PUBLICATIONS AND SERVICES FROM i-BASE

Treatment ‘Passports’

These new, handy booklets for recording health and treatment history have proved so popular that we have distributed the entire 8,000 print run in the first month they have been available. So, of course, we have ordered a reprint so you can still order them for your personal use or, in the case of professionals, for clients.

Treatment ‘passports’ are for HIV-positive people – whether newly diagnosed or positive for a long time - to keep a record of health and treatment history. Such a record is useful when talking to different health care workers, changing clinics and changing treatments. Like all i-Base publications, it is available free as single copies or in bulk. Copies can be ordered using the form on the back page or by visiting our website (details below).

Guide to Changing Treatment – now in Greek

Our guide to second line and salvage therapy has now been translated into Greek by the Athens-based organisation Synthesis. You can download the pdf file from our website (see below). Further information in Greek is available at the Synthesis site:

http://www.hiv.gr

The information in our guide was updated in January 2003. Our treatment guides are reviewed every six months to ensure the latest information is available. Many factors contribute to whether a combination works and in salvage therapy it is important to look at all of these together.

The section on treatment strategies has been rewritten and updated and includes a new section on viral fitness and alternating treatment regimens. The information on expanded access and experimental treatments has also been updated.

Since the previous edition several new treatments have become available to use in salvage therapy and these are also included in the guide:

  • T-20 has reported clear benefits for people resistant to current drugs – and has just received marketing approval in Europe.
  • Atazanavir appears to increase cholesterol and triglycerides less than other protease inhibitors and is available in an expanded access programme for people with raised lipids on current PIs.
  • Tipranavir, a PI with activity against currently resistant HIV, will be available during 2003 in a limited emergency access programme.

For additional free copies, including bulk orders see below

Guide to Avoiding and Managing Side Effects- now in Italian

The i-Base Guide to Side Effects has now been translated into Italian by colleagues in Milan. You can download the pdf file from the i-Base web site (details below). This is a comprehensive 36-page guide that is aimed at helping anyone using HIV drugs to get the most out of their treatment, the most out of their relationships with their doctor and other health professionals, to get better medical care to improve their health and, most importantly, to enjoy a better quality of life.

It is written by people who are HIV-positive, who have been on most of the treatments, who have had many of the side effects and who have learnt to negotiate their own healthcare.

French, Spanish and Chinese translations of this booklet are also available. To order copies, see below.

UK-Community Advisory Board: new reports and presentations

The UK-Community Advisory Board (UK-CAB) is a network for community treatment workers across the UK. Each meeting includes two training lectures and a meeting with a pharmaceutical company.

The programme, reading material, reports and powerpoint slides from the presentations from the fifth meeting, held on 2 May, are posted to the i-Base website.

This meeting focused on:

Transcriptions and slides of training sessions from previous meetings also on the site include:

Genetics, resistance and HIV – Professor Clive Loveday

Approaches to Salvage Therapy – Dr Mike Youle

Pregnancy, HIV and Women’s Health - Dr Karen Beckerman

Fertility treatment and sperm-washing techniques – Dr Leila Frodsham

http://www.i-base.info/ukcab/index.html

The i-Base web site

More than 500 people a day visit the site, where you can read all i-Base publications, fill in our readership survey, find details of the UK Community Advisory Boards (UK-CABs), learn about the organisation, our phone service and meetings, and access our archives and an incomparable range of links.

The site can also be used to order publications and regular subscriptions to be delivered by post or email (as pdf files).

Translations of ‘Introduction to Combination Therapy’

This essential non-technical patient guide to combination therapy has been translated into Portuguese, Latvian and Slovak, by HIV-positive support organisations in those countries. The Portuguese version is available to download as a pdf file and reprint from the i-Base website:

http://www.i-base.info/pdf/guides/nonuk/COMBO_PORTUGUESE_jan03.pdf

For Latvian and Slovak copies please contact the i-Base office

Printed versions of this booklet are also available in English, French, Italian, Spanish, Chinese and Macedonian. The guide explains what combination therapy is, how well it works, who can benefit from it, when to start taking it, some differences between treating men and women, side effects, the best combinations, changing treatment, taking part in drug trials, your relationship with your doctor, the importance of adherence, and drug resistance and how to avoid it. To order copies, see below

Positive Treatment News (PTN)

The latest issue of Positive Treatment News, our magazine for positive people, looks at adherence (missed any pills recently, need any advice?), the latest information about side effects and treatments, and the benefits and risks of joining a drug trial or study.

There is also a detailed look at weight loss and what can be done about it, the official treatment guidelines, salvage therapy and treatment information provision for the African community. To order copies, see below.

HIV Treatment Bulletin (HTB)

This is the journal you are reading now: a review of the latest research and other news in the field. HTB is published 10 times a year in a printed version, by pdf file and on our website:

The printed version is available at most HIV clinics in the UK and is available free by post: see below for details.

Treatment information request service – 0808 800 6013

i-Base offers specialised treatment information for individuals, based on the latest research.

We can provide information and advice over the phone, and we can also mail or email copies of the latest research studies relevant to the caller.

For details call the i-Base treatment information free phone line on 0808 800 6013. The line is usually staffed by positive people and is open Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesday from 12 noon to 4pm.

All calls are in confidence and are free within the UK.

Order i-Base publications via the internet, post or fax

People with internet access can use our site to order and receive publications. You can access our publications online or subscribe to receive our publications by email or by post; and you can order single copies or bulk deliveries by using the forms at:

http://www.i-base.info/forms/index.html

Copies of publications can also be ordered by post or fax. These methods of ordering are suitable for all our publications: HIV Treatment Bulletin (HTB), Positive Treatment News (PTN) and all our treatment guides and reports.

All publications are available free of charge — including bulk orders for the UK or single copies for other countries.

HIV Treatment Bulletin Vol 4 No7 August / September 2003