During the Beyond Consultation project a group of African women living with HIV and a group of young African men who have sex with men produced some materials intended to communicate their views, concerns and priorities to NHS staff from sexual health and HIV services.
In ‘At the clinic’, a young African gay man talks about what happens when you go to get tested for HIV. He challenges the appropriateness of some of the questions which he finds discriminatory and can stop African men from getting tested. He explains some of the wider issues that stop African men who have sex with men from going to get tested and goes on to consider some of the issues around stigma and discrimination and how these can be overcome.
These posters and short audio and video clips were intended as conversation starters at events which brought African service users together with staff from sexual health and HIV services. But they can also be used for professional development for health service staff who work in sexual health and HIV services or come into contact with African service users living with HIV. They can be used to raise awareness and prompt discussion around sensitivity to the lives and needs of African service users.
