Public Health England have revealed they are aware of a laboratory confirmed case of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) in a UK traveller who was bitten by a tick while on holiday in Bulgaria.
The patient is responding well to treatment, and there is no risk to the general population.
As a precautionary measure, close contacts of the patient including hospital staff involved in the patient’s care will be given health advice and encouraged to contact their GP if they experience symptoms.
Although CCHF can be acquired from an infected person, this would require direct contact with their blood or body fluids and the risk even for close contacts is considered very low.
This is the second laboratory-confirmed case of CCHF in the UK, following the diagnosis in 2012 of CCHF in a UK resident who had recently returned from Afghanistan.
CCHF is the commonest viral haemorrhagic fever worldwide. It is not found in the UK but is endemic in many countries in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Eastern Europe, including Turkey and Bulgaria
People most at risk are agricultural workers, healthcare workers and military personnel deployed to endemic areas. CCHF is most often transmitted by a tick bite but can also be spread through contact with infected patients or animals.
Dr Tim Brooks
Dr Tim Brooks, Head of PHE’s Rare and Imported Pathogens Laboratory (RIPL) said:“It’s extremely rare to see a case of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever in the UK, and it’s important to note there is no risk to the general population. As a precaution close contacts of the patient will be contacted and monitored, but the risk of transmission is very low and would require direct contact with bodily fluids.”
Last week it was revealed that the household recycling rate for Brighton and Hove has fallen by 16% since the Green Party took office, to 25.6%.
The audit carried out by a Labour local candidate has revealed that most council-owned flats on the Hollingdean estate do not have the full recycling facilities equivalent to kerbside collection from houses.
Only 5 out of the 50 blocks had facilities for mixed and glass recycling next to each other which were clearly labelled.
Many recycling bins were for cans or paper, pre-dating the changes made in 2008 which removed the need to separate recycling except for glass. Some bins were not labelled at all, and some streets had can, paper and glass recycling in different parts of the street.
Where there were bins for cans and paper, there was no bin for plastic bottles.
Tracey Hill
Tracey Hill, a Labour candidate for Hollingdean and Stanmer, carried out the audit as part of the Hollingreen initiative to reduce waste and increase recycling in the Hollingdean area.
She said: “Local residents in flats have already highlighted the lack of recycling facilities and labelling, and in places there are plans to address this, but I had no idea that the number of blocks without the full facilities was so high.
“It seems unfair that council flat residents are still apparently being asked to separate all their recycling when people with kerbside collections only have to separate glass. Residents in flats may find it hard to find the space to keep cans and paper separate, and this must be putting some people off recycling – completely needlessly, because they don’t even have to be separated.
“Having to hunt around along the street for the right bin would definitely put people off recycling. Plastic bottles can only be thrown into the mixed bins, which some streets barely have at all, and some streets seemed to be very short of any kind of bin.
“There are all kinds of initiatives going on to try to turn around the declining recycling rates, but I would have thought that ensuring all residents have mixed and glass recycling bins clearly labelled and within easy reach would be the first thing that would be done.”
Cllr Jean Lepper
Labour councillor Jeane Lepper, said:“Many residents have been telling me that they would welcome better and more convenient recycling facilities in Hollingdean. At the moment the Council really does not make it easy for people who want to recycle.
“This survey really highlights the problem, especially for people living in flats.
“With recycling rates plummeting I hope the Council will now take notice and take action.”
Mark Govier asks why the Royal Society does not acknowledge its own gay founders.
Following the recent posthumous Royal Pardon of computer pioneer and codebreaker Alan Turing, who became Fellow of the Royal Society in 1951 but was punished with chemical castration in 1952, Mark Govier says it’s time to recognise and celebrate the vast contribution made to science by gay men, and questions why the Royal Society is still reluctant to acknowledge its own gay founders and scientific pioneers.
Almost everyone has heard of the Royal Society, the Fellowship of renowned scientists drawn from all areas of science, engineering and medicine. What most people don’t know, and it’s a well kept secret, is that the Royal Society, founded in 1660, was the creation of some very clever 17th century gay men. Bizarrely, the Royal Society thinks it is ‘inappropriate’ to recognise this, let alone discuss it, but without the input of these gay men it would never have existed.
Our story begins early in the 17th century, with that famous gay, Sir Francis Bacon. He rose to the position of Lord Chancellor before falling from grace during the reign of King James I, who, as is well known, was married but treated his favourite boys ‘like ladies’. There were drastic penalties for sodomy at the time, though these were seldom enacted, especially at this level of society. Bacon was a great philosopher of science and attacked its old medieval forms which were taught at English universities, arguing for a system of ‘natural philosophy’, one having direct benefits for people. Before Bacon died in 1626, he wrote A New Atlantis, a utopian novella of an ideal society run by a government-funded academy of science. His writings became the inspiration behind the formation of the Royal Society. Without Francis Bacon there would not have been a Royal Society, something the organisation itself acknowledges.
