Pennsylvania Protests Rise Over HIV Budget Cuts

PHILADELPHIA (NNPA) - Hundreds of people living with HIV/AIDS and their supporters are protesting $2 million in cuts to the Pennsylvania state budget for HIV prevention. They are protesting Gov. Ed Rendell’s office, demanding that the money be restored.

More than halfway through this fiscal year, state money for HIV prevention was slashed by $1.7 million, more than one-third of the year’s prevention budget. The cuts left HIV prevention providers scrambling to find money to continue providing HIV testing, education and outreach.

The recent decision to cut funds for next fiscal year by $2 million will affect small agencies that do community-based outreach. “Eliminating funding for HIV prevention services at a time when the CDC has verified 56,000 new infections last year in the U.S. is not only insensitive and ludicrous, but it goes against promoting good public health in Pennsylvania. In fact, these cuts will deny the general public the right to honest, accurate HIV prevention messages,” said Waheedah Shabazz-El, an HIV positive member of ACT UP Philadelphia.
“We cannot just sit by and allow this to happen.”

According to ACT UP, a 2006 study estimated that for each HIV infection prevented, $355,000 is saved in money spent providing medical care. The organization is concerned that the $2 million cut to Philadelphia’s prevention funding would lead to 7,971 persons not receiving HIV testing, 3,984 people not receiving HIV prevention health education and risk reduction services and the loss of 24 full-time jobs.

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.


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Protesters in Pennsylvania Center City Object to HIV Funding Cuts

About 200 protesters gathered on Wednesday in Philadelphia to demand that Gov. Edward Rendell restore $2 million in HIV education funding.

The activists jammed the sidewalk in front of Center City's Park Hyatt at the Bellevue for an hour chanting, "Act up, fight back, give us our money back." According to ACT UP spokesperson Kate Kozeniewski, the state cut Philadelphia's HIV prevention funds by $1.7 million during the last fiscal year, and the proposed FY 2011 budget likely will cut an additional $2 million. Rendell maintains an office in the hotel but, according to a spokesperson, was in Washington at the time of the demonstration.

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.


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'Reaching the Surface' Raises HIV/AIDS Awareness with Music, Dance

Dance, music, and the spoken word will be employed in the cause of HIV prevention at upcoming performances in Miami.

"Reaching the Surface" is targeted toward minorities and youth at risk for HIV/AIDS. Ronderrick Mitchell, a New World School of the Arts dance major, is both a performer in the program and a representative of the audience he hopes to reach.

"I won't shut up and shut down," he said. "I consider myself a representative for a group that is afraid to speak. I'm HIV-positive, I'm a black man, I'm gay and I'm 26."

"Reaching the Surface" is a cooperative venture with Alert Health, a nonprofit in North Miami that offers STD testing. The effort represents a natural blending of arts and Alert Health's health-promotion activities, said Director of Special Programming Pioneer Winter.

"Stigma is created from not being able to see similarities," Winter said. "We all know someone who is either affected or infected."

According to the Florida Department of Health, blacks account for 71 percent of Floridians ages 13-24 living with HIV/AIDS. Hispanics account for 15 percent.

"Too many young people still believe that if their partner doesn't look sick, they're safe. We need to educate them," said Alert Health Project Coordinator Jon Kelly. "This is an urgent message that we're trying to get out to the community."

Performances of "Reaching the Surface" are free and open to the public. They are scheduled for June 4 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Plaza, 770 NE 125th St., and June 5 at the Little Haiti Cultural Center, 260 NE 59th Ter. Both performances will be at 8 p.m. More information is available at 305-893-7992 ext. 106.

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.


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Monterey County AIDS Project Accused of Misusing $2.8 Million

A bequest of $1.8 million given to the Monterey County AIDS Project (MCAP) for use in housing AIDS patients was allegedly diverted to other purposes, according to a lawsuit filed on May 21 by Attorney General Jerry Brown.

On Monday, Brown said MCAP directors used the funds for salaries, rent for the charity's thrift shop, and various personal expenses. The suit further alleges that another $1 million in unrestricted funds was diverted, misappropriated, and/or misused for personal and for-profit ventures. The suit aims to shut down MCAP and to recover the $2.8 million.

Defendants include the former executive directors Wayne Johnson and Kathleen Banks and 14 other staff and board members. The lawsuit is seeking an order that would ban those individuals from ever serving in nonprofit agencies.

The $1.8 million bequest by Douglas Madsen, who died in 1999, involved a Big Sur ranch with the restriction that its sole use be for housing persons with AIDS. In 2000, a judge granted the MCAP board's request to sell the property, but ordered the proceeds placed in a housing endowment in keeping with the spirit of Madsen's wishes, according to the suit. While the property sold for $1.55 million, the profit was not placed in the Madsen bequest account, which held $373,149 cash, it said.

Today, "there are no assets left in the housing endowment," the complaint states.

In 2009, MCAP services were consolidated with those of the John XXIII AIDS Ministry under the umbrella agency Central Coast HIV/AIDS Services. That agency is not listed in the suit. News of the action quickly spread throughout the nonprofit community.

"It's difficult because it puts a pall on all the organizations and programs that provide services in AIDS-related cases, and it's dispiriting for people who work in that field," said Mary Adams, president of United Way of Monterey County. "Whenever anything like this happens, the community loses faith in all nonprofits."

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.


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Study Finds Condom Use Is Increasing

The latest data from CDC's National Survey of Family Growth show that 99 percent of sexually experienced women ages 15 to 44 have used some form of contraception.

Contraceptive use at first premarital sex increased to 84 percent during 2006-08, compared with 56 percent before 1985. Much of this increase was related to condom use, which rose from 34 percent before 1985 to 72 percent in 2005-08, the report says. "Use at first premarital intercourse is important because 94 percent of women ages 15-44 have had premarital intercourse," it notes.

Among women whose mothers had a college education, contraceptive use at sexual debut was 84 percent, compared with 53 percent among women whose mothers did not finish high school. Most of the difference was in condom use (68 percent vs. 37 percent).

By rank, reasons for not using contraception among women who had a recent unintended birth were: 43.9 percent did not think they could get pregnant; 22.8 percent did not mind getting pregnant; 16.2 percent worried about birth control side effects; 14.1 percent did not expect to have sex; 9.6 percent had male partners who did not want to use birth control; and 7.3 percent had male partners who did not want them to use contraception.

