effects of peer-led interventions.

Secondly, we need better partnership between the scientific community and HIV positive women. Scientific research, including clinical trials, should involve and support HIV positive women at every stage, from formulating questions, to collecting and analyzing data.

Thirdly, and most importantly, that support for women’s centred services and networks has to be long term and sustained, so that we, who are directly affected, can develop and maintain the strength to challenge negative societal views of HIV positive women. Stigma will end when we are visible.

Before March 2007, I was your ‘run of the mill’ normal kind of guy. I say normal in a loose sense of the word as I am by no means normal in what I do. I tend to do things in my own typical style.   I never took anything for granted… I always looked on everything I had, or was given, to be more of a privilege rather than a right.

Then it all changed: I became extremely ill and I had a rash develop all over my body, my face and even on the palms of my hands and the souls of my feet.  My partner called a friend of ours who was a nurse from South Africa and was visiting in the UK at the time. On arrival, she looked me up and down and carried out the usual checks and then said to my partner: “Call an ambulance! We need to get him to A&E.”

Initially, no one quite knew what to diagnose and I went through the usual routine visual checks, E.C.G.  and blood tests and fairly quickly, I was admitted to hospital in isolation. I am not sure if that was for my own protection or for the hospital’s sake. Either way, I got my own comfy room or at least, at the time, I felt looked after.  I think I must have fallen asleep because I do not remember much more after that.

The next day I felt like a human dartboard. The hospital staff were still doing their checks and several attempts of a further cannula being put into me.  I then had an unexpected visit from two members of staff from the G.U.M. clinic, Kevin and Yvonne.  I was told that they had been contacted by A&E to come over and do some further tests as it was thought that I may have second stage Syphilis which apparently has similar symptoms to that of what I was displaying.

It was a few days before I had any kind of results and both the hospital and G.U.M. clinic staff seem to be working both at separate ends of the scale and neither of them seemed to be talking to one other. Slowly, I was feeling that isolation was not such a good thing as, at times, I felt not only isolated in my little room but also with what was going on. Moreover, what I was not being told, why did I have the feeling that I was the last person to be told everything?

Staff came and went and more often or not, I was just being given plenty of fluids through the drip and it was not until a few days later when I finally got to see the light of day and was told what I had.

I remember it clearly when Kevin and Yvonne walked in. Yvonne sat at the end of my bed and began by saying: “you will be pleased to know that it is not second stage Syphilis.” She paused and then went on to say: “but it is HIV.” Out of sheer shock, I immediately burst into tears, not from fear but from the emotional strains that I had been under; the not knowing if I was coming or going.

I feel quite emotional now, as I am writing this! Thinking about it all, it still feels quite fresh in my mind but it is also my therapy for coming to terms with my HIV status.

I thought that getting how I felt out in the open or, at least, stringing together how I felt, in a fashionable sentence, might work on making myself feel a bit better. It does in a way! It certainly makes me feel stronger in coming to terms with being positive but it also makes me realize that everything is not as it seems; after all, I was not giving a manual about being HIV positive; neither was I told how I was going to feel and I certainly was not prepared for the total mind games that I was going to face every day.

All I had was a constant reminder of what a fool I had been and the trust I had with someone. I certainly had to find out for myself how my life was going to continue. It is almost seemed as though I was given a second chance and the feeling of a blank canvas to work with again, the choice of just how much of my old-self I wanted to continue with and how much of the new I wanted to include.  My emotional and mental state played absolute havoc with me and everything I seemed to do in those early stages, always felt as if it was contradicting me all of the time and it is at this stage I noticed, that I could feel so differently, negatively and think ‘what the hell,’ it cannot get any worse so I am just gonna party every night, get drunk at the weekends and carry on taking risks that at the time do not seem risky at all. Even safe sex seemed unimportant at the time.

A few years later, once I had finally come back down to earth, I was able to start to prioritise what it is that is important in my life and get a truer perspective as to where and what things were to fit into place.  Unlike before, I now let fewer people control my decision making, e.g. getting on a plane and I feel that the second chance that I have been given, even with this debilitating illness; is going to work in my favour.  I have many more goals to achieve and ambitions to fulfil, and I am meeting new friends and discovering new places.  Since being diagnosed, my negative situations are turning into positive ones.

I would very much appreciate that my message and my blog posts here that are my experiences… act as a wake up call to those people who read this and who are not infected with HIV, to realise that there is still time to not make foolish errors and to be responsible for your own actions.

