Email Updates

You are here

Home

19 AUGUST 2022 VOLUME 24 ISSUE 33

Media Coverage

  • Initiative to Stop HIV’s Spread Gains Post-Pandemic ‘Reset’

    Efforts to end the spread of HIV in the US are slowly recovering after the COVID-19 pandemic hindered a federal initiative to end the epidemic by 2030, public health officials and researchers said. The Health and Human Services Department launched the Ending the HIV Epidemic in the US (EHE) initiative in 2019 to reduce new HIV infections by 90 percent over the next decade. The efforts were spurred by the Trump administration and supported by the Biden administration when it took office.

    August 19, 2022
    General
    Bloomberg Law

  • History Doesn’t Have To Repeat Itself With Stigma and Monkeypox

    Ricky (not his real name), is a patient of mine: a young, gay man with a gentle soul and well-controlled HIV. He recently went to his local emergency department with a rash on his face, excruciating pain in his abdomen, and bright red blood that filled the toilet every time he had a bowel movement. Those triaging him thought the rash might be monkeypox, so they rushed him into an isolation room where he sat, alone, seeing under the door the shadows of feet going back and forth in the hallway. No one came for hours.

    August 18, 2022
    General
    STAT

  • An End To HIV In Botswana, Why Can’t We Accomplish The Same In The US?

    Botswana has surpassed the UN's 95-95-95 goals on HIV. Researchers say that the country is on track to end the public health threat of AIDS by 2030. A truly remarkable feat, considering that Botswana is ranked among the top four countries in the world most affected by HIV and AIDS. Botswana has exceeded the UNAIDS targets, with 95 percent of HIV-positive people being aware of their status, 98 percent of those diagnosed on medication, and 98 percent of those under treatment showing signs that the virus is being suppressed in their blood and therefore cannot transmit the virus (U=U).

    August 17, 2022
    General
    Forbes

  • Injectable PrEP Works Equally Well for Transgender Women

    Long-acting injectable pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) works just as well for transgender women as it does for gay and bisexual men, with no adverse interactions with gender-affirming hormone therapy, according to new research presented at the 24th International AIDS Conference in Montreal. Cabotegravir (Apretude) injections given every two months led to a 66 percent decrease in new HIV diagnoses among trans women compared with daily tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/emtricitabine (Truvada) PrEP pills. The Food and Drug Administration approved Apretude for PrEP last December.

    August 17, 2022
    PrEP
    POZ Magazine

  • An HIV Vaccine May Be Closer Than Ever—Thanks, in Part, to COVID-19

    Despite nearly forty years of research, there’s still no vaccine to combat HIV/AIDS. However, recent discussions at the 24th International AIDS Conference in Montreal provided some hope that that situation might change. Roughly a year after the world first became aware of COVID-19, two vaccines that effectively reduce the risk of this disease were approved for use by the Food and Drug Administration. Lessons learned during the development of those vaccines may spur efforts to develop a vaccine against HIV/AIDS.

    August 16, 2022
    HIV Vaccine
    Forbes

  • HIV Associated with Rapid Age Acceleration, New Study Finds

    A new first-of-its-kind study shows that people who are infected with HIV experience significant epigenetic aging right away from the time of infection. The finding adds new context to the question of how HIV affects the body over the long term. The study was published in the journal iScience. Beth D. Jamieson, PhD, of the University of California Los Angeles, and colleagues, explained that evidence suggests people with HIV experience an earlier onset of chronic diseases such as heart disease, kidney disease and frailty than their non-HIV peers, even if their HIV is well-controlled with antiretroviral medications.

    August 16, 2022
    General
    Contagion Live

  • HIV Testing and Diagnosis Fell During Pandemic

    National HIV testing and diagnosis rates dropped dramatically in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In one analysis, new HIV diagnoses fell from 36,940 in 2019 to 30,635 in 2020—a 17 percent reduction. But disparities persisted, with higher rates for gay and bisexual men (72 percent of new cases), people ages 13 to 34 (57 percent), Black people (42 percent), Latinos (27 percent) and those living in Southern states (14.7 percent).

    August 15, 2022
    General
    POZ Magazine

  • Taking Antibiotics After Sex Reduces STI Risk

    Gay men and transgender women living with HIV or on pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) who took the antibiotic doxycycline within 72 hours after sex had a significantly lower risk of gonorrhea, chlamydia and syphilis, according to a study presented at the 24th International AIDS Conference in Montreal.

    August 15, 2022
    General
    POZ Magazine

  • We Still Have No HIV Cure. But We Have a Better Strategy for Finding One

    There are many pre-conference meetings that lead up to each International AIDS Society conference. One of the most eagerly awaited, by researchers and treatment activists alike, is run by the Towards an HIV Cure research consortium.