"There are some pieces of good news in here," said Bill Mosher, a statistician with the National Center for Health Statistics. Nonetheless, "what struck me was how persistent some of these patterns are. And that they're different from some other countries," he said.

The full report including country comparisons, "Use of Contraception in the United States: 1982-2008," was published in Vital and Health Statistics (2010;series 23(9)).

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.


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Chlamydia Increase May Hint at HIV Rise in Australia

A recent doubling of chlamydia in Australia portends a spike in HIV cases, health officials have warned.

"The concern is that if we see a condition like chlamydia on the rise, that indicates that there's a lot of unsafe sexual practices occurring and of course that sets up an environment where HIV transmission can increase as well," said Professor Michael Kidd, chair of a ministerial advisory group on sexual disease strategies.

In the four-year period ending 2008, chlamydia cases in Australia doubled to 60,000, according to federal statistics, with those ages 20-29 at highest risk.

Kidd's comments came as Australia launched new national strategies for addressing STDs, including HIV. He called for greater use of social media to attack the problem, supplanting prior initiatives that have not succeeded.

Australia's government is concentrating on reducing the country's HIV rate, federal parliamentary Secretary for Health Mark Butler said. About 1,000 new cases of HIV are diagnosed in Australia each year, a number that has plateaued in recent years.

"We're certainly happier with the plateauing than an ongoing increase, but we want to drive those rates down back to the sort of 600s or so per year that we were seeing in the beginning of the decade, and we see no reason that we can't do that," Butler said.

At the launch, Butler called for an increased emphasis on disease prevention. "Of the slightly more than $100 billion (US $85 billion) that we spend as a nation on health every year around 2 percent is spent on stopping people getting sick in the first place," he said.

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.


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California's AIDS Drug Program Largely Safe from Cuts

AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) should be mostly spared from $12.4 billion in state budget cuts proposed to help plug a $19.1 billion deficit, advocates say. However, utilization controls proposed for Medi-Cal remain a concern.

There is no more "low-hanging fruit," Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said on May 14 as he released a revised budget proposal for 2010-11. "We have to take the ladder from the tree and shake the whole tree."

The state ADAP would receive a $32.7 million adjustment, mostly related to administration, said Anne Donnelly, director of health care policy for Project Inform. "It shouldn't affect ADAP services," though the budget would eliminate support for county jail inmates.

Medi-Cal would lose $523 million, and the program could eliminate coverage of some over-the-counter drugs, such as aspirin or cold medicine. "That could seem minor, except we're talking about people who really have no money to support them," Donnelly said.

Medi-Cal prescriptions would be limited to six per month, except for "life-saving drugs" - a category as yet undefined, Donnelly said. The proposal also would limit the number of clinician or physician visits to 10 each year. Emergency department visits could require a $50 co-pay.

The ADAP news is "very, very good," said Dr. Michelle Roland, chief of the state Office of AIDS. ADAP needed less money in part because of national health care reform and an increase in state-distributed federal Ryan White Part B funds, she said. However, "we never really know what we're going to be left with until we have a signed and enacted budget."

The Assembly budget subcommittee has voted to restore funds for "a number of items," including HIV testing and prevention, that Schwarzenegger cut by line-item veto last summer, Roland said. However, Roland said it is unknown whether the restoration of funds will stand. The $52.1 million the governor slashed from AIDS programs in 2009 was in addition to more than $30 million already cut by lawmakers.

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.


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HOPWA SURVEY

The Housing Work Group of the Federal AIDS Housing Policy Partnership(FAPP) is seeking community input on AIDS housing across the country. The purpose of the survey is to collect information to frame discussions within the workgroup on possible reauthorization of the Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS program (HOPWA), including, but not limited to, revisions to the HOPWA distribution formula.

No specific timeline is currently known for HOPWA reauthorization either from the Congress or the Administration. With the help of information received on how HOPWA is currently working in your community and what changes would be helpful, the community will be prepared to provide input on the critical issue of AIDS housing when reauthorization is scheduled.

Your input is needed. Please take a few minutes to complete the survey at: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MMDH7RY


The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org/.


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People with AIDS More Likely to Develop Cancers, Research Says

The cumulative incidence of non-AIDS-defining cancers (NADCs) is approaching that of AIDS-defining cancers among HIV patients in settings where antiretroviral therapy is common, according to a consortium of researchers. Their report will be presented at the 2010 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting in Chicago June 4-8.

"We're seeing high rates of head and neck cancer, lung cancer, kidney cancer, liver cancer, and anal cancer," said John F. Deeken, the report's co-author and director of head and neck oncology at Georgetown University Medical Center. The study also found marked increases in Hodgkin's lymphoma.

"Even when we control for smoking, we see a higher rate than the general population," Deeken said. "We don't know why this is happening. We need to figure that out."

Deeken and colleagues have launched the first clinical trial to study interactions between antiretrovirals and chemotherapy, with the hope formulating treatment recommendations.

The high incidence of NADCs among HIV-infected people has been noted for years in separate studies. Activists say the availability of effective treatments has led some in high-risk populations to discount the danger of HIV; that perception might change if the virus began to be associated with cancer.

"The pills have side effects," said Robert Yarchoan, chief of the HIV and AIDS malignancy branch of the National Cancer Institute. "There's premature aging and heart attacks. And now there are these cancers."

Many doctors are not aware that HIV patients are more susceptible to NADCs, Yarchoan said. Until recently, HIV patients were excluded from clinical trials for NADCs because of their weakened immune systems, but the National Cancer Institute has led efforts to include them, he said.

To view the abstract, "Treating HIV+ Patients for Non-AIDS-Defining Cancers (NADCs) in the Era of Targeted Chemotherapy: An AIDS Malignancy Consortium Study of Sunitinib in Patients on ART," visit http://abstract.asco.org/AbstView_74_51819.html.

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org/.


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Drug Abuse Imperils African Advances Against AIDS Spread: Experts

Gains made against HIV/AIDS infection in Africa are being threatened by an increase in drug abuse and drug injection, warned health officials meeting this week in Sweden.

"It's a very worrying situation," said Jennifer Kimani, head of Kenya's National Campaign Against Drug Abuse. She noted that the prevalence of HIV infection among injecting drugs users was 68 percent to 88 percent.

In addition to concerns about the transmission of disease through unclean needles, participants at Stockholm's World Forum Against Drugs noted that the use of drugs is associated with an increased risk of unsafe sex practices.

