BMJ  2004;328:524 (28 February), doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7438.524

Letter

Decline in mortality in children with HIV in the UK and Ireland

HIV positive adolescents urgently need dedicated services

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—Gibb et al describe the dramatic impact of antiretroviral therapy in HIV-1 infected children.1 Improved survival means that increasing numbers of HIV infected adolescents will confront issues common to this age group, such as poor outpatient attendance,2 problems with adherence to treatment,3 and transition to an adult environment.

The Intercollegiate Working Party on Adolescent Health supports the development of dedicated adolescent clinics.4 In 2001 we established the first adolescent only HIV outpatient service in the United Kingdom. Young people were closely involved in the multidisciplinary clinic design, and a transition policy was developed together with the family unit at Great Ormond Street Hospital.5 Our aim was to create an environment where adolescents felt able to discuss complex issues including antiretroviral therapy, sexual debut, social isolation, and familial bereavement.

Over the past two years 15 adolescents have transferred to the clinic. Most (13) are Black African. At the time . . . [Full text of this article]

K P Prime, specialist registrar, genitourinary medicine

katiaprime@hotmail.com, Department of Genitourinary Medicine, Camden Primary Care Trust, London WC1E 6AU

E A Jungmann, consultant, genitourinary medicine

Department of Genitourinary Medicine, Camden Primary Care Trust, London WC1E 6AU

S G Edwards, consultant, genitourinary medicine

Department of Genitourinary Medicine, Camden Primary Care Trust, London WC1E 6AU


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Relevant Article

Decline in mortality, AIDS, and hospital admissions in perinatally HIV-1 infected children in the United Kingdom and Ireland
D M Gibb, T Duong, P A Tookey, M Sharland, G Tudor-Williams, V Novelli, K Butler, A Riordan, L Farrelly, J Masters, C S Peckham, and D T Dunn
BMJ 2003 327: 1019. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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