    August 15, 2022
    Cure
    aidsmap

  • HIV PrEP Use Among Insured Persons Who Inject Drugs

    Though it is highly effective at preventing HIV infection, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is underutilized among injection drug users. Thus, investigators from the Boston University School of Medicine and Boston Medical Center sought to determine the prevalence of HIV PrEP among commercially insured individuals who use injection drugs. The cross-sectional study, published in JAMA, included 547709 commercially insured persons with opioid and/or stimulant use disorder. Data were analyzed from November 1, 2020-July 1, 2021.

    August 15, 2022
    Treatment
    Contagion Live

  • Broader Hepatitis C Treatment Not Leading to More Reinfections in People With HIV

    Broader access to direct-acting antivirals has been accompanied by a decline or stabilisation in the rate of hepatitis C reinfection in people with HIV and there is no evidence that reinfection is undermining efforts to eliminate hepatitis C in this population, researchers reported at the 24th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2022) last month. Hepatitis C can be cured by a short course of direct-acting antiviral treatment and many countries have set ambitious targets to eliminate hepatitis C infection as a public health problem by screening and treating people for the virus.

    August 12, 2022
    Treatment
    aidsmap

  • The Monkeypox Outbreak Reflects Our Failure To Learn From AIDS Activism

    For those LGBTQ people who lived through the worst years of the AIDS epidemic or grew up in its shadow, monkeypox brings a grim sense of deja vu. Once again, an unfamiliar virus is spreading through gay men’s sexual networks, and far too little is being done to stop it. But monkeypox isn’t just a case of history repeating itself. It also shows that, despite remarkable improvements in the prevention and treatment of HIV — the virus that causes AIDS — the vision of health justice that AIDS activists articulated and fought for over the past 40 years remains largely unfulfilled.

    August 12, 2022
    General
    The Washington Post

  • India’s HIV Patients Say Shortages Leaving Hundreds of Thousands Without Drugs

    Hundreds of thousands of people living with HIV in India are struggling to access treatment because of a shortage of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs, according to campaigners. Up to 500,000 people have not been able to get hold of free ARVs from government health centres and hospitals over the past five months, they say, as the country experiences stock shortages of key drugs. ARVs that are available in privately run pharmacies and shops can be prohibitively expensive. Some people have been given alternative drugs, but others have stopped taking any medication.

    August 12, 2022
    Treatment
    The Guardian

  • Decriminalizing HIV: Scientifically Proven and Morally Correct

    One hundred thirty-four. That’s the number of countries that currently criminalize or prosecute people based on general criminal laws of HIV transmission, non-disclosure, or exposure. Not only is this contrary to science on the health and human rights benefits of decriminalization, but it stands in stark contrast to the commitments enshrined in the 2021 Political Declaration to ends AIDS by 2030, which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly with 165 countries voting in favor. Worse still is that criminalizing HIV is actively harmful: it costs lives and wastes money.

    August 11, 2022
    General
    STAT

  • AIDS Echoes in Monkeypox Messages Worry LGBTQ Health Advocates

    Survivors of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s and ‘90s fear efforts to combat the monkeypox outbreak will unnecessarily stigmatize the LGBTQ+ community already bearing the virus’ brunt. Men who have sex with men have been hit the hardest by monkeypox to date, but LGBTQ+ health advocates say improper messaging risks branding monkeypox as a “gay disesase,” eroding effective preventive measures and allowing the virus to spread.

    August 11, 2022
    General
    The Guardian

  • Rightwing Media Embraces AIDS-Era Homophobia in Monkeypox Coverage

    The conservative campaign against LGBTQ+ rights has found a new fixation for its hatred: monkeypox. On TV, rightwing commentators openly mock monkeypox victims – the vast majority of whom are men who have sex with men – and blame them for getting the disease. On social media, rightwing users trade memes about how the “cure” to monkeypox is straight marriage while casting doubt on monkeypox vaccines’ efficacy.

    August 10, 2022
    General
    The Guardian

  • Spanish Woman Is in Remission 15 Years After Stopping HIV Treatment

    A Barcelona woman has maintained an undetectable HIV viral load for more than 15 years after stopping antiretroviral treatment, according to a case report presented last week at the 24th International AIDS Conference in Montreal. The woman’s HIV is not completely eradicated—so she can’t be considered cured in the strictest sense—but her long-term remission may provide clues to help researchers develop strategies for a “functional cure,” meaning viral control without antiretrovirals.

    August 10, 2022
    General
    POZ Magazine

  • Preventive HIV Drug Shows Urgent Need for Transparency on Pricing

    Every year, around 1.5 million people are infected with HIV. This number is falling, although not fast enough to reach a United Nations target of fewer than 370,000 new infections a year by 2025. Last month’s decision by the World Health Organization (WHO) to recommend a new drug that protects people against HIV infection is a promising development.

    August 9, 2022
    PrEP
    Nature

Published Research

Announcements