Olawale Maiyegun, head of the African Union's Social Affairs Department, bemoaned the lack of good data on the prevalence of the drug problem and its impact on HIV/AIDS.

"It is feared that the next round of an HIV/AIDS epidemic might be [prompted] by drug injection," he said.

Experts said that behind the increase is the growing role of eastern and southern African nations as "transit countries" for drug smuggling. East Africa is "the major conduit for smuggling heroin from southwest Asia into Africa [and on to] Europe and North America," according to a 2008 report from the UN Narcotics Control Board.

"The history of society has shown that when you're a transit country, sooner or later it will increase consumption. That is already happening," Maiyegun said.

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org/.


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D.C. to Add Trojans to Free Condom Program

In response to complaints about the free condoms the city has been distributing to area high schools and colleges, D.C. health officials have decided to stock Trojan condoms, including the brand's larger-size product, Magnum.

Students said the city-provided condoms were "cheap" and "small," and that asking school nurses for them is "just like asking grandma or auntie."

Health officials are authorizing teachers and counselors, preferably male, to distribute condoms provided they complete a 30-minute online training course called "WrapMC" ("Master of Condoms"). The previous condoms, made by Durex, will be supplemented with Trojans, considered a better-known brand. According to health experts and consumer advocates, there is no difference between Trojans and the less-expensive Durex in terms of STDs and pregnancy prevention.

Scientists and health experts say the appeal of Trojan results from the company's marketing strategy, for example, the shiny gold wrapper of the Magnum. "The gold package certainly has a little bit of the bling quality," said Michael Kharfen, spokesperson for the D.C. HIV/AIDS Administration.

The addition of Trojans to the city's condom distribution effort is expected to boost the number given away to more than 4 million this year. The Durex condoms cost Washington 5.7 cents each; Trojans are 6-9 cents each. Last year, the program cost $165,000.

City officials say spending an extra few thousand dollars to persuade young people to practice safer sex is worth it. "We thought making condoms available was a good thing, but we never asked the kids what they wanted," said D.C. Council member David A. Catania (I-At Large), chair of the health committee.

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org/.


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House Acknowledges Housing's Role in HIV/AIDS Prevention and Healthcare

WASHINGTON, DC, May 25, 2010 -- The U.S. House of Representatives yesterday adopted H. Con. Res. 137, expressing the sense of the Congress that the lack of adequate housing must be addressed as a barrier to effective HIV prevention, treatment and care, and that the United States should make a commitment to providing adequate funding for developing housing as a response to the AIDS pandemic. This resolution complements the International Declaration on Poverty, Housing Instability and HIV/AIDS presented by the National AIDS Housing Coalition (NAHC) and its partners at the International AIDS Conference in Mexico City in 2008.

In a voice vote, the House adopted the resolution following powerful remarks by sponsor Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-8thNY), who noted that while advances have been made in addressing the epidemic, much remains to be done. In support of the resolution, Rep. Nadler cited statistics demonstrating housing's positive impact on HIV prevention and care, many of which had been presented in research disseminated through the NAHC Research Summit series. In a call for bi-partisan support, he offered the resolution to "move toward a sound and comprehensive policy for the prevention and treatment of HIV-AIDS". Click here to view Rep. Nadler's press release.

"This Congressional acknowledgment of housing as a critical component of HIV prevention and healthcare is powerful affirmation of the combined efforts of the community -- people living with HIV/AIDS, providers, researchers, policymakers and advocates", said NAHC Executive Director, Nancy Bernstine. "The resolution will be invaluable in continuing efforts to garner the resources needed to make stable housing a reality for those seeking to live productively while managing their illness."

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org/.


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ACTION ALERT: Demand That President Obama and Congress Address The ADAP Crisis!

National Call-in Day is Wednesday, May 26, 2010

AIDS Drug Assistance Programs provide medications to over 166,000 individuals. Unfortunately, many state ADAPs have been forced to put in place barriers to access such as reducing the eligibility, changing the formulary, and closing enrollment. Over 1,000 individuals in ten states are on waiting lists to receive their life-saving and life-sustaining medications through this program. Without immediate additional funding the situation is going to get much worse.

WE NEED YOUR HELP TO ENSURE THAT THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION AND CONGRESS TAKES ACTION TO HELP THOSE IN NEED!!

How You Can Help:

Please call your Elected Officials on Wednesday, May 26th. We ask that you call President Obama, your two Senators and your Representative.


1. Call the White House at 202-456-1111 and leave the following message for President Obama:

My name is ______ and I am calling today to ask that President Obama take action to address the current crisis in AIDS Drug Assistance Programs. These programs provide life-saving medications to HIV-positive individuals who have no other access to care. However, over 1,000 HIV-positive individuals are on waiting lists to receive their medications. Action must be taken to ensure that ADAP clients can receive their medications and the situation does not get any worse.


2. Call your Senator (see contact information below) and leave the following message:

My name is __________ and I am writing today to urge Senator __________ to take action to address the current crisis among AIDS Drug Assistance Programs. These programs provide life-saving medications to HIV-positive individuals who have no other access to care. However, over 1,000 HIV-positive individuals are on waiting lists in ten states to receive their medications, and the situation is going to get much worse if there are no additional immediate resources. Many other states have reduced eligibility or removed drugs from their formularies. Please support all efforts to increase resources to ADAP in order to help people living with HIV/AIDS.

Call toll-free to voice your support: 1.800.828.0498. When you reach the Capitol Switchboard, ask to be connected to your Senator. If you have trouble getting through with the toll-free number, you can use the regular switchboard number: 1.202.224.3121.

You can also look up your Senator to find a direct contact number at: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_info...enators_cfm.cfm


3. Call your Representative (see contact information below) and leave the following message:

My name is __________ and I am writing today to urge Representative __________ to take action to address the current crisis among AIDS Drug Assistance Programs. These programs provide life-saving medications to HIV-positive individuals who have no other access to care. However, over 1,000 HIV-positive individuals are on waiting lists in ten states to receive their medications, and the situation is going to get much worse if there are no additional immediate resources. Many other states have reduced eligibility or removed drugs from their formularies. Please support all efforts to increase resources to ADAP in order to help people living with HIV/AIDS.

Call toll-free to voice your support: 1.800.828.0498. When you reach the Capitol Switchboard, ask to be connected to your House Representative. If you have trouble getting through with the toll-free number, you can use the regular switchboard number: 1.202.224.3121.

