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19 MAY 2023 VOLUME 25 ISSUE 20

Media Coverage

  • Put Family Planning, PrEP for HIV Prevention Under One Roof

    Today is HIV Vaccine Awareness Day, an important day to acknowledge. After all, an HIV vaccine would be the most efficient, inexpensive way to control and possibly eradicate this stubborn, decades-old virus. While research to develop a vaccine is vitally important, albeit years away from coming to market, there are several new, and existing ways to prevent HIV now.

    May 19, 2023
    PrEP
    Newvision

  • Appeals Court Pauses Ruling That Threatened Free Preventive Health Care

    A federal appeals court on Monday temporarily blocked a lower court decision that overturned the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that all health plans fully cover certain preventive health services. The move by the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans will put on hold a decision from March that had threatened insurance coverage for recommended services like depression screenings for teenagers and drugs that prevent transmission of HIV The Justice Department had appealed the decision, and the appeals court’s stay will stand while the appeals process plays out.

    May 18, 2023
    PrEP
    New York Times

  • Injectable HIV-Prevention Drug To Be Made in South Africa for the First Time

    An affordable version of a groundbreaking HIV-prevention drug will be made in South Africa for the first time, potentially giving millions of people at risk of HIV infection in Africa access to a two-monthly jab that can almost eliminate their chances of contracting the virus. The Indian drug company Cipla confirmed that a generic version of the prophylaxis, long-acting cabotegravir (CAB-LA), would be manufactured at its plants in Benoni, near Johannesburg, or Durban.

    May 18, 2023
    PrEP
    The Guardian

  • World AIDS Vaccine Day: A Vaccine Would Save Countless Lives – But It Wouldn’t Be a Silver Bullet

    It’s been more than 40 years since the virus that eventually became known as HIV was first identified – yet there’s still no vaccine. The AIDS epidemic decimated queer communities across the world following its emergence in the early 1980s and it continues to hold millions of people in its grasp to this day. An estimated 38.4 million people were living with HIV in 2021, according to UNAIDS.

    May 18, 2023
    HIV Vaccine
    PinkNews

  • JomPrEP App To Fight HIV Stigma And Improve Care In Malaysia

    The Malaysian AIDS Foundation (MAF) is seeking to bolster their online platform, JomPrep, to help individuals who suffer from severe internal stigmatisation, according to Prof Dr Adeeba Kamarulzaman, chairman of the foundation. “We really want to strengthen our online JomPrep. There are still some glitches with it. By giving information online, you can order the test and then we will connect you to the nearest provider where there is treatment or prevention,” Dr Adeeba said at the MAF’s Aidilfitri Open House and 30th Anniversary Celebration on Sunday.

    May 18, 2023
    PrEP
    CodeBlue

  • As Many as Half the People ‘Starting’ HIV Treatment in Africa Have Taken It Before

    Globally, UNAIDS estimates that by the end of 2021, 75 percent of all people with HIV in the world were accessing treatment. But “accessing treatment” in fact just means that this number have initiated treatment at some point. It is not the number on treatment right now, because it does not try to estimate how many people starting treatment may have dropped out of care. Back in 2015, one study estimated that a quarter or more of people initiating antiretroviral therapy (ART) in low- and middle-income countries had stopped treatment within two years of initiation.

    May 18, 2023
    Treatment
    aidsmap

  • CDC Urges Mpox Vaccination Among People at High Risk To Prevent Summer Surge

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday urged gay men and other individuals at high risk from mpox to get fully vaccinated to prevent a summer resurgence of the virus. The CDC’s call for those at risk to get up to date on their vaccines comes after a cluster of at least 21 mpox cases was reported in the Chicago area this month.

    May 18, 2023
    General
    CNBC

  • HIV Vaccine Awareness Day 2023

    Thursday, May 18, marks HIV Vaccine Awareness Day (#HVAD) 2023. It’s an opportunity to recognize and give thanks to the countless volunteers, community members, health professionals and scientists who work together to find a safe and effective vaccine to prevent HIV. It’s also a designated day to educate communities about the importance of HIV vaccine research.

