2002 looks set to be an interesting year for people living with HIV and for Staffordshire Buddies. Once again, renewal and change seem to be the order of the day.

Firstly, for people living with HIV, it's looking like there is a range of new drugs on the way, which we will watch with great interest.

Secondly, the epidemiological picture of HIV in the UK is changing rapidly. Newspaper headlines are trumpeting the fact that there is a heterosexual epidemic sweeping the land. This kind of reporting obscures what the real facts are though. Whilst it is true that the number of new diagnoses of HIV in heterosexuals is beginning to outstrip those among gay men, it is also true to say that the majority of new infections still occur amongst gay men because the bulk of heterosexual cases are African people moving to the UK. Infections in this group of people tend to occur abroad but count as a new diagnosis in the UK. This leads us on to the next stage of change, the Government's policy of dispersing Asylum Seekers around the UK.

This means we need to look at the reality of Asylum Seekers living with HIV in Staffordshire. Nationally the Public Health Laboratory Service is forecasting almost a 50% rise in the numbers of people living with HIV in the next 2 - 3 years. This can be attributed in part to the new Asylum Seekers and to the fact that the majority of us are living with HIV. Locally we can also forecast a big rise in numbers of people living with HIV over the coming 2 - 3 years.
Here's where it gets really interesting though. Obviously with new groups of people living with or affected by HIV there is going to be a wider range of

HIV needs to be met. This is particularly so in the far higher numbers of women and children with HIV locally. This is going to throw up difficult challenges and choices both for positive people and their service providers. Unfortunately this is all happening at a time when HIV prevention cash may no longer to be ring-fenced and the NHS is undergoing large-scale restructuring.

Positive Lives is pleased to report that Staffordshire Buddies are relishing the challenges facing them. The organisation is now at the starting point of a wide ranging Strategic Review that will be critically examining everything that the organisation is about. All stakeholders will be invited to take part in this process and will be contacted in due course. It's vital that people living with HIV make their voice heard - so when you are contacted please give your views, either individually or in a group.

The process will culminate in a Strategic Plan for the organisation to plot its path through the next 3 - 5 years.

So, 2002 is shaping up to be an interesting year for all of us. We firmly expect that Staffordshire Buddies will renew itself to meet its new challenges and will continue to put the needs of all people living with or affected by HIV at the forefront of its activities.