Dr John Wilkins
Moving on to the 1640s, Dr John Wilkins, a gay man, a preacher, and a promoter of science, founded an important scientific club in London. In 1648 he moved to Oxford University to become warden of Wadham College and started a new scientific club, the Philosophical Society of Oxford. This performed an important scientific role until the return of Charles II. Wilkins was a great inspirer of science, continuing the project of Bacon during these difficult times.
The Oxford Society acted as the scientific heart of England and Wilkins introduced and mentored a host of talented young men, some of whom became leading lights of the new experimental science. In 1656, aged 42, he married the 62-year-old sister of Oliver Cromwell, for political reasons. Wilkins was clocked departing immediately after the wedding, to visit some men. He attended the famous meeting at Gresham College in London in November 1660, which saw the start of what became the Royal Society.
Before he died in 1672, he played a vital role in the organisation’s formation, sitting on its governing council and raising money. Without John Wilkins, there would have never been an Oxford Philosophical Society, let alone a Royal Society.
Sir Robert Moray, a gay Scotsman, is most responsible for creating the Royal Society. Though not strictly a man of science, he knew its value and did what he could to promote it. Moray was born in 1608 and was for many years an unmarried soldier. He may have even attended some of the early scientific meetings in London organised by Wilkins. He tried to convince Charles I to dress in women’s clothes, to assist the King’s escape. This was rejected, and Charles I was eventually beheaded. By 1650, Moray returned to Scotland and was briefly married. His wife died soon after and he did not wed again. Then, as now, some gay men, especially in politics, married to assist their careers. Moray is recorded as being ‘a single man, an abhorrer of women’. After spending time with the exiled Charles II, he returned to London late 1660, and was present at the November 1660 meeting at Gresham College. It was Moray who took the proposal to establish the Royal Society to Charles II. It was Moray who led negotiations that gained the Royal Society its royal patronage. Until his death in 1673, he was heavily involved in the running of the society. He was known as the ‘soul’ of the Royal Society.
Robert Boyle
Next we meet the gay Robert Boyle, the best of the early Royal Society’s scientists. Born into great wealth in Ireland in 1627, he went to Eton aged eight, and later studied and toured the continent. While in Florance, around the age of 14, he was seduced by adult males. This experience drove Boyle into the life of a recluse obsessed with religion, science, and alchemy. He moved to Oxford in the mid 1650s to join Dr John Wilkins and his Oxford Philosophical Society. Boyle performed a great many experiments, and wrote a number of highly influential books on the results. He lived in Oxford until 1668, then moved to London to live with his sister. He regularly attended society meetings, wrote scientific texts, and performed experiments. In 1680 he was elected Royal Society president, but opted out as he didn’t agree with taking the two Anglican religious oaths for the position. He died a week after his sister in 1691.
Sir Isaac Newton
Gay Sir Isaac Newton was, and arguably is, the Royal Society’s greatest ever member and was its president from 1703–1727. Newton was sent to Cambridge by his mother without money, so had to perform menial services for other students. For over 20 years, he stayed there as an academic, contentedly sharing a room with another man, practicing science, alchemy and religion. Following the success of his master work Principia Mathematica he came to live in London. Here he suffered a period of acute mental illness due to his break up with a young man. Boyle aside, Newton is the only single gay man to have held the position of president of the Royal Society.
The monarchy only resumed its patronage of the organisation after Newton died in 1727, and he was immediately replaced by Sir Hans Sloane, a real married man. This unofficial ‘married only’ status for the top position in British science still persists, despite there being no legal basis for it. The reality is, the most notable scientific organisation in Britain’s history was formed by gay men. Since this time, there have been many gay ‘Fellows’, though of course, unofficially. (Alan Turning is the only exception, thanks to media C4). To continue to argue, as the Royal Society still does, that its own gay roots are not an ‘appropriate subject’ is nonsense.
Sources include:
Archives of the Royal Society; Record of the Royal Society; Dictionary of National Biography; Henry Lyons, History of the Royal Society; Matt Cook (Ed) A Gay History of Britain; and John Gribbin, The Fellowship.
Hizze Fletcher has been appointed to sit on the Rainbow Fund grants panel.
Hizze Fletcher
Hizze comes from Sheffield and since graduating from Central St. Martins School of Art in 1989 has emjoyed an extensive creative career spanning over 25 years.
