United Kingdom: HIV Trust Targets City's Africans

Terrence Higgins Trust is launching a "Beyond Condoms" HIV/AIDS campaign that will address AIDS stigma and encourage Africans in Bristol to openly discuss the disease. THT staff will visit bars, markets, African churches, and social centers in its campaign. In the United Kingdom, Africans are second only to gay men in their number of HIV infections. Health Protection Agency data show there were 75 African men and 145 African women diagnosed with HIV in 2004 in the Avon, Gloucestershire, and Wiltshire Strategic Health Authority region. THT believes the actual figures are higher, since about one-third of people infected have not been tested. "Men are still calling the shots when it comes to condom use," said Sue Peters, THT's regional manager in Bristol. "We need to empower men and women to negotiate condom use and take control of their sexual health." THT is urging more African organizations and agencies to work with the community and help disseminate THT's campaign posters and leaflets.

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