Health

Peterborough HIV Support Services (PHSS) and national HIV and sexual health charity Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) finalised their merger today.

PHSS offers HIV support and health promotion in the Peterborough and Cambridgeshire areas while THT is the largest HIV and sexual health charity in the UK.
 
The move will strengthen the services on offer locally including individual support for people living with HIV, prevention work with groups at high risk and schools work educating young people on HIV and sexual health.
 

Read more: Terrence Higgins Trust and Peterborough HIV Support Services finalise merger

The Health Protection Agency has stated that in 2008 over 2,800 gays in the UK were told they were HIV positive.

Two-thirds of all those positively tested in Britain were gay men, whilst the number of homosexuals being diagnosed since 1999 has leapt 100%, the statistics showed.

Lisa Power, Head of Policy at the Terrence Higgins Trust commented, "Numbers of people diagnosed with HIV are rising for many reasons. More people are getting tested, which is good. But some people don't realise they could be at risk, and others take risks despite knowing them. HIV is not a risk worth taking."

Read more: Worrying HIV Rise in Gay Men

1 in 6 psychiatrists and therapists are trying to help lesbian or gay patients become straight according to new research.

There is a complete lack of evidence that such treatments can be beneficial or even safe, the study in the journal BMC Psychiatry said.

The research found that 1 in 6 of the 1,400 mental health professionals surveyed reported having helped at least one patient curtail their gay, lesbian or bisexual feelings. One in 25 psychiatrists or therapists said they would try to treat someone who was having such emotions if asked.

Read more: Psychiatrists Still Offering Gay Cure

More than one in three people with HIV experienced HIV related discrimination in the last year according to new research.
 
‘What Do You Need?’ is a national survey of people with HIV undertaken by Sigma Research and commissioned by Terrence Higgins Trust and the Department of Health. It found that 36% of respondents had faced HIV related discrimination in the previous year. Discrimination came from family members, their own community, doctors and other health professionals.
 
Marc Thompson, Acting Head of Health Promotion at Terrence Higgins Trust said "Despite provisions in the Disability Discrimination Act, large numbers of people with HIV are facing discrimination on a regular basis. In the family, this could be name-calling, marginalisation or even issues like the refusal of family members to share kitchen equipment. People with HIV also reported breaches of confidentiality or refusal of services from health or care professionals".

Read more: Facing HIV Discrimination

People in the UK find it harder to 'come out' about mental health problems than being gay, having cancer, having drink problems or being bankrupt.

In a brand new survey of over 2000 British people, nearly 30 per cent said they'd find it hard to 'come out' publicly about having a mental health problem; compared with just over 20per cent who said they'd feel as awkward about coming out as gay. It confirms what campaigners have been saying - mental health problems really are one of society's last social taboos. Many people say the stigma and silence around mental health problems, which affect 1 in 4 of us at some stage, can be even harder than the illness itself. The survey, which was commissioned as part of the Time to Change campaign found that people find it harder to go public about having mental health problems than they do:

-    being gay
-    having a drink problem
-    going bankrupt
-    being diagnosed with cancer

Read more: Mental Health a Bigger Taboo than Being Gay