You can also look up your Representative to find a direct contact number at:
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/directory/congdir.tt


4. Foward this information to everyone you know.


PLEASE TAKE ACTION TO HELP SAVE LIVES FOR PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS.


The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.


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Philly to Get Dose of HIV Vaccine Education

HIV Vaccine Trial Network 505 (HTVN 505) is a five-year study involving HIV-negative men, ages 18-45, who have sex with men. The vaccine candidate is not one shot but a regimen: During the first three months, participants receive three injections of a "naked" DNA vaccine. A needleless Biojector is used to administer the injections. At month six, participants receive a booster.

For volunteers, the first year in the study is the busiest, said Deb Dunbar, the division's clinical director. The men, half of whom will receive placebos, will return periodically for the injections and follow-up monitoring. During the next four years, they will come in every three months for counseling and HIV testing. Participants will receive $5 per visit as well as transit tokens.

"The primary incentive is that people feel really good to be able to be giving back to their community," Dunbar said. "Most people who choose to participate end up finding that they've become part of a clinic that's focused on the shared goal of trying to prevent HIV to make the world a better place."

To learn more about HTVN 505, telephone 866-448-7366.

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.


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Is HIV Riskier for Men with Pregnant Partners?

Pregnancy may double the risk of female-to-male HIV transmission, according to research presented Sunday at the 2010 International Microbicides Conference in Pittsburgh.

Researchers with the University of Nairobi and University of Washington evaluated HIV transmission factors and pregnancy in a prospective study of 3,321 serodiscordant couples from seven African countries. Among the couples, which were followed for up to 24 months, 1,085 women were HIV-susceptible, or seronegative, and 2,236 men were HIV-susceptible. During the study, there were 823 pregnancies (320 HIV-negative women; 503 HIV-positive).

Among participants, 64 women acquired HIV-1 infection (incidence of 3.8 per 100 person-years). Of new female HIV cases, 17 (26.6 percent) occurred during pregnancy. Of the men, 57 acquired HIV during the study from their female partners, representing an incidence of 1.7 per 100 person-years. Among male HIV infections, 12 (21.1 percent) occurred during their partners' pregnancy.

Pregnancy was associated with a higher risk of male-to-female HIV transmission (hazard ratio [HR] 2.1, 95 percent confidence interval [CI] 1.2-3.7, p=0.009). However, the risk was attenuated to statistical insignificance after adjusting for female partner age, unprotected sex, and hormonal contraceptive use.

Pregnancy was also associated with an increased risk of female-to-male HIV transmission (HR 2.21, 95 percent CI 1.17-4.19, p=0.02). In contrast to the risk for females, the risk for males was not attenuated in adjusted analysis (adjusted HR 2.28, 95 percent CI 1.16-4.46, p=0.02). "Further adjustment for other factors, including plasma HIV-1 levels, CD4 count, and male circumcision, did not substantially change the findings," noted Dr. Nelly Mugo, of the University of Nairobi and Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi, and colleagues.

Increased female-to-male transmission of HIV during pregnancy might be due to pregnancy-related physiological and immunological changes that may increase the infectiousness of HIV-1, the researchers concluded. However, more research is necessary for confirmation.

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.


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Haitian Group Honored for AIDS Work, Earthquake Aid

The Haitian HIV/AIDS nonprofit organization GHESKIO has received the 2010 Gates Award for Global Health. The 10th winner of the prestigious award, GHESKIO was cited for its long-term impact as well as for its swift and coordinated response to help survivors of the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti.

For almost three decades, GHESKIO has offered advanced clinical services, research and training. Before the devastating quake, it was providing palliative care to more than 50,000 HIV/AIDS patients and antiretrovirals to more than 13,500 - nearly 55 percent of all patients on ARVs in Haiti.

Though the organization's Port-au-Prince headquarters sustained serious damage, more than 7,000 newly homeless citizens were provided care in a field hospital on its grounds. Within a week of the quake, 95 percent of GHESKIO's patients under HIV and TB care were again receiving medical management.

Through its research, GHESKIO has informed the treatment and care of HIV/AIDS patients around the world. Dr. Jean William (Bill) Pape, a Haitian native and GHESKIO's founder, has been a leading AIDS clinician since the early days of the epidemic and has achieved AIDS patient survival and treatment adherence rates similar to those of first-class centers in the United States and Europe.

The Global Health Council, which announced the award at a symposium in Geneva on May 17, said of Pape and his colleagues: "They have built GHESKIO into a rare institution, one based in a developing country that has become a leader in the global research community. That dual character - world-class research capabilities tied to deep roots in the local community - is what sets GHESKIO apart and makes them the natural recipient of this recognition."

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.


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Pledge to Stop 'Mum-to-Baby' HIV

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria is launching the "Born HIV Free" campaign to prevent the estimated 430,000 mother-to-baby HIV infections that occur annually in the developing world. The goal is to do this by 2015.

"This campaign is intended to encourage people to sign up in support of the Global Fund, and to show their leaders that there is strong public support to continue and increase funding for its mission," said fund Executive Director Michel Kazatchkine.

French first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, an ambassador for the Global Fund, is overseeing the campaign. She presses the case for supporting the campaign in a series of films, featuring music by U2 and Amy Winehouse, being promoted on the Internet.

Born HIV Free comes at a critical time for the fund, which is seeking $20 billion over the next three years. Fund leaders believe mother-to-child HIV transmission can be halted if governments fully honor their pledges. "We can win this battle against AIDS if we get the funding we require," Kazatchkine said.

France is Europe's largest contributor to the fund. The United Kingdom has pledged or contributed $1.1 billion since the fund's beginnings in 2002.

Global Fund insiders report hearing "promising noises" from Conservatives and Liberal Democrats on prioritizing global health. "An early indication that our government will support the Global Fund is really important," said Dr. Richard Horton, editor of the Lancet.

"Another pressing issue is taking a serious look at the Department of International Development," said Horton. "There is genuine concern that a lot of money has been spent on development aid without always getting a clear return."

"There needs to be accountability at this time of financial stringency," Horton said.


The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.


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ACTION ALERT - Tell Rep. Eric Cantor To Cut Wasteful Spending On Abstinence-Only Programs!

