news: UK Deadly Advice to be Challenged
At least three people with HIV have died in London after being told to stop taking their medication by Evangelical Christian pastors. BBC London said the women had stopped taking their antiretroviral drugs after attending African faith churches where they were encouraged to believe that god would heal them. Now some in the African HIV community are fighting back. Eunice Sinyemu told BASELINE that the African Health Policy Network (AHPN) is holding a meeting at Southwark Cathedral, London, on November 2 with Anglican priests from dioceses all over London and several Black Faith Church pastors. The object is to develop a campaign on HIV treatment and to tackle misinformation and take it direct to African faith leaders and their congregations. The APHN say that a growing number of London evangelical churches have been telling their congregation that the power of prayer will ‘cure’ their HIV. The Synagogue Church of All Nationals (SCOAN) based in Southwark, was one such church, headed by pastor TB Joshua, one of Nigeria’s richest clergyman. The church’s website in Nigeria shows pictures of people the church claims ‘cured’ through prayer. HIV-AIDS healing is listed on their website among miracles it can perform along with ‘cancer healing’. In one example their website claims: “Mrs Badmus proudly displays her two different medical records confirming she is 100% free from HIV-AIDS following the prayer of Pastor TB Joshua.” The recent House of Lords committee report into HIV awareness said that faith groups’ approaches to supporting people with HIV had improved but more needed to be done; ‘It is essential that faith leaders engage with HIV as an issue and provide effective and truthful support and communication around the subject.’ 10 Autumn 2011
New point-of-care CD4 Analyser Improves HIV Management
An exciting new product from Alere allows CD4 to be rapidly and accurately measured at the point of care. The simple and easy to use Pima™ CD4 analyser counts T-helper cells on a 25 µl finger prick blood sample, gives results in just 20 minutes – a considerable benefit over existing technologies. An essential part of HIV management, the CD4 count, provides a baseline indicator of immune status that is monitored to assess the response to antiretroviral drugs. Every HIV positive person needs regular CD4 measurements and the 2008 British HIV Association guidelines recommend that treatment should be considered when CD4 counts reach between 200-350 mm3. However access to testing has always been a major issue as only specialist laboratories have traditionally performed CD4 counts. Sending samples away for testing involves waiting for results, repeat visits and delays in treatment. The Alere Pima CD4 revolutionises this approach and is the first test to allow onthe-spot determination of immune-status, introducing significant benefits in terms of care, convenience and cost. The portable instrument is simple to operate and can be used in any community or mobile situation to provide immediate and accurate CD4 counts.