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Tom Spiers |
Remember HIV?A growing problem |
Testing Five years ago, Tom Spiers was enjoying Mardi Gras, a summertime gay and lesbian festival in Manchester. He noticed someone staring at him and they got talking. The stranger was from New Zealand and due to fly home the next day, but they ended up having a one-night stand. The next day, when leaving the hotel, the stranger told Tom he was HIV-positive. Not surprisingly, Tom was angry and terrified. 'I realised that we hadn't used a condom,' he says. 'I had to wait the three months development period before I could go for an HIV and STD test.' With no interpreter and no counselling, the doctor wrote down the word 'positive' for Tom to read. HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) causes AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome), a disease that destroys the body's ability to fight infection. Once the HIV virus enters the body, it seeks out a type of white blood cell called a helper T-lymphocyte, which usually defends the body against infection. The virus kills the T-lymphocyte and releases billions of copies of itself back into the blood. The copies of the virus attach themselves to new T-lymphocytes, and so the infection grows and spreads. The body manages to keep producing enough T-lymphocytes to keep the immune system working properly for a time. But eventually – sometimes as much as 15 years later – the body can't keep up with the HIV virus, the immune system stops working and the person becomes susceptible to other infections which would not normally make them ill. This failure of the immune system is AIDS. There are approximately 41,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in the UK, and since the first outbreak in 1981 there have been 15,000 deaths here as a result of the virus. It is estimated that, since 1987, 57 deaf people have died from AIDS. Around 100 deaf people are HIV-positive. HIV/AIDS may have largely disappeared from the headlines, but cases in the UK are reported to be growing by almost 10% a year. Young people in their 20s and 30s are most at risk through unprotected sex and, among intravenous drug users, by sharing needles. In 2002, 63% of all people infected with HIV in the UK were infected during unprotected sex with someone of the opposite sex. Blood tests for HIV are very accurate, but the test used in most UK hospitals only detects the virus once it has become established, which is about three months after infection. Anyone taking an HIV test should be informed of all the implications and have a chance to talk things through if they want to. HIV-positive status can have a massive effect on a life and on relationships, so people need to be prepared. See Counselling and support below. Testing can be done either by a GP (family doctor) or in a specialist GUM (Genito-Urinary Medicine) clinic. You should be aware that your regular doctor may be asked to disclose details of test results to insurance companies and others making health checks on an individual – though not without the individual's consent – and this could, for example, affect a life- insurance policy. For maximum confidentiality, you might prefer to have a test at a GUM clinic. You can visit a GUM clinic without having to see your doctor first. If you're pregnant, you should be offered an HIV test as part of routine care. If you are found to be HIV positive, there are things you can do to reduce the chances of your baby being infected. For example: you and your baby can be given antiretroviral drugs; you can have the child by caesarean section; and you can avoid breastfeeding. See Find out more for sources of more advice and information. When Tom Spiers found out that he was HIV-positive, he told no one – not even his closest mates – for a whole year. 'Then I felt down for months, so I told my close friends,' he says. 'Later on, I told my family. They were shocked at first but then they accepted it. They've really supported me a lot.' Tom thinks counselling would have been very helpful, but he didn't want it at the time. 'I was angry with myself for weeks and weeks and weeks,' he says. 'I didn't want counselling. I wanted to pretend that it hadn't happened.' Despite some funding problems, the British Deaf Association Counselling Service (BDACS – see Find out more) provides counselling for a number of clients who have HIV/AIDS. They can also guide clients in the right direction for appropriate support when considering an HIV test. The BDACS evolved from AIDS AHEAD, which was set up in 1987 to provide HIV services for deaf people. More services are needed, Tom believes. 'I am very disappointed that there are no deaf group discussions about HIV. And we need more interpreters who are experienced in the area of HIV/AIDS.' Mike Hawthorne, who is also HIV-positive, agrees. He thinks there should be a website or e-group set up for deaf people, so they can support each other. He also believes there should be more visual information, and more information in BSL, about safe sex. What do you think? Let us know on the message board. Find out moreContacts British Deaf Association Health and Counselling Service Terrence Higgins Trust Direct Helpline Links aids.org Aidsmap Avert Channel 4 Health: Sexual Health Crusaid Joint United Nations programme on HIV/AIDS National AIDS Trust Playing Safely (NHS) Public Health Laboratory Service Society of Health Advisers in Sexually Transmitted Diseases World Health Organisation (WHO) Books The Guide to Living with HIV Infection: Developed at the Johns Hopkins
AIDS Clinic by John G Bartlett, Ann K Finkbeiner (The Johns Hopkins
University Press, 2001) HIV/AIDS: Practical, Medical & Spiritual Guidelines for Daily
Living When You're HIV Positive by Mark Jenkins (Hazelden Information
& Educational Services, 2000) Serenity: Support and Guidance for People with HIV, Their Families,
Friends and Caregivers by Paul Reed (Celestial Arts, 1987) Channel 4 is not responsible for the content of third-party sites. |
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