According to CDC’s Youth Risk Behavioral Survey (YRBS), many young people begin having sexual intercourse at early ages. 47% of high school students have had sexual intercourse, and 7.4% of them reported first sexual intercourse before age 13. Only 50% of those who are sexually active report consistent condom use. Research also shows that most young people in the world do not know how to protect themselves from HIV, nor do they know how it is transmitted.

This week Congressman Eric Cantor (R-VA) introduced YouCut, a new GOP initiative marketed as a "first-of-its-kind project...designed to defeat the permissive culture of runaway spending in Congress."

House Republicans are promising that YouCut will help to eliminate wasteful spending. However, in the case of one extremely wasteful and damaging ideological earmark — the massive $250 million that Congress pumped into failed Title V abstinence-only-until-marriage-programs earlier this year — GOP leaders (not to mention their colleagues across the aisle) have already looked the other way.

The Friends of AIDS Foundation believes comprehensive HIV/AIDS education needs to take place at correspondingly young ages, before young people engage in sexual behaviors that put them at risk for HIV infection.

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

1. Please visit: http://republicanwhip.house.gov/YouCut/YourIdea.htm and submit the following message.

Dear Representative Cantor,

If you're serious about cutting unnecessary government spending, then I urge you to end ALL funding for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs immediately. These discredited programs have wasted more than $1.5 billion in federal funds so far.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]


2. Please forward this information to everyone you know.


As advocates for sound HIV/AIDS policies and effective HIV prevention education, we need to use every public opportunity to tell our elected officials one important truth: ending abstinence-only-until-marriage-programs is a no-brainer.


TOGETHER WE REMAIN STRONG!

HIV Care Denied to Most MSM in Asia-Pacific Region

Nearly 90 percent of men who have sex with men in the Asia-Pacific region are denied HIV care because of regional laws criminalizing male homosexual activity, according to a U.N.-backed report written about in BBC News.

According to the report in the BBC article, gays and bisexuals comprise between 10 and 30 percent of HIV/AIDS cases in most Asia-Pacific countries, but 19 out of 48 of those countries criminalized gay male sex.

In some countries, the punishment is death. In others, criminalization results in extortion, harassment and violence. As a result, HIV rates are increasing.

“The effectiveness of the HIV response will depend not just on the sustained scale up of HIV prevention, treatment and care, but on whether the legal and social environment support or hinder programmes for those who are most vulnerable,” wrote Mandeep Dhaliwal, of the U.N. Development Programme, which coproduced the report with the Asia Pacific Coalition on Male Sexual Health.

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.


Together We Remain Strong!

HIV/AIDS Summer Retreat

Strength for the Journey is a 5 day summer retreat providing a safe, caring, and healing community. The week includes activities to nourish the mind, body, and soul, so that participants may return home with a renewed strength and spirit.

This retreat is open to anyone who is living with HIV/AIDS without regard to race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation. Camp Cedar Glenn unfortunately is not wheelchair accessible. This is an alcohol/drug free event.

Space is limited. Registration is required. Fore more information, contact The Friends of AIDS Foundation at: info@friendsofaids.org.

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.


Together We Remain Strong!

Reports on HIV/AIDS Findings From Futures Institute Provide New Insights

Data detailed in 'Spectrum: a model platform for linking maternal and child survival interventions with AIDS, family planning and demographic projections' have been presented. According to a study from the United States, "LiST is implemented in Spectrum, a modular computer program designed to examine the impact of interventions on health outcomes. A typical LiST application uses three other modules in Spectrum addressing demography, family planning and HIV/AIDS."

"The demographic module projects the population by single age and sex over time and uses LiST calculations of the mortality rates by age group to calculate the number of deaths. The family planning module uses the proximate determinants of fertility framework to calculate the effects of increasing contraceptive use on the total fertility rate and, thus, the number of births. The HIV/AIDS module calculates the consequences of HIV epidemic trends on child mortality and the effects of programs to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV, cotrimoxazole prophylaxis and anti-retroviral treatment on the number of AIDS deaths. These modules provide LiST with estimates of the number of children and number of deaths by single age as they are affected by changes in fertility through family planning and interventions to prevent the transmission of HIV or delay AIDS death," wrote J. Stover and colleagues, Futures Institute.

The researchers concluded: "Integrating LiST within the existing Spectrum system of planning models expands the scope of LiST to include the effects of demographic change, family planning and HIV interventions."

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.


Together We Remain Strong!

Frequent Alcohol Use Might Hasten HIV Disease Progression

HIV-positive people who consume two or more alcoholic drinks every day might experience faster disease progression than lighter drinkers, according to a study published online in the journal AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses.

Researchers have been struggling to measure alcohol’s effect on HIV disease progression almost since the beginning of the epidemic. Some studies, especially those in animals or test tubes, have indicated that alcohol (ethanol) is directly toxic to CD4 cells. However, studies in humans have produced varying results.

To determine the direct effect of alcohol consumption on HIV disease progression, Marianna Baum, PhD, RD, from Florida International University in Miami, and her colleagues tracked CD4 counts and viral loads in 231 HIV-positive adults during a 30-month period. The group they studied was socially challenged in a number of ways. The average monthly income was less than $350, and nearly half were homeless during the study. Only 54 percent drank alcohol, however. Of those who drank, only 23 percent had two or more drinks per day. Those classified as heavy drinkers consumed four servings of alcohol on average per day. About 67 percent of the people in the study were on antiretroviral (ARV) medication.

Baum and her colleagues found that those who drank more than two servings of alcohol per day were far more likely to lose CD4 cells over time. People who drank heavily were 2.91 times more likely to have their CD4 counts drop below 200 than people who drank moderately, rarely or not at all. What’s more, the increased risk for disease progression held true even when Baum’s team factored in adherence, ARV use, viral load and crack-cocaine use.

The authors concede that factors beyond the ones they measured could have influenced the study’s outcome, but the researchers state that their study provides some of the strongest evidence available that alcohol might affect disease progression.

“Our findings support the hypothesis that frequent alcohol intake, as well as the combination of frequent alcohol and crack-cocaine, accelerates HIV disease progression,” write Baum and her colleagues.

“The effect of alcohol on CD4 cell decline appears to be independent of [ARV treatment], through direct action on CD4 cells,” they conclude. But they also point out that “alcohol and substance abuse may lead to unmeasured behaviors that promote HIV disease progression.”

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.


Together We Remain Strong!

Austin Mural Intended to Send an Artful Message; Group Hopes to Raise AIDS Awareness with Public Art Project

"We have the power to heal our community" is the message of a new 15-by-30-foot mural at the corner of Chicago and Mayfield avenues in the Austin neighborhood on Chicago's West Side.

