Countdown to Christmas

Last night we went to the local Garden Centre to be greeted by a 7 feet tall S & M Santa in a resplendent rubber suit.

It's that time of year again. Vast amounts of money spent, preparing for the family to descend. It'll be wonderful (could that be sarcasm?). This year, Vicki and I are doing Christmas Day - there will be 10 of us in total gathering around the festive table. Nodoubt it will be the usual round of overeating, sleeping and wondering what to do with those presents sent by an old family friend who hasn't been seen in years, and doesn't quite realise that you are no longer 12 years old.

We also have the added joy of introducing the two sides of our family. Vicki's grandma will introduce herself with 'I'm 99 you know'. We have wondered if she's planning on changing her name to this by deed poll. My mother will constantly insist that we remember all the people who are starving, hence just tainting the vast quantity of unhealthy food in front of us. Vicki's brother has had his guitar banned, and I am not allowed to mention her sister's experimental hairstyles during the '80s - nor her boyfirend's idiosyncratic laugh, reminiscent of a seal with a strangulated hernia. The cats will go beserk - partly due to all the strange people (in both senses), but mainly due to all the easily accessible food. Unreasonable - we have bought them turkey and cranberry flavour catfood (we don't spoil them - they have to share the catnip treats from their advent calendars). And the afternoon will be spent in a dozing daze, as we try not to sabotage the Queen's speech for grandma, and the wind orchestra plays gently in the background (well - ok - we fart and belch to the rhythm of 'God Bless Ye Merry Gentlemen'). This is where my brother comes into his own.

I'm already planning a trip of peace and goodwill next year - Basra is my current location of choice.

The last week has been busy - mainly work and preparations for Christmas. In fact, apart from the fresh food and presents for Vicki and my Dad, everything's ready. Our bank acconts show distinct signs of stress, but it's done - now we can just enjoy travelling around, searching for the tackiest Christmas display this side of the Atlantic. Actually, I really admire people who go to such effort and have the strength of character to tolerate the ridicule they must encounter. I especially love the ones which appear unfinished - where one can imagine hours spent, only to be told 'I think that inflatable Santa wold look better six inches to the left', resulting in the first festive family row and a response of 'Well you move the fat ******'.

In amongst all the frivolity, a lot of important work has been done. The National Hepatitis C Network minutes are written, the action plan prepared, a constitution drafted, a bank account on the point of opening, and the charity registration form ready for completion. It's amazing how much can be done so quickly. In a couple of months, a fully fledged charity will be up and running, and the rather nebulous 'establishing and organising phase' will be over. This does rather depend on the input of our sponsors, and a meeting with them later this week will be a clear indicator if how much of this hope and vision translates into reality. At a more local level, I am meeting with the training officer of the Derby drugs action team (Addaction) to discuss how NHCN can be involved in their work, by way of support and awareness raising. It could be a really significant week.

Having said all that, it would not be a normal week withot something to rile me. No - not the dentist again - although their reluctance to do any treatment until their new insurance scheme comes in has rather galled me - and is causing me a lot of pain as well - but a related issue.

In Tesco yesterday, I saw two items - a home dental kit, comprising a mirror and scraper, and a toothache kit, complete with temporary filling material. When will people learn? Dentists have sterilization procedures for a reason - that reason being to avoid blood to blood contact between themselves and others. I saw no rubber gloves in the kits, nor did I see guidance that these are for use by one person only, not to be shared under any circumstances. No doubt it won't be a problem - intrafamilial spread of Hepatitis C will happen, and be calmly attributed to sexual transmission - a transmission route which can still only be described as 'presumed', despite all the research into it, and the number of studies which contradict the notion entirely. It seems it's easier to write off unknown or 'domestic' transmission routes as sexual, hence ensuring that people continue to have their ignorant prejudices, and that Hep C will never become a vote loser for the politicians.

Now here's some intriguing information, which can be interpreted as the Department of Health shooting itself in the foot.

In 'Hepatitis C - Essential Information for professionals and Guidance on Testing' (NHS, 2004), a survey at sexual health clinics (p.12) showed 0.65% prevalence among those not reporting injecting drug use. If we stick with their overall prevalence figure of 0.4% (absurdly low compared with other studies and prevalence in other developed countries), and exclude large groups of the population who are very unlikely to attend sexual health clinics (children, elderly, some religious groups, those who go to their GP for sexual health advice etc) it seems very likely that this figure is in fact below even their suggested prevalence rate. However, the same report also mentions a less than 5% figure (an absurdly vague figure, and way beyond the less than 1% suggested by most studies) among long term sexual partners of Hep C patients (p.10). It seems likely, that it is, in fact, more likely to be the extremely close lifestyle of long term partners, and the greater levels of closeness which promote Hep C - maybe through sharing personal items, dressing each others' injuries, accidental cuts and sores etc which is transmitting the virus - nothing to do with sex (although the intimate nature of sexual contact may lead to virus transmission during sex - rather in the same way as one might catch a cold). Basically the figures make no sense, and having spent a day last week finding 3 pages of links which disprove sexual transmission, I remain utterly convinced that the myth of sexual transmission should be confined to the ranks of fairy tales.

How bizarre that sharing cocaine straws is not recognised, despite the blatantly obvious blood to blood contact which takes place. Maybe it's rather close to home for some.

If I was marking this 'Professional Information' as an undergraduate dissertation, I would probably comment 'stop trying to make the figures match your required outcomes, and consider them impartially'. Or, maybe, 'Wake up and smell the coffee'.

An e-mail about this will soon be winging it's way to those hallowed DoH offices. At least, if prejudice is based on ignorance, we know where it starts.

Interestingly, on Monday, I am delivering a lecture to my lovely trainee teachers (lovely, due to all the congratulations I've had for clearing my Hep C) I will be talking about sex and drugs education in primary schools. Although this is principally about values transmission and developing self esteem, and how the UK now tops cocaine use and teenage pregnancy leagues in Europe, they will leave well educated in these aspects of disease transmission.

Enough for now.

Let's continue the festive build up.

Take care all