POZ Community Forums
Main Forums => Living With HIV => Topic started by: britchick on August 15, 2013, 12:00:56 pm
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The UK govt has announced that self testing kits for hiv will be intoduced by April 2014 and that medical personnel, especially surgeons and dentists who are actively taking Hiv treatment will no longer be banned from certain procedures.
britchickx
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I read the article on BBC News Health section.
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Details from an email I got this afternoon:
Two pieces of great news today – both for tackling the spread of HIV and improving the rights of people living with HIV.
The Government has announced they will legalise and regulate the sale of HIV self-testing kits from 2014. With your help, we’ve campaigned for this change in the law for the last decade. A special thanks to those of you who emailed your MP last year asking them to call on the Department of Health to legalise self-testing. Terrence Higgins Trust believes people deserve to have a choice about how and where they test for HIV. Proper regulation will make self-testing a safe and supported option for many more people across the country. Currently, most HIV transmission in the UK is driven by the 25,000 people who have HIV but have not yet been diagnosed. This change will help our efforts to get more people to test for HIV and get treatment if they need it.
Regarding another issue we’ve campaigned on for a number of years, the Department of Health have also announced that they are dropping the ban on people living with HIV from healthcare jobs that involve ‘exposure prone procedures’. People such as midwives and dentists who acquire HIV will be able to continue working. We know people have already lost their jobs because of the previous restrictions, and they will now be able to practise again. Advances in treatment and our understanding of HIV transmission mean the new restrictions will create no real risk. Regulation will require that people take medication, have a very low or undetectable viral load, and are regularly monitored.
Thank you for campaigning with us,
Guy Slade
Parliamentary Officer
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Ann,
Thanks for the post.I read about a dentist here in the UK who lost his job, house ..everything back in 2008 due to his positive status....he's hoping to start working again soon.
britchick
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Really good news :) Made the mistake of reading the comments underneath the news articles today though :(
Won't be doing that again.
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Made the mistake of reading the comments underneath the news articles today though :(
Won't be doing that again.
Never read the comments.
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It appears some peoples stupidity holds no bounds.
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This is brilliant news! I was so pleased to hear this on the radio this morning
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Hey yo, I just thought some may be interested in this article from The Guardian. It's definitely an easier read than that "Men Who Want AIDS" article that's floating around. Oi.
I didn't realize there was a restriction on healthcare workers with HIV in the UK until it was announced there wasn't.
The stigma of HIV still remains (http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/15/stigma-hiv-nhs-ban-ended-fear)
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/15/stigma-hiv-nhs-ban-ended-fear
The original story here (http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/aug/15/hiv-restrictions-health-workers-lifted): http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/aug/15/hiv-restrictions-health-workers-lifted
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manchesteruk
I read the comments on the BBC website too.....not so nice!But at least we had a couple of people who are on our side.Kudos to them!
oksikoko...the only reason i knew about the restrictions was due to staff at the hospital telling me when i was diagnosed and pondering re work, stigma etc and that they were pretty sure it would be changing soon!!!!!!!!
Taboo....how are you doing?
britchickx
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Never read the comments.
I read this and thought, "I'll just read the comments for a bit, it can`'t be that bad surely, especially on the Guardian". I'll not read the comments again.