Compared to other Chicago neighborhoods, Austin's rate of STDs among 13- to 24-year-olds is the city's highest. It ranks second for HIV cases among this age group, city Department of Public Health data show.

"There's a staggering number of people of color who are becoming infected or are living with HIV and don't know it," said Maurice Chapman, executive director of the Austin Health Center CBC Initiative, a community-based program for people living with HIV. "Anything that can be done to keep HIV awareness, prevention and care in people's minds is good, and the mural is taking a creative approach to raising this awareness. If we have a mural that de-stigmatizes HIV and heightens people's awareness, that's a positive thing."

The AIDS Foundation of Chicago helped organize and fund the mural effort. AFC chose Austin after seeing the health department's data on the neighborhood, said spokesperson Johnathon Briggs. The group's "With me comes a cure" campaign, launched last year, served as the mural's inspiration.

"We wanted it to be a movement," said Briggs. "If we had some artistic expression such as a mural, it would get people thinking about a cure."

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.


Together We Remain Strong!

Sweden Pushes Condom Use as Study Hints Risky Sex Common

Sweden has launched a campaign to halve new HIV infections by 2016 - just as a new study finds a disconnect between Swedish youths' sexual behavior and their perception of risk.

In an online poll of 4,714 Swedes ages 15-24, just over half reporting casual sex said they always used a condom, according to the National Board of Health and Welfare's report. Among the youth polled, 40 percent lacked accurate information about how HIV is transmitted, and only 7 percent believed they were at high risk of HIV.

"In many ways, we have in our country all the necessary information to live a healthy life with low risk of disease," Health Minister Maria Larsson and Christer Wennerholm, head of the National Council for Coordination of HIV Prevention, wrote in the Dagens Nyheter daily. "But there is often a gap between what we know and what we do, and the gap is big when it applies to the risk of sexually transmitted infections."

"Only 51 percent of girls and 56 percent of guys aged 15 to 19 consider it obvious to use a condom with a casual partner," the authors said, referring to the study. That "they would rather risk contracting a sexually transmitted disease than abstain from sex when they don't have a condom" shows that more work in changing such attitudes is necessary, they wrote.

Last year, Sweden recorded 468 HIV infections and almost 38,000 chlamydia diagnoses.

"The question is how many will get HIV and how many young people will become infertile [as a result of chlamydia infection] before condom use becomes obvious with new partners," Larsson and Wennerholm asked.

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.


Together We Remain Strong!

Bristol-Myers and AIDS Fund to Award Grants for Care Access

The National AIDS Fund and Bristol-Myers Squibb are awarding grants to more than 35 community-based organizations to improve access to care for people with HIV. Among the grantees are nine New York City groups - including Project Samaritan, Promesa, and St. Mary's Episcopal Center - that together will receive $3.7 million. The funding is provided by BMS under its year-old "Positive Change" initiative, which seeks to facilitate treatment, care, and support for people with HIV/AIDS. "With thousands of people in our country living with HIV not linked to care, we, as business and philanthropic leaders, have an obligation to help remove the barriers they face so they can access the HIV-specific care they need," said Kandy Ferree, NAF's CEO.

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.


Together We Remain Strong!

Eight Arrested at Obama AIDS Protest

In Manhattan on Thursday, some 500 activists gathered outside the St. Regis Hotel to protest what they say is President Obama's failure to fulfill campaign promises to increase global AIDS funding.

Inside, the president addressed a $15,000-$50,000-a-plate fundraiser for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Speakers at the demonstration included Zackie Achmat of South Africa's Treatment Action Campaign and author and veteran AIDS activist Larry Kramer. Eight of the protesters were arrested.

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.


Together We Remain Strong!

Study Suggests Smallpox Vaccine May Protect Against HIV

In a new preliminary study, researchers hypothesized that the emergence of HIV beginning in the 1950s could have an association with the gradual eradication of smallpox.

If the smallpox vaccine conferred partial protection against HIV infection, it could have kept HIV under control during the earliest outbreaks. As smallpox eradication was achieved, withdrawal of the vaccine might have allowed HIV to flourish, suggested Raymond S. Weinstein of George Mason University and colleagues.

To test the proposition, the team compared the HIV-1 susceptibility of peripheral blood mononuclear cells between subjects who were immunized with the vaccinia virus and those who were vaccine-naïve.

Among the laboratory blood samples of those who had been vaccinated against smallpox in the preceding three to six months, there was up to a five-fold reduction in CCR5-tropic, but not CXCR4-tropic, HIV-1 replication. "The addition of autologous serum to the cell cultures resulted in enhanced R5 HIV-1 replication in the cells from unvaccinated, but not vaccinated subjects," researchers found. "There were no significant differences in the concentrations of MIP-1alpha, MIP-1beta, and RANTES" between the groups.

"Since primary HIV-1 infections are caused almost exclusively by the CCR5-tropic HIV-1 strains, our results suggest that prior immunization with vaccinia virus might provide an individual with some degree of protection to subsequent HIV infection and/or progression," wrote Weinstein and colleagues. "The duration of such protection remains to be determined."

However, it is "far too soon to recommend the general use of vaccinia immunizations for fighting HIV," Weinstein noted.

The full study, "Significantly Reduced CCR5-Tropic HIV-1 Replication in vitro in Cells from Subjects Previously Immunized with Vaccinia Virus," was published in BMC Immunology (2010;doi:10.1186/1471-2172-11-23).

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.


Together We Remain Strong!

Utah Will Continue to Participate in Federal Grant for AIDS Patients

On Tuesday, members of the Utah Legislature's top budget committee reassured citizens that the state will continue to participate in a joint state/federal program that provides low-income HIV/AIDS patients with treatment and care services.

During its April meeting, the Executive Appropriations Committee deferred the routine approval process for the state's Ryan White CARE Act application, citing the need for more information about how the program is funded and how the federal health care overhaul would affect it. Most Utah lawmakers oppose the federal reform.

Despite media reports to the contrary, the move was not politically motivated and lawmakers were not putting HIV/AIDS patients' health in jeopardy, said Rep. Ron Bigelow (R-West Valley), chair of the committee. "Everyone left the meeting with that understanding," said Bigelow, adding that the postponement was a sincere attempt to obtain solid information about how Ryan White funding is used.

