HIV Sufferer Says Abuse Has Forced Him Out Of Edinburgh

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - Scotland's longest-surviving HIV sufferer has revealed he is leaving the country because of the poor support and abuse he has had living in Edinburgh.
John Percy claims there are not enough services for sufferers and that charities are under-resourced. The 44-year-old, from Leith, who has had the disease for 25 years, has vowed to move to London after declaring himself "beaten".
Mr Percy said he had suffered abuse and prejudice living in Edinburgh, adding that politicians needed to do more to raise more awareness of HIV.
Mr Percy said: "I've had a gang of boys outside my window throwing stuff at it and shouting names.
"That's another reason why I want to leave Scotland for good.
"I'm angry that I'm having to leaving my own country because of this.
"The people who give me this abuse are either ignorant or just plain stupid."
"We should be addressing HIV and talking about it all year round.
"I use my voice and I use it loudly but it feels like I'm banging my head against a wall. I feel beaten by it all.
"I've been really annoyed by the lack of support from the Scottish Parliament to improve services and reduce stigma.
"Charities here are doing as much as they can but they're losing funding.
"One of the centres I use has started charging for alternative therapies which used to be free. Edinburgh's got Waverley Care Solas and Positive Voice (which offer advice and information to sufferers) but then if you go further out beyond Stirling there's nothing.
"I think there'll be more opportunities for me in London where there's far more services in the city than there probably is in the whole of Scotland."
David Johnson, director of Waverley Care Solas said Edinburgh was "doing well with support services", but admitted fundraising was an "ongoing task".
He said: "We're able to offer a range of support, but I don't think that's replicated throughout Scotland, it's an issue of numbers. Edinburgh has about 45 per cent of Scotland's HIV positive population so you would expect services here to be better.
"There are some issues with people living in outlying areas who might be the only HIV positive person in a 50-mile radius.
"It's a big challenge but I think other services should support people and take the burden away from the specialists."
Recent figures show that 4523 Scots are HIV positive and at least 1436 are known to have died from it.
Three hundred new cases of HIV were reported in Scotland in the first nine months of 2005, compared to 274 cases during the same period in 2004.
Lisa Power, head of policy at the Terrence Higgins Trust, which supports people with HIV and AIDS, said sufferers still faced discrimination, and called on schools to discourage prejudice and include HIV awareness in the curriculum.
A spokeswoman for Lothian and Borders Police confirmed the force had received a number of complaints from Mr Percy involving verbal and physical assaults, some of which had resulted in charges.
from Edinburgh Evening News