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Dr Mathew Nyashanu has worked as a teacher, health promotion manager and lecturer. His experience in teaching goes back to Africa where he worked with both rural and urban communities.
Later on Mathew moved into health and development including health promotion to prevent the transmission of sexual health diseases among communities on a mother and child sexual health initiative dedicated to single mothers.
In the UK, Mathew was involved in the sexual health needs assessment of the black sub-Sahara African (BSSA) communities in Birmingham leading to the establishment of Ubuntu scheme an NHS driven sexual health initiative dedicated to the BSSA communities. At its inception, Mathew was appointed to the position of a Manager, where he managed the project for more than five years. Part of his remit included carrying out operational research to improve the sexual health and wellbeing of the BSSA communities in Birmingham. Mathew was also involved in delivering sexual health training to different professionals, which included nurses, doctors and social workers among others covering the cultural and behavioural aspects of communities. He was also involved in teaching at different universities as a public health specialist visiting lecturer. Matthew now works at Nottingham Trent University and will be speaking about his research into the barriers to engaging black communities with HIV services.