Members of the Infection Pharmacology Group at the stand
World AIDS Day is held on the 1 December each year as an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV, show their support for people living with HIV and to commemorate people who have died.
Earlier this week, the Infection Pharmacology Group within the Department of Molecular and Clinical Pharmacology started the awareness raising early by taking part in the Liverpool City Region Health Skills Show.
The Health Skills Show is a platform intended to help inspire, motivate and encourage young people to consider a career in health. The event took place at the Titanic Hotel on Tuesday, 28 November. It hosted a range of interactive stands and welcomed approximately 1,000 young people from the Liverpool City Region.
The Infection Pharmacology group stand featured several interactive activities to demonstrate the variety and impact of the HIV research within the group, and the many different roles available to those interested in pursuing a career in science: from clinical trials manager to pharmacometrician.
Stimulating conversation
One of the most popular activities was an interactive quiz intended to check young peoples’ awareness of HIV, and to stimulate conversation about the different research and clinical challenges faced both here in the UK and worldwide in tackling HIV.
If you wish to play the quiz please click here.
Many young people were surprised to learn that someone living with HIV, diagnosed on time and on effective treatment can expect to live the same length of time as someone without HIV, and that if you are living with HIV and on effective treatment, it is highly unlikely that you will pass the virus on.
Drug interactions
Another activity involved introducing young people to the concept of HIV drug interactions, a key area of research for the group, and a vital factor when considering quality of HIV care.
Participants were invited to consider a clinical case and to use the HIV Drug Interactions app, a world-leading prescribing support tool developed by the group, in order to help them make clinical decisions about the best way to manage a patient.
For more information about HIV Drug Interactions please visit https://www.hiv-druginteractions.org/