Senate President and committee member Michael Waddoups (R-Taylorsville) said his reason for voicing initial concerns about the funding was to ensure Utah is getting the most out of its $1.4 million contribution to the fund. Ryan White provides $3 for every $1 in state money.

Bigelow noted the confusion exposes the problems inherent in having a part-time Legislature that relies on full-time state agencies to keep lawmakers informed. "This highlights a lesson learned," he said. Staff members told the committee they are streamlining the process so lawmakers have a clearer picture of joint expenditures like Ryan White, Medicaid, and other major programs in the state budget.

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.


Together We Remain Strong!

The Perils of Sexual Roundelays

A new study has found that nonromantic sexual involvement is associated with concurrent sexual partnerships, or having more than one partner at the same time. Many stories of "hooking up" focus on youth. This study, however, used data drawn from a 1995 survey involving 783 heterosexuals ages 18-59 in the greater Chicago area .

"The goal was to establish the basic association between different kinds of sexual relationships and concurrency," said study author Dr. Anthony Paik, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Iowa.

Overall, one-third of adult relationships were not exclusive, Paik found. Men were more likely than women to have not been monogamous (17 percent vs. 5 percent), and more women than men reported that their partners were not monogamous (17 percent vs. 8 percent).

Sex within the first week of a relationship was linked to a higher risk of nonmonogamy. Compared with people in serious relationships, those involved with a friend or casual partner were also much more likely to have been in concurrent sexual partnerships.

"Establishing the relationship between non-serious relationships and concurrent partners is the key finding," Paik said. "But it's not clear whether this is a causal story or a selection story," said Paik, though he inclines toward believing the latter: Perhaps people who are likely to be involved in nonserious partnerships with a casual acquaintance or friend are predisposed to be nonexclusive, he theorized.

The full study, "The Contexts of Sexual Involvement and Concurrent Sexual Partnerships," was published in Sexual and Reproductive Health (2010;42(1):doi:10.1363/4203310).

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.


Together We Remain Strong!

HIV Among Gay, Bisexual Men at Alarming Highs in Asia

Punitive laws in many Asian countries have driven men who have sex with men (MSM) underground, denying them access to essential HIV prevention and treatment services, a new UN-backed report says.

"Nineteen of 48 countries in the Asia-Pacific region criminalize male-to-male sex, and these laws often take on the force of vigilantism, often leading to abuse and human rights violations," said the report compiled by the UN Development Program, Asia-Pacific Coalition on Male Sexual Health and the University of Hong Kong's Center for Comparative and Public Law. "Even where there are no specific offenses for male-to-male sex, MSM and transgender people are subject to police abuses and are targeted by police for other offences relating to public order, vagrancy, prostitution and obscenity."

More than 90 percent of MSM in Asia do not have access to HIV prevention and care services, according to the report, which cites examples of repressive laws or lack of anti-discrimination laws preventing the men from obtaining needed assistance. These include HIV prevention efforts being interrupted by police harassment of outreach workers, many of whom are MSM or transgender peer educators. Condoms and lubricants confiscated by police are used as evidence of illegal male-to-male sex.

HIV prevalence among MSM has been rising in many Asian countries, the report notes. For example, HIV prevalence among gay and bisexual men in Bangkok is now 30.8 percent, compared to 1.4 percent in the adult population in Thailand. In Yangon, the figure is 29.3 percent, compared to 0.7 percent in Myanmar; while in Mumbai, it is 17percent versus 0.36 percent in India overall.

The authors call for the repeal of laws that criminalize sex between men and the enactment of anti-discrimination legislation.

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.


Together We Remain Strong!

Report: People in 10 States on ADAP Waiting Lists

A total of 1,004 people with HIV/AIDS are on waiting lists to receive treatment through state AIDS Drug Assistance Programs, according to the latest survey by the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors. Ten states have enacted waiting lists, an increase from the nine state ADAPs with 929 people on waiting lists as of April 22, 2010, according to NASTAD's annual 2010 report.

Other cost containment strategies reported by ADAPs include narrowing financial eligibility criteria and removing drugs from the formulary.

State funding of ADAP budgets in fiscal year 2009 plummeted 34 percent from FY08, though total funding for ADAP grew about 5 percent, or $70 million, to $1.59 billion in FY09. Total enrollment for ADAPs grew between June 2008 and June 2009 by 17,507 clients - the largest jump since data collection began in 2003.

"ADAPs are currently in the eye of the 'perfect storm': minimal increases in federal appropriations, significant state budget cuts, increased program demand due to unemployment, heightened national efforts on HIV testing and linkages to care, and new HIV treatment guidelines calling for earlier therapeutic treatments," the annual report said. NASTAD said it will convene a task force to negotiate with AIDS drug manufacturers for more discounts and rebates.

In NASTAD's latest update, ADAPs with waiting lists as of May 13, 2010, were:
*North Carolina: 530 people
*Kentucky: 106 people
*Utah: 97 people
*South Carolina: 92 people
*Iowa: 80 people
*South Dakota: 30 people
*Idaho: 29 people
*Montana: 18 people
*Wyoming: 17 people
*Hawaii: 5 people

For the complete 2010 "National ADAP Monitoring Project Annual Report," visit http://www.nastad.org/Docs/Public/InFocus/201053_2010%20National%20ADAP%20Monitoring%20Project%20Annual%20Report.pdf.

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.


Together We Remain Strong!

Sex Attitudes Shifting for 45-Over

More older Americans are open to the idea of non-marital sex, or sex between unmarried partners, according to a survey conducted by AARP, formerly the American Association of Retired Persons. The advocacy organization for Americans age 50-plus surveyed 1,670 people age 45 and above in 2009 on a number of topics related to sexual attitudes and practices. Similar AARP surveys were conducted in 1999 and 2004.

In 2009, 22 percent of respondents said non-marital sex was wrong, down from 41 percent in the 1999 survey. In the new survey, 28 percent reported intercourse at least once a week, and 40 percent at least once a month - both figures down about 10 percent from 2004.

Just 12 percent of single men reported using condoms. The elderly should not ignore STD risks, cautioned Pepper Schwartz, AARP's sex and relationship expert and a University of Washington sociologist.

In 2009, 43 percent reported their sexual life was satisfying, down from 51 percent in 2004. However, those in non-marital partnerships had sex more frequently and with more satisfaction than those who were married.