I am learning that life experiences can be a good means of communicating a very positive and influential message.  I have observed some people becoming HIV positive deliberately. In one example, it was in order to be the same status as their HIV positive partner. For him, it was the right decision at the time… but they are separated now!

I have found out that, at times, HIV can be quite prejudice towards you, so choice is everything but today we have more choices than ever.

In my next blog, I will describe what living with HIV is like, the pitfalls, hurdles, the highs and the lows.

Look out for each other, look after yourself!

‘Til next time,

Max

POPE BENEDICT XVI

POPE BENEDICT XVI did the holiest of U-turns on the value of condoms in the fight against HIV/Aids according to extracts from a new book to be published this week.

The Pope said that condom use can be justified in some cases – such as for male prostitutes – to help stop the spread of HIV/Aids.

But the Catholic Church still does not see condoms as ‘a real or moral solution’ and that they are ‘not really the way to deal with the evil of HIV infection.

Peter Seewald, the German Journalist asked the Pope in a series of interviews for the book, if the Catholic Church apposed to the principles of Condoms, the Pope said: “She of course does not regard it as a real or moral solution, but, in this or that case, there can be nonetheless, in the intention of reducing the risk of infection, a first step in a movement toward a different way, a more human way, of living sexuality.”

The change of attitude by the Catholic Church  will seen as a step in the right direction by many HIV charities, who believed his statements and teachings on sexuality, sexual health and well-being put men and women’s health and lives in danger.

Peter TaTchell, Human Rights Campaigner said: “The Pope’s concession that condoms may be morally justified in certain circumstances is a significant modification of the Vatican’s traditional, hard-line stance, against all condom use. He seems to be admitting, for the first time, that using condoms can be morally responsible if they help save lives.

“If the Pope can change his stance on condoms, why can’t he also modify the Vatican’s harsh, intolerant opposition to women’s rights, gay equality, fertility treatment and embryonic stem cell research?”

Lisa Power, Policy Director at Terrence Higgins Trust THT said: “We’re delighted to see the Pope’s acceptance of condoms is valid for everyone, not just male sex workers. His comments are a really positive step towards protecting people from sexually transmitted infections and, of course, HIV, which will save many thousands of lives.

“It’s helpful that these remarks are being reported so close to World AIDS Day, which takes place next Wednesday on the 1st of December. It’s a good time to be talking about using condoms and taking responsibility for your own and your partner’s safety.”

UNAIDS welcomed the Pope’s comments “This is a significant and positive step forward taken by the Vatican,” said Executive Director Michel Sidibe.

“Light of the World: The Pope, The Church and The Signs of the Times,” a book-length set of interviews with the Pope by Peter Seewald goes on sale this week and describes among other things the Pope’s revised stance on condom use.

ENDS

GMFA LAUNCH “Count Me In” a new HIV-prevention campaign aimed gay men.

The campaign is being endorsed by a host of gay venues and the gay media.  Who will play a crucial role in helping the charity to raise awareness of HIV this World Aids Day.

The campaign message “Together we can stop the spread of HIV”, encourages gay men to play their part and sign up to the campaigns five-point pledge:

1. I will know my HIV status
2. I will not assume I know someone else’s HIV status
3. I will take personal responsibility for using condoms
4. I will value myself and my health
5. I will stay informed about HIV and how it is spread

Matthew Hodson, Head of Programmes at GMFA said: “This isn’t just about what we can do around World AIDS Day – it’s what we can all do on an ongoing basis to stop the spread of HIV in our community. We’re delighted that so many have recognised the importance of what we’re trying to achieve and have joined us in the campaign.

“With their support, we hope to encourage gay men to re-commit to tackling the virus and to make a real difference,” added Hodson.

Volunteers from the charity sporting T-shirts with the slogan “Together we can stop the spread of HIV” will be at venues across London on the run up to World Aids Day.

The campaign is also being supported by gay author and journalist Paul Burston and DJ club promoter Dusty O.

For full details and to join the campaign, visit www.facebook.com To view GMFA’s “Count Me In” manifesto and to join the debate, visit www.outspokenonhealth.com

©IAS/Steve Forrest/Workers' Photos

I want to make this clear. I am completely in support of early testing and universal access to ARVs. However I am pretty doubtful that the ‘Test and Treat’ approach can work in the real world as an effective prevention strategy.

Untangling what works in prevention is not an easy task, and this is probably why the HIV epidemic hasn’t been halted yet. One of the  most interesting approaches to prevention is the concept of  ‘Combination Prevention’.  This has been around for the past few years and was prominent at the last International AIDS Conference Vienna 2010.

As we know, HIV is a complex virus that can not be stopped by one single drug once it is in our bodies.  This is why a combination of 3 or more drugs, is used to attack it from different angles.  Likely, the use of several strategies to prevent the virus to even enter the body is seen as ‘Highly Active Prevention’ or ‘Combination Prevention’.

As in HIV treatment there are many classes of drugs, so there are different components of Combination Prevention.

Behavioural: start using condoms and femidoms, delaying starting having sex, choosing partners who have your same HIV status (sero-sorting),  having not penetrative sex, using clean injecting equipment etc. .

Bio-medical Interventions: access to ARVs for PLHIV, ARVs used as a Pre Exposure Protection ( PreP) or Post Exposure Profilaxis (PEP), Microbicides (when we will have them!), Male Circumcision etc

Structural : availability of harm reduction for drug users, gender violence, gender inequity,  poverty, homophobia, racism, HIV stigma etc

Those ‘ingredients’ need ‘boosters’, like some HIV drugs, to make things happen:

Political will: the support of political leaders, governments, multilateral agencies.

Economic investment: Money is needed to carry out research, as well as for delivery of all  prevention aspects. Obviously AIDS funding is an increasing struggle in the present economic climate.

Community Engagement: People who are infected or at risk of becoming infected need to be involved at all the stages of prevention planning and  implementation .

One of the prevention success stories presented at Vienna 2010 was the evidence from the World Bank that cash transfers  to young women in Malawi and Tanzania were associated with lowering HIV infections among those adolescents. This clearly shows the links of between a Structural element (poverty/ access to cash) and Individual behaviour (not using sex in exchange of money/school fees or other benefits) and how they can result in preventing  HIV infection.

One of the of the major challenges of  Combination Prevention is the need of more evidence and of clear  evaluation processes . It is very difficult to understand what is working in the short or long-term and how the different elements interact and influence each other. Social scientists are looking now at developing a Combination Evaluation!

7000 people are infected with HIV everyday.  Complacency in not an option in prevention. UNAIDS  has called for a Prevention Revolution.

Here is the video launching the campaign: HIV Infections: How Many People a Day?

George Osborne

“Vive la Revolution Republic” This week the French managed to bring their country to a standstill because their government wants to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62!

It was a site to behold, our banner waving French neighbours marching (and rioting) from Paris to Leon. But I wonder how they view us here in the UK?  As we sit sipping tea, silent, our blood boiling, as the new Lib-Con Coalition present a government spending review that will save 81 billion, but hurt the poorest 10 per cent.

As George Osborne announced the final departmental spending cuts on Wednesday , it was the sinister smiles from the ministers who manage those departments that give away the underlying agenda of the coalition, revealing that ideological change is firmly at the heart of these cuts and that getting the country back on-track was the justifiable smoke screen.

But not everyone’s blood is boiling, many view these cuts essential and are supported by 60 per cent of the populace, passing many of then by. Infact, the goverment expect a surge in opinion polls in their favour. So when it comes to revolution, I will not hold my breath.

Areas of concern for people living with HIV and far reaching and will affect: the most vulnerable and sick, the homeless, single people and mothers with small children.

CONTRIBUTION BASED ESA REMOVED AFTER ONE YEAR

The welfare budget received extra attention yesterday with 7 billion in cuts announced, bringing in an estimated 18 billion of savings by 2014/15. With those in receipt of housing benefit, disability payments and tax credits taking the brunt.

One of the most controversial announcements yesterday was with regard to the employment and support allowance (ESA) the new benefit for people who can’t work due to illness or disability.

Since October 2008, ESA has been phased in to replace incapacity benefit for new claimants.  Existing claimants of incapacity benefit will be gradually moved over the ESA from February 2011.

There are two types of ESA. Contributory ESA is paid to people who satisfy the national insurance conditions. It is not means tested.  Income-related ESA is paid if you pass the means test. It is for people who are on low income and incapable of work. You don’t have to satisfy NI conditions.

Those in the: support group category that are severely disabled or terminally ill will not be affected by the one year rule. However, those in the: work related activity group who need the support before they return to work, will loose their benefit after a year, even  if they have not recovered and  are in reciept of contribution based ESA.

