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Basketball star launches HIV support programme for Africans in the United Kingdom
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Submitted by Selbin Kabote on Mon, 03/10/2011 - 8:51am
Africans are one of the groups at highest risk of HIV, accounting to 63% of new heterosexual HIV diagnoses in the UK in 2009. Nearly 22,000 African people accessed HIV care in that year, making up 36% of all people accessing care in the UK.
HIV and sexual health charity Terrence Higgins Trust’s new African Health Promotion Skills programme is a three year programme of work designed to increase rates of HIV testing, reduce the late diagnosis of HIV and reduce its onward transmission in African communities.
The programme which was launched on the 30th of September, is funded with a £141,000 donation from Barclays. The charity is looking for staff and volunteers across the UK who will provide vital support to African communities living with HIV, helping them adhere to treatment and removing barriers of stigma and discrimination which endanger people’s lives by preventing people from coming forward for testing.
Each year 15 individuals UK-wide are recruited and trained on an eight week health promotion programme, which educates them on HIV and mentors them on a variety of topics to equip them with skills to organise training workshops in their local community. Barclays’ staff are central to the project, providing mentoring support to trainees in the form of help with presentation skills, basic accounting, marketing and helping to recruit attendees for workshops.
Basketball star John Amaechi, who now works as a psychologist and political activist launched the programme at Terrence Higgins Trust’s Lighthouse West London centre in Notting Hill. John said: “I am proud to be endorsing such an innovative community focused project which will make a tangible difference through the powerful medium of peer support.
HIV is now a manageable condition but people are still dying needlessly because of a lack of education about the virus and social stigma which contributes to fears about HIV testing in African communities”. John Amaechi added that as someone which Nigerian roots, he knows just how complex cultural beliefs are about sexual health and how important it is that this group has specialist support to counter prejudices and equip people with the information and tools they need to look after their health and the health of their families.
Debbie Phillips, Barclays’ Associate Director for Global Community Investment, said: “Investing in our communities is an integral part of Barclays’ Citizenship strategy. She said “by bringing our skills, time, money and expertise to important community issues, we are able to create a stronger society for us all to live and work in”
Terrence Higgins Trust’s head of Health Improvement, Ben Tunstall, said “ Barclays has supported THT since 2000, enabling the THT to provide sexual health promotion resources to thousands of people in the UK.” He said the THT is extremely grateful to Barclays for backing this tailored new programme which will provide vital support for African communities in the UK.
“If people find out that they are HIV positive in good time, we can get them onto treatments that work for them and allow them to lead a normal, healthy life. But, if there is a big time gap in them finding out that they have HIV, or if they never find out at all, they will become seriously ill and die earlier. This is why there is need to reach people as early as possible,” Ben Tunstall said
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