She has worked as a set designer, photographer, artist, writer, curator, graphic designer, illustrator and art director and her work has involved her with Vivienne Westwood, MTV, Sony Music, Warner Brothers and the Keith Haring Foundation to name a few.
After moving to Brighton in 2006 Hizze formed her own company, Thirteen Art Productions, and has collaborated with the creative community organising group-art shows and events in the city, helping to raise money for charities including The Sussex Beacon, The Terrence Higgins Trust and The Rainbow Fund.
In 2013 Hizze became involved with Brighton Pride organising the flagship exhibition for their first Brighton Pride Arts & Film Festival (BPAFF) and this year will have a strong role in BPAFF’s expansion.
Hizze is also a fine artist in her own right and has exhibited and sold internationally. She has two children aged 24 and 14 and lives in Kemp Town with her parner and son.
Chris Gull, Vice Chair of the Rainbow Fund, said:“Hizzie brings a wide range of skills to the table. Her experience of staging her own arts events and her role as director of the Pride Arts and Film Festival will help link the Rainbow Fund with the wider creative arts community where there is great support for the LGBT/HIV community voluntary sector.”
Paul Elgood, Chair of the Rainbow Fund, added:“We are delighted to welcome Hizzie to the Independent Grants Panel. Her expertise and knowledge will be invaluable for the panel. There was an open selection process and it was felt her experience and knowledge of the local LGBT sector would contribute enormously to our decision-making. The panel has a majority of independent members to ensure an open and fair process.”
The Rainbow Fund gives grants to LGBT/HIV organisations who deliver front line services to LGBT/HIV organisations in Brighton and Hove.
Brighton Pride Arts and Film Festival (BPAFF) launches on July 17 at Jubilee Library.
After the success of the ‘ICONS’ exhibition last year, a flagship event for Brighton Pride’s first Arts and Film Festival, artists from the LGBT sector (and their supporters) will be returning to the Jubilee Library this summer for another creative extravaganza.
The event organised by Hizzie Fletcher will bring together a collective of artistic talent to raise funds for Pride and their nominated charity, The Rainbow Fund.
Last year an auction of rare posters donated by The Keith Haring Foundation in New York City raised over £1,300 for The Rainbow Fund, a Brighton and Hove based grant-giving fund for local LGBT and HIV/AIDS organisations. A further £600 was donated to Pride raised via art sales and the private view event and was also used to benefit the LGBT community in Brighton.
Millions of people continue to live in places that outlaw same-sex relationships and prosecute people for being gay. In five countries and in parts of two others, homosexuality is still punishable with the death penalty, while a further 70 countires imprison citizens because of their sexual orientation. Even where homosexuality is legal, many countries treat those in same-sex relationships differently.
In the UK we are lucky to have the freedom to be who we are and it’s imperative that we are a strong voice for those in countries less fortunate than ourselves and to help liberate those tied down and held back by injustice.
In a world fraught with hate and discrimination ART is a way of freely expressing ourselves.
Festival organiser Hizze Fletcher, says: ‘‘We were overwhelmed by the public interest that was generated around last year’s event and it has motivated us to expand the Arts & Film festival this year. It will enable us to showcase the talents of the LGBT creative community (and their supporters) to a wider audience”
Director of Pride, Paul Kemp, added:“2013 was a groundbreaking year for Pride with over 20 umbrella events contributing to the first Pride Arts and Film season. With this years ‘Freedom to Live’ campaign we really would love to see even more LGBT artists getting involved and helping us develop the cultural offering. We’re thrilled that Hizze Fletcher has agreed to come on board again with Pride to produce the Pride Arts exhibition at the Jubilee Library, which was one of the keystone events last year”
The Freedom To Live exhibition runs from July 18 to August 4 and will launch with a private view on Thursday July 17 at Jubilee Library, hosted by Dolly Rocket and featuring live music by local band, Della Lupa.
Artwork has been donated to the event by Nick Cave, Boy George and Louise Dear and will be auctioned on the night.
10% of art sales and all profits from the private view event will be donated to Pride and The Rainbow Fund.
If you would like to attend the opening event, EMAIL:
As well as art directing the main exhibition Hizze Fletcher will be organising two other art events for BPAFF via her company, Thirteen Art Productions, as part of the two week celebrations.
Photographic exhibition Shoot Me, I’m Gay will feature an abundance of photographic talent from the LGBT community (and their supporters). The exhibition will take place at The Sidewinder, Upper St.James Street in Kemp Town, will launch on Monday July 21 at 6pm and run for a month.
EMAIL: for more information regarding submission to the exhibition.
