8 )
DAILY NEWS UPDATES ON
WWW.GSCENE.COM INQUIRY LAUNCHED INTO IMPACT OF PANDEMIC ON PEOPLE WITH PROTECTED CHARACTERISTICS
COMMONLY USED HIV DRUG BEING TESTED IN COVID-19 TRIALS AIDS Plan, and began on April 1 for an initial period of 12 weeks.
CAROLINE NOKES
) As the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic continues to wreak havoc across the world, the UK government’s Women & Equalities Committee is seeking information about its impact on people with protected characteristics under the Equality Act. These include: age, disability, sex, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation and gender reassignment. The committee also wants to hear about the measures being taken to tackle this impact, following concerns expressed by the Equality & Human Rights Commission, among other organisations. Caroline Nokes, Chair of the Women & Equalities Committee, said: “In these extraordinary times, it is as important as ever that the government considers how its actions to tackle the coronavirus impact differently on different communities. Passing emergency legislation at great speed has been essential. Now we need to understand the present and future effect on those who may already be marginalised. We are listening, and we need your evidence to help us to help the government consider equalities issues, to ensure that its policies and plans are as effective as possible.” The committee wants to find out more about the impact government measures, including emergency legislation, are having on people with these protected characteristics, and is asking: • Have all the relevant equality issues been considered? • Are there any unforeseen consequences? • If there are problems, what could be done differently/ better? Among issues already brought to the committee’s attention are: • Stonewall has reiterated that for some LGBTQ+ people, the risks of homelessness, insecure employment, restricted access to healthcare and other inequalities will deepen as a result of the health crisis; • The increased risk and severity of domestic abuse when there’s a requirement to stay home - and the pressure on the healthcare and education settings and specialist services which might normally identify and assess risks and provide support; • The urgent need to redeploy healthcare and social work professionals to deal with the pandemic may leave older and disabled people vulnerable in other ways; • Children with special educational needs and their families may be particularly affected by school closures; • The impact on ‘gig economy’ workers, who are more likely to be young, from a BAME (black and minority ethnic) background or have caring commitments. Aware there may be many more equality impacts, the committee says it is keen to hear from individuals and from organisations on the following questions: • How have people have been affected by the illness or the response to it? • Have there been specific impacts on people due to them having a protected characteristic? • Are there any unforeseen consequences to measures brought in to ease the burden on frontline staff? The government has said current measures will be reviewed this month, and measures in the Coronavirus Act be voted on again in six months’ time: • What needs to change or improve, which could be acted on this month? • What needs to change or improve, which could be acted on in six months’ time? The committee asked for responses by the end of April, but has said that evidence submitted after that time will still be useful as it will continue to review the situation and scrutinise the government. Any evidence directly relevant to the government’s three-week review of the current measures should be provided as soon as possible. For more info about Parliament Select committees, visit: www.parliament.uk/about/how/committees/select/ For more info about Visiting Parliament: Watch committees, visit: www.parliament.uk/visiting/visiting-and-tours/watch-committees-anddebates/committees/
There is no suggestion that HIV medication of any sort could or should be seen as a Covid-19 cure or prevention tool. There has been some speculation that the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine may also be a possible source of prevention and this drug will also be included in the trials also examining Truvada. ) Medical researchers in Spain are testing whether HIV medication Truvada, often used as PrEP, can also prevent Covid-19. Spain has been one of the hardest hit countries in the Covid-19 pandemic, with one in 10 deaths reported to be from the healthcare community, and the study will focus on whether healthcare workers could take Truvada to prevent them getting Covid-19. The study is led by Plan Nacional sobre el Sida, the Spanish National
Truvada consists of two drugs, tenofovir disoproxil fumarate and emtricitabine, and has long been a part of highly effective combination therapies for people living with HIV. It is also used by some HIV-negative people as pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, soon to be made widely available across the National Health Service. The Spanish study will enrol 4,000 participants randomised into groups taking one of a range of single-dose daily regimens. Initial results are expected to be published in late July/August.
CALL TO PEER ACTION! THEY WANT YOUR OLD LAPTOPS AND TABLETS unused or unwanted tablet, or maybe even a laptop, that you no longer use? Would you be willing to donate it to Peer Action so it can pass it on to people living with HIV who do not currently have access to video services? ) Although almost all of Peer Action’s services have been temporarily suspended, it is very much continuing as an organisation to work towards making life easier for people living with HIV.
If so, please contact Peer Action via its Facebook page or website and it will be in touch to work out a way to get the device from you and pass on to someone who really needs it.
Ideally, the device will have been cleared of all personal data and reset While the use of video conferencing to factory settings and come with a has made communication for many power cord. It must be able to use people easier this is not true for WiFi. At present Peer Action is not everyone. Difficulties can arise due to looking for old smartphones – tablets the lack of a suitable device or an issue and laptops please. of trust and some people are unable to Please have a think and a look round join the technological changes. This to see what you did with your old can further the isolation of lockdown by device last time you upgraded to a denying people access to the services better model. they rely on and some are unable to access a doctor as all appointments are You would be helping someone currently taking place via Zoom and establish contact with their friends and similar electronic platforms. peers in these difficult times. To help ease the isolation, Peer Action is launching an appeal. Do you have an
For more info, visit: https://peeraction.net