"These long-term married couples may get a little less interested," Schwartz said. "Older people in non-married relations work harder at it and enjoy it more," she said. "The big difference as people age is not that sex becomes less important but that a partner becomes less accessible."

Asked what would improve sexual satisfaction, 20 percent of women and 37 percent of men said better health. Better personal finances were cited by 14 percent of women and 26 percent of men as a potential boost.

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.


Together We Remain Strong!

AIDS Groups to Protest Obama in NYC

Activists - including members of Housing Works, ACT UP, and the African Services Committee - plan to protest today's New York City visit by President Barack Obama, who they say has not lived up to his campaign promises to support global anti-AIDS efforts.

In a statement, the groups said, "Since taking office, President's Obama's budgets have shifted away from AIDS programs, and his commitments to fighting AIDS have not even kept pace with inflation, let alone increased to the level he promised. As has been highlighted by recent stories in the Boston Globe and Newsweek, a flat-funded budget means that people who were tested under US-sponsored programs and promised treatment when they got sick are now being turned away." The president is coming to Manhattan for a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee fundraiser.

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.


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Effectiveness of an HIV/STD Risk-Reduction Intervention for Adolescents When Implemented by Community-Based Organizations

The current study evaluates the effectiveness of an HIV/STD risk-reduction intervention when implemented by community-based organizations (CBOs).

The cluster-randomized controlled trial involved 86 CBOs serving African Americans ages 13 to 18. The CBOs were randomized to implement either an HIV/STD risk-reduction intervention whose efficacy has been demonstrated, or a health-promotion intervention (control). The CBOs agreed to implement six intervention groups; a random half of the groups completed three-, six- and 12-month follow-up assessments. Consistent condom use in the three months prior to each follow-up assessment, averaged over the follow-up assessments, was the primary outcome. The study involved a total of 1,707 adolescents: 863 in HIV/STD-intervention CBOs, and 844 in control-intervention CBOs.

The result indicate the youths in the HIV/STD-intervention CBOs were more likely to report consistent condom use (odds ratio [OR]=1.39; 95 percent confidence interval [CI]=1.06, 1.84) than the youths in the control condition. Also, compared to the control group, teens in the HIV/STD intervention group reported a greater proportion of condom-protected intercourse (ß=0.06; 95 percent CI=0.00, 0.12).

"This is the first large, randomized intervention trial to demonstrate that CBOs can successfully implement an HIV/STD risk-reduction intervention whose efficacy has been established," the authors concluded.

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.


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Cultural Attitudes and Rumors Are Lasting Obstacles to Safe Sex in Uganda

Infection rates have begun increasing again in Uganda, and AIDS counselors interviewed in Bwindi blame cultural norms and disease-related myths. In much of Uganda, including Bwindi, most people are subsistence farmers.

Epidemiological reports show casual sex is on the rise, together with concurrent sexual partner networks, which can rapidly spread infection. Young women from the wealthiest families are the only girls who escape pressure to have transactional sex.

"Many people are just ignorant," said counselor Gervis Muhumuza. "They have low education and so many misconceptions. Minus the elite class in Kampala and a few others, nobody is using condoms."

In a 2006 survey of 11,000 Ugandans, 99 percent had heard of AIDS. Very few people - about one in three - had comprehensive knowledge of HIV/AIDS, including how it is transmitted and prevented.

One recent prevention advertisement features a leering middle-age man and states, "You wouldn't let him sleep with your teenage daughter. Why are you sleeping with his?" One ad shows a frightened-looking child saying, "My mommy is sick because of the sexual network."

"According to African culture, the man is the overlord," said counselor Peace Atwongyeire, who appears on local billboards saying she is not ashamed to be HIV-positive. "You have to say yes." A man who buys a wife from her father for cows or cash "owns" her, she said. If the wife refuses sex or insists on condoms, she might be beaten or thrown out of the house.

In addition, condoms thwart signs of masculinity: "I prove my manhood by having children," said counselor George Bitti, a father of 14. "That's how a girl proves she is a woman. In Africa, you cannot tell anyone to stop having children. They will think, 'I would rather have AIDS and leave my children when I die. At least I will have produced my three."


The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.


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New Spending for a Wider Range of Sex Education

President Obama's health care overhaul will provide $375 million in comprehensive sex education grants to states over five years. Under the new law, PREP (Personal Responsibility Education Program) will encourage students to delay sexual activity but to use protection if they are already sexually active. Lessons on healthy relationships, financial literacy, and other life skills also are included in the program.

Alongside PREP is roughly $50 million a year for abstinence programs. However, unlike the sex education grants, the abstinence funds will require a state match of $3 for every $4 in federal funds.

Supporters of abstinence-only education say Obama's plan is misguided and goes against the desires of most parents. "Over 90 percent of parents want kids to be taught to abstain until they at least finish high school, and the comprehensive education curricula don't do that - they pretty much normalize teen sexual activity," said Robert Rector, senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation.

But others are delighted with the new law. "The fact that you have the federal government committed to this and putting some money behind it is really significant," said Laurie Rubiner, vice president for public policy and advocacy at Planned Parenthood Federation of America. "For years, the only thing offered by the federal government was money for programs that were proven to be unsuccessful in the area of sex education."

"While we would all like and hope and prefer that young people abstain from having sex, that is not what many young people, unfortunately, are doing," Rubiner said.

Almost half of the 19 million new STD diagnoses annually are among people ages 15-24, CDC data show. A recent study found one in four teenage girls have an STD.

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.


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Genital Wart Virus May Raise Men's Risk of HIV

The results of a study of men in Kenya suggest that infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) can raise the risk of contracting HIV.

The findings are part of a larger clinical trial that, together with two others, showed male circumcision reduces a man's risk of acquiring HIV through heterosexual sex. Other studies of the men have found that circumcision also may lower the odds of HPV infection.

The subjects of the current study were 2,168 uncircumcised, HIV-negative, sexually active Kenyan men ages 18-24. At baseline, 1,089 (50 percent) tested positive for HPV DNA. At 42 months, 5.8 percent of the men with HPV had become HIV-positive, compared to 3.7 percent of the men without HPV.

After controlling for numerous factors - subsequent circumcision, baseline herpes simplex virus type 2 serostatus, and sexual and demographic risk factors - the HPV-infected men were still 80 percent more likely to acquire HIV than the men without HPV.

"If our results are confirmed by others, they would suggest that, in addition to male circumcision, vaccinