Robert Fieldhouse
What does living positively mean to you? ‘Make (+) More Positive™’ is a new campaign sponsored by Alere, designed to connect people around the world affected by HIV/AIDS, and demonstrate that with today’s advances in healthcare, living positively is a reality.
‘Alere’s positive, patient-centred approach to HIV positivity is empowering people with HIV to live full, healthy and active lives.’ ‘More Positive’ is encouraging people to define what living positively means to them by turning the plus sign into an artistic symbol of optimism. To create your own symbol, visit www.morepositive. com - you can also follow the campaign on Twitter @more_positive and Facebook/morepositive A global leader in rapid diagnostics, Alere’s support for the HIV community encompasses a range of pioneering products for rapid HIV testing and CD4 monitoring. Their positive, patientcentred approach to HIV positivity is empowering people with HIV to live full, healthy and active lives. They are committed to improving access to testing and monitoring in the community, helping to improve outcomes and reduce the reservoir of infection presented by people who are undiagnosed. With rapid and accurate tests that can be performed in local clinics they provide immediate results that make diagnosis and regular check-ups more convenient and less stressful. Steve Lockyer, Senior Sexual Health Advisor at King’s College Hospital, London is using Alere’s Determine™ HIV Combo - a rapid, 4th generation, point of care test that detects HIV just days after infection and sooner than any other rapid test. He explains how patients are benefiting; “A man recently visited the clinic after returning from holiday showing signs typical of seroconversion.
We performed a test immediately and within a few minutes we had a strong reactive p24 antigen bar. The on-the-spot result was really helpful in terms of managing his symptoms and diagnosis – it’s clear what a useful tool the Combo test can be in emergency settings”. CD4 counts are a key test in assessing the progress of HIV and rapid monitoring of newly diagnosed patients and those on antiretroviral therapy (ART) is essential. Counts have previously needed specialist laboratories, but the revolutionary Alere Pima™ CD4 analyser performs rapid and accurate counts whilst the patient is in clinic, eliminating pre or post-visit blood test appointments. The Mortimer Market Centre, London, one of the UK’s leading sexual health and HIV treatment centres has reported positive feedback. Dr. Paul Benn, HIV Service Lead says; “A Pima CD4 test takes just 20 minutes and can be performed in a variety of patient-centred settings. The results are highly correlated with laboratory tests and clearly identify individuals requiring ART.” For the patients, rapid results can also reduce stress as HIV Staff Nurse, Alexander Rogers explained; “One of the great things about using the Pima CD4 is its potential to offer patients some good news on the very difficult day when they are diagnosed HIV positive.” A recent patient in a very low risk category was ‘in shock’ after his result, but feedback about his high CD4 count was very encouraging and helped to underline the message that HIV is now a well-controlled longterm condition. With extensive ongoing research, Alere will continue to introduce innovative products to ‘make positive more positive’. This article was supported by Alere: Visit: www.alere.co.uk www.baseline-hiv.co.uk
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