Preventing HIV – Everywhere!
Published 1 December 2010
More than 80 businesses throughout Europe have now signed up to a safer sex campaign launched by the University of Brighton and the Terrence Higgins Trust.
The news was announced today (1 December) to coincide with World Aids Day.
The Everywhere project, which is fighting the rise of HIV in European gay tourist destinations, is being led in the UK by Dr Nigel Sherriff of the International Health Development Research Centre at the university, and Ben Tunstall from the Terrence Higgins Trust.
Everywhere aims to prevent new infections through gaining the commitment of 'gay' businesses in Europe, sets out a series of European HIV prevention standards which are common across partner countries. The idea is to create safer environments for gay men when it comes to sexual health - whether at home or abroad.
The number of businesses who have signed up has leapt from an initial 30 to 82 in recent months, with businesses in the UK, Italy, France, Poland, Cyprus, Slovenia, Hungary and Spain taking part.
Dr Sherriff said: "Everywhere is aimed at gay businesses such as bars, pubs, clubs, saunas, travel agents, hotels, and dating websites. The idea is to make Everywhere an internationally-recognised symbol. Businesses which take part will gain an Everywhere Seal of Approval, showing that they are committed to the sexual health of their customers and the wider gay community."
Taking part in Everywhere means that businesses will agree to provide:
- Free condoms and lube
- Information on where to get tested for HIV and STIs, and where to get treatment
- Information on how to protect yourself and your partners from HIV and STIs
- Regular staff updates about HIV/STI issues and the Everywhere Project
- Commitment to anti-discrimination in relation to HIV positive staff and customers.
Dr Sherriff said that any businesses that meet these standards can then receive Everywhere branding and certificates to display: "This will give a clear message to customers that condoms will be available and sexual health is taken seriously."
Dr Sherriff, Everywhere Project Manager at the university, said: "Embracing the European dimension is one of the most important things about this project – this is the first time anyone has tried to achieve a common set of HIV standards across different countries.
"Some countries already have their own guidelines and codes, such as France, which sets out some of the highest standards in the union. But having a diversity of standards can be problematic.
"The benefit of Everywhere is that the Standards are common across all participating countries. So whether you’re in Brighton or Madrid, Budapest or Warsaw, if you see a business which has the Everywhere logo, you’ll know that venue takes your health seriously."
He said that for many venues, having the Everywhere Seal of Approval was good for business: "The owner of a gay sauna in Budapest for example told us that not only did he feel it was the responsible thing to do, but also it brought in more business in the long run – healthier customers visit more often, while those who fall ill with an infection are taken off the circuit for a while."
Dr Sherriff said he attributed part of the success of Everywhere to the project's social mediator network, which identifies, assesses and helps secure the commitment of the business sector by actively engaging with individual entrepreneurs and communicating the benefits of the Everywhere set of standards to them.
For more information on the Everywhere project email Ben Tunstall ben.tunstall@tht.org.uk, Dr Nigel Sherriff n.s.sherriff@brighton.ac.uk or visit www.everywhereproject.eu.
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