Conference to address “hidden” HIV poverty link
Links between extreme poverty and HIV will be addressed today at a conference aimed at combating what campaigners are calling a “hidden problem”.
The conference will bring together social workers, welfare workers, and staff from the HIV sector.
It is organised through a collaboration of Crusaid Poverty and the National AIDS trust (NAT).
Poverty among people living with HIV is a growing problem, which both Crusaid and NAT argue must be addressed urgently. Increasingly affecting asylum seekers and older people living with HIV, it causes unnecessary suffering for people whose health is already compromised.
The conference is part of Crusaid’s 20th anniversary, which will also be marked by the launch of a joint report on World AIDS Day on 1st December.
Director of policy at NAT Yusef Azad, said: “Extreme poverty for people living with HIV is one of the UK’s hidden problems. It is unacceptable to ignore the needs of people whose health is being put at risk through economic hardship.”