    May 18, 2023
    HIV Vaccine
    POZ Magazine

  • World HIV/AIDS Vaccine Day Reminds of the Importance of Inclusion

    May 18 marks World AIDS Vaccine Day, also known as HIV Vaccine Knowledge Day, a day aimed at raising public awareness about the importance of HIV vaccinations in preventing HIV infection and AIDS. Led by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the day also seeks to honor medical professionals, scientists, and volunteers who have dedicated their lives to the development of a viable and safe AIDS vaccine.

    May 18, 2023
    HIV Vaccine
    Plus Magazine

  • Ask a Scientist: Can I Take PrEP and Fiber at the Same Time?

    A question that needs answers! A few weeks ago Twitter was set on fire (as it often is). The reason was simple: pop star Troye Sivan had uploaded a photo to Instagram featuring various pills he takes, presumably every morning. Someone had reposted the photo to Twitter after identifying one of the pills was for PrEP and three of the others were fiber supplements. And the masses were discoursing: should you or should you not take your fiber at the same time as your PrEP pill?

    May 18, 2023
    PrEP
    Out Magazine

  • Why Are STIs on the Rise? We Do a Bad Job of Teaching About Sex.

    It’s no secret among doctors and other health-care professionals that sexually transmitted infections are on the rise in the US and other countries. As a urologist, I have certainly noticed an uptick in patients coming in with STIs. As I recently scrolled through Twitter, however, I came across a USA TODAY news article referencing a study in the New England Journal of Medicine on the preventative use of an antibiotic (doxycycline) to reduce sexually transmitted infections.

    May 17, 2023
    General
    USA Today

  • Preventing Millions of Hepatitis Deaths Is a ‘Thundering Moral Imperative’

    The world faces “a thundering moral imperative” to prevent people in poor countries dying of viral hepatitis when the cost of treating them is “less than dinner for two”, the pharmaceutical industry and health donors will be told on Wednesday. In a passionate appeal to the international community to avoid repeating the mistakes made early in the HIV and Aids crisis, delegates meeting in Geneva at the first international pledging conference for viral hepatitis will be urged to give $150m (£120m) to ensure that low-cost treatment reaches those who need it.

    May 17, 2023
    General
    The Guardian

  • Oral PrEP Is Effective for Women, but Only if They Take it Consistently

    Cisgender women who consistently took tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/emtricitabine (TDF/FTC) for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) were protected as well as gay men, but well under half of women in PrEP demonstration projects achieved this level of adherence, according to an analysis presented at the 30th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI). Another recent study suggests that women might require even higher adherence than men to be adequately protected against HIV.

    May 17, 2023
    PrEP
    POZ Magazine

  • Coming Out as Cured

    Marc Franke, 54, remains free of HIV a decade after receiving a stem cell transplant to treat acute myeloid leukemia (AML) from a donor with a rare mutation that makes immune cells resistant to the virus. Dubbed the Düsseldorf Patient, Franke actually lives in a nearby small city in Germany with his husband Ingo and their dog Motte.

    May 17, 2023
    Cure
    POZ Magazine

  • Why Can’t Women Access ‘Game-Changing’ HIV Prevention?

    Women in Sub-Saharan Africa are twice as likely to get HIV as men. That’s why it was big news when the World Health Organisation approved a new method of HIV prevention in 2021: the dapivirine ring. It’s a silicone band that women insert vaginally and can leave in for four weeks. The ring slowly releases dapivirine, an anti-retroviral drug that stops HIV in its tracks.

    May 17, 2023
    PrEP
    BBC

  • HIV Is Being Swept Up in the Anti-Woke Agenda

    LGBTQ+ Americans are living through a period where our health care is under attack. In states across the country, transgender youth are being denied gender-affirming care despite ample evidence that such care saves lives. This onslaught of legislation—some of it targeting adults as well—is not just a reminder of the heartlessness of some people in power, but a warning that, despite everything we’re taught about autonomy, an individual’s health decisions can be totally taken out of their hands.

    May 16, 2023
    General
    TheBody

  • Texas Judge’s Ruling That Threatens PrEP Access Paused by Appeals Court

    In a temporary ruling issued on Monday, a federal appeals court in Louisiana reversed a lower court’s decision overturning the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that all health plans cover preventive health care as part of their coverage. A decision by conservative US federal district judge Reed O’Connor from March that threatened insurance coverage for recommended services, including depression screenings and drugs that prevent HIV transmission, was placed on hold by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.

