Simon Collins is an HIV positive treatment advocate who works to encourage people living with HIV to take an active role in their own health. He was lucky enough to be access combination therapy in 1996 which he started with a CD4 count in single figures.
After working at the Aids Treatment Project in London from 1997–2000, he co-founded HIV i-Base.
Simon co-ordinates the i-Base treatment information services including the phoneline and the website. Since February 2003 he has edited HIV Treatment Bulletin and he also edits the i-Base treatment guides and the treatment training manual for advocates. Producing copyright-free treatment publications, has helped see information from these resources be translated into over 35 languages.
“HIV-positive people should have the choice to be actively involved and represented at all levels of their care. Free access to the latest information should be available to everyone before they make treatment decisions about their healthcare.”
Simon is involved in a wide range of advisory boards that develop active involvement of advocates in clinical trial design and clinical guidelines and at different times he has been on the writing committee for many of the BHIVA treatment guidelines. For two years, he co-co-chaired the European Community Advisory Board (ECAB) and helped found the UK-CAB in 2002.
He is currently a community representative on the HAART Oversight Committee (for theD:A:D study) and the scientific steering committee and CAB for the INSIGHT group(running the START study). He was been a member of the external advisory panel forLiverpool Biomedical Research Centre from 2007-2012.
He regularly runs i-Base treatment workshops and has worked with a wide range of community organisations.