erent, the relationship between poverty and HIV and AIDS in Britain today has startling similarities with southern Africa.
Often people dont find out they are HIV positive until they become ill. Because of the fear surrounding HIV and AIDS, a person who is diagnosed with HIV can end up being ostracised and homeless and in worse health as a result. Poor health makes it hard to stay in work. A vicious circle of illness and poverty can carry a person further and further away from anything that resembles a normal life.
A grant from the Crusaid Hardship Fund can help check this downward spiral. Being able to satisfy basic needs a healthy diet and somewhere to live can mean the difference between living successfully with HIV and becoming ill with opportunistic infections. The shocking reality is that the Hardship Fund has existed since the epidemic began in the 1980s because individuals living with HIV in the UK are all too often desperate for help with the most basic needs such as food, clothing or heating.
In the past five years we have seen the average income of applicants to the Hardship Fund decrease sharply from £93.79 to £54 per week. Our figures show an increase in people struggling to live with HIV and in poverty. When people apply to the Hardship Fund they come to us as a last resort because there are simply no other benefits or help available to them. says Steven Inman, Head of Grants and Projects at Crusaid.
Of the 74,977 people that have been diagnosed with HIV in the UK since the epidemic began in the 1980s, the organisation has helped 26,346 who have struggled with HIV related poverty.
We have seen increasing numbers of HIV positive people in the UK living on the edge of poverty and from marginalised groups such as asylum seekers and those from black and ethnic communities. We are also seeing a sharp rise in the numbers of HIV positive young gay men, says Inman.
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