    May 16, 2023
    PrEP
    Advocate

  • Decriminalizing Homosexuality Saves Lives and Fights HIV

    Wednesday, May 17, marks International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia & Biphobia (#IDAHOBIT) 2023. This year’s theme is “Together always: united in diversity.” The theme allows for advocacy and celebrations for an array of groups, including human rights defenders, HIV advocates, LGBTQ civil society groups and allies.

    May 16, 2023
    General
    POZ Magazine

  • Racial Disparities in Chronic Hepatitis B Treatment and Outcomes: A Comprehensive Study

    Racial inequities in the prevalence, treatment, and outcomes of chronic hepatitis B mean that individuals of Asian or African descent are disproportionately affected. Receiving treatment for chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) can affect patient outcomes, but data on racially diverse populations living with HBV are scarce.

    May 16, 2023
    General
    Contagion Live

  • Over 40 Percent Prevalence of Precancerous Cervical Lesions Among Female Sex Workers With HIV in South Africa, But Most Unaware of the Disease

    Despite low screening rates, 42 percent of South African female sex workers with HIV were found to have high-risk pap tests – meaning they showed signs of developing cervical cancer, the INTEREST 2023 conference in Maputo, Mozambique heard this week. "The prevalence of cervical cancer precursor lesions in this cohort of mostly HIV-positive sex workers was higher than the range reported for African women at 5-30 percent, with low screening uptake," said Dr Avania Bangalee from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.

    May 15, 2023
    General
    aidsmap

  • There Is Nothing Un-African About Being Gay. Museveni’s Bigotry Will Cost Lives

    A toxic wave of homophobia is surging across east Africa. It is crashing down in Uganda, where members of parliament recently passed a bill that makes being gay a crime punishable by death and not reporting homosexuality a criminal offence. The most common refrain echoed by the anti-gay movement is that homosexuality is “un-African”.

    May 15, 2023
    General
    The Guardian

  • What It Will Take To Enable Anti-Microbial Resistance Tests For STIs

    Sexual health is an important aspect of overall well-being, and maintaining it requires a comprehensive understanding of the risks and challenges associated with sexually transmitted infections (STIs). STIs are a group of infections that are primarily transmitted through sexual contact and can have severe health consequences if left untreated.

    May 15, 2023
    General
    Forbes

  • When Will We Have a Gonorrhea Vaccine?

    In April, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued its latest STI surveillance report, which showed that cases of bacterial sexually transmitted infections (STIs) continue to rise in the US The health agency’s data showed a staggering 36 percent jump in syphilis cases from pre-pandemic 2019 levels to 2021. Gonorrhea rose by about 15 percent over the same time period.

    May 15, 2023
    STI Vaccines
    TheBody

  • Could Dual CRISPR Gene Editing Cure HIV?

    Researchers have developed a combination approach that aims to eliminate HIV using two types of CRISPR gene editing, according to a report in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. One CRISPR tool cuts out genes for the CCR5 receptor, which HIV uses to enter T cells, while another snips HIV genes out of cells that are already infected. So far, this approach has only been tested in mice, but the research could lay the groundwork for human cure studies.

    May 15, 2023
    Cure
    POZ Magazine

  • Tecovirimat for Monkeypox Infection Shows Clinical Benefit in Patients With, Without HIV

    There were no observable differences in treatment outcomes between patients who are HIV-negative and patients with HIV (PWH) who were treated with tecovirimat (Tpoxx; SIGA Technologies) for monkeypox virus (MPXV) infection, according to the results of a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

    May 15, 2023
    General
    Pharmacy Times

  • It's Time We Include Women in the Conversation Around HIV

    Despite major advancements in the HIV/AIDS response, it continues to be a major global public health issue and the leading cause of death globally among women of reproductive age. In the United States, one in four people living with HIV are women. It is a stark reminder that progress towards ending the HIV epidemic has been unevenly distributed and there is still much work to be done, as women represent half of all adults 15-49 years living with HIV worldwide. We must remember, however, that women have the collective power to come together and change the course of HIV. Ending the HIV epidemic requires all of us to embrace women of all experiences at the forefront of change.

    March 10, 2022
    General
    HIV Plus Mag

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