This has prompted a back lash from charities. Deborah Jack, CEO of the National Aids Trust (NAT) has criticising the Chancellor’s decision to put a one year time limit on the length of time a person can claim ESA, pointing out that it is likely to be detrimental to those living with a disability, including people living with HIV. See the fornt page for Jack’s reaction to the cuts.

I can also reveal that where the Work Capability Assessments has been used to assess new benefits claimants with illness and disability as many, as 68 per cent have failed the assessment. However, 50 per cent  have had a ESA granted after appeala, highlighting the poor standard of the assessments.

In another worrying development, those that are returned to job seekers allowance will loose 10 per cent of their housing benefit after one year, if they are still unemployed.

SHARED ROOM RATE TO BE EXTENDED 35 YEAR OLDS

The single room restriction on housing benefit that applies to the under 25 now, will be raised to 35 from April 2012. This will affect anyone living with HIV that is not in receipt of middle and high rates of DLA or living in social housing. Anyone that wants to live alone will have to share or make up the difference from their benefit.

In the emergency budget in June the Chancellor set a maximum local housing allowance. Meaning that there will be a cap on how much housing benefit you cam claim based on the size of your property and the area that you live in.

TAX CREDITS FROZEN

The tax credit freeze will have an impact on both families and single people that have returned to work and are on low incomes. Because there will be no inflationary rise in tax credits for this parliament, many will find that they are worse of a few years down the line.

DLA

We heard about the changes to changes to DLA in the emergency budget back in June when welfare cuts came in at 11 billion. However, I will recap anyway because I have learnt today from the Terrence Higgins Trust THT that the government have admitted that there are only 0.5 per cent of fraudulent DLA claims, but still seem committed to reaching their 20 per cent reduction in claimants, meaning that some people who should be entitled to the benefit will loose out because of targets.

SOCIAL HOUSING AT RISK FROM THE TORIES AGAIN!

The link between bad health and housing amongst people living with HIV is well documented. Many housing professionals have little understanding of the condition and remain unaware of the effect poor housing can have on the lives of those with HIV according to a joint study by NAT and Shelter in 2009.

Changes to social housing include:

• new tenants will be given a new type of council tenancy instead of the current secure tenancy.
• tenants’ circumstances will be assessed after a period of time to see if they still need subsidised housing.
• those whose financial circumstances have improved are likely to have to buy a home on the open market or rent from a private landlord (even if they can’t afford it).

The changes will not affect you if you are an existing tenant – it will only apply to people who are allocated a home after the legislation has been implemented.

The last 15 years have been complete disaster for social housing. It is true there have been more homes built, but what of the quality of those homes? Some housing associations have become debt heavy and were hit hard in the housing slump and many councils totally gave up and farmed out their housing stock to Arms Length Management Organisations (ALMO’s).

There has been no real vision or national plan for social housing, and it has been communities that have paid the price. However, housing associations have enough spare cash to borrow up to £2.7 billion, according to a new study by the Tenant Services Authority.

So why have the government waded in with sweeping reforms and massive cuts in the housing budget? Simple answer, they have no interest in the concept of social housing.  Margret Thatcher gloriously demonstrated the fact back in the 80s, when she created a housing boom with the sale of council houses, pocketing the cash to-boot. Councils never recovered.

Shelter’s chief executive Campbell Robb said: “It is a huge blow to see that housing, one of the most basic needs for every single person in this country, is facing some of the biggest cuts. A succession of governments has failed to address our housing crisis and today’s announcements suggest the coalition has firmly joined them in denying responsibility for  an entire generation’s ability to access decent, secure, affordable housing.”

The average rent for a three-bedroom council house is £85 a week (outside of London), but under the plans that could triple to £250 a week. The idea of asking tenants to pay for housing development is ludicrous, a concept in my opinion we should resist vigorously.

TOUGH TIMES AHEAD

So there you have it, a spending review that will have far reaching implications for many people living with HIV. For years now Cameron has created a mirage of a NEW Tory that listens and understands the needs of the most vulnerable in our society, a deception that unravelled yesterday, and one for the history books no doubt.

If Lady Thatcher was not in in hospital I am sure she would be patting David on the back and saying “Well done my boy, well done .” I doubt we will manage to replicate the French’s taste for disorderly or orderly behaviour, but I suspect that activists around the UK will be waiting for their moment to strike. “Vive la Revolution.”

To find out how the cuts will affect you go to www.tht.org.uk

To back shelters campaign for affordable housing go to www.shelter.org.uk