In addition, Thirteen Art Productions presents FINEGAN MURPHY featuring Brighton’s most charismatic brother and sister LGBT fine art acts, Precious Murphy and Kitty Finegan. They will be showing an extensive collection of solo and collaborative work at the new exhibition space within Velvet Tattoo, 48 Norfolk Square. The show will launch on Monday, July 28.
10% of any art sales from both events will be donated to Brighton Pride and their nominated charity The Rainbow Fund.
Simon Kirby MP for Brighton Kemptown & Peacehaven takes HIV test at Halfway to World Aids Day event in Westminster.
Simon was one of the record number of MPs who took an HIV test at a Halfway to World AIDS Day event hosted by the Halve It Coalition and the All-Party Parliamentary Group on HIV and AIDS.
MPs, Peers and Councillors took a test administered by clinicians from the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, in an act of solidarity with all those living with HIV across the world every day of the year, and in demonstration of the UK’s policy commitment to HIV testing.
During the event members of the Halve It steering group, including leading HIV clinicians and CEOs of patient and policy organisations, spoke with parliamentarians about HIV testing and related sexual health issues.
After taking the test, Mr Kirby, said:“I was very pleased to support today’s event to help demonstrate the UK’s policy commitment to making HIV testing routine.
“In my role as Vice Chair of the APPG for HIV/AIDS, and as the MP for Brighton Kemptown, I will continue to stand up for and help all of those living with HIV globally, every day of the year.”
David Furnish, Chairman of Elton John AIDS Foundation and Halve It member described the event as “an unprecedented show of support for scaling up HIV testing and solidarity with the 100,000 people living with HIV today in the UK”
He continued saying:“successive governments have demonstrated strong support for increasing HIV testing in a broad array of clinical and community settings, it is now crucial that this leadership actually changes practice on the ground”
The Halfway to World AIDS Day event also showcased the recent launch of the NICE local government briefing on HIV testing and the MEDFASH/Halve It toolkit for local engagement.
The event culminated in a parliamentary meeting at which the Shadow Secretary of State for Health Andy Burnham MP spoke alongside representatives from NICE, Public Health England, the Greater Manchester Sexual Health Network and the Terrence Higgins Trust on the imperative for translating HIV testing policy into practice.
Professor Kevin Fenton, Public Health England’s Director of Health and Wellbeing, said:“The new briefing from NICE is an important document for local authorities (who are now responsible for HIV testing) and will help them to decide on the best steps to take locally. We look forward to working with NICE and Halve It to make sure that the document is adopted by local decision makers to realise the health and economic benefits of preventing onward transmission”
Public Health Minister, Jane Ellison, said: “HIV testing has never been easier and the majority of people diagnosed can expect to lead healthy and productive lives with a near normal life expectancy. We want as many people as possible to get tested, particularly in groups at increased risk, as early as possible which is why we recently legalised HIV self-testing. Halve It has done excellent work to raise awareness in this area and help reduce the stigma around HIV testing.”
In the UK over 98,400 people live with HIV every day of the year; 22% of these are undiagnosed and 47% are diagnosed late. The sooner HIV is diagnosed the sooner appropriate care can begin, and thanks to medical advancements the life expectancy of someone living with HIV has increased markedly in recent years.
By ensuring that HIV testing becomes routine there will be significant long-term savings; with one early HIV diagnosis saving the NHS £63,061.
Halve It is a national coalition that focuses on the expansion of HIV testing services, on the basis that early testing of HIV saves lives and also results in substantial savings to the public health budget. Since its inception in 2010, Halve It has galvanised national and local cross-party support for HIV testing, and is supported in its aims by the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition.
Girls on Top at Revenge reigned supreme as a Golden Handbag winner for the last seven years and is now evolving into a weekend monthly special.
A new night FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out), launched last Thursday and hopes to surpass the record breaking success of Girls on Top with a re-freshed DJ line-up, wild themed party nights, new cheap drink promotions and massive giveaways.
Musically FOMO has hand picked the UK’s finest DJs to ensure the soundtrack of the night delivers on its promise of “big beats, bad ass bass lines and mashed up bangers”.
DJs include Sam DMS, renowned for his ingenious mash-ups, Missy B, who has headlined girls’ nights in every major city in the UK, Fifilicious, who has graced every major DJ booth in Brighton and beyond and finally Trick, Revenge’s home grown talent whose cool twist on all things pop provides plenty of crowd-pleasing moments.
Steve Jones, promoter of FOMO and Club Revenge, said:“We’re working really hard to create a night which consistently delivers week after week so that if people decide to stay at home, they’re genuinely going to suffer from FOMO.”
Drink promos include Fosters and Tequila shots for £1.50 and a double vodka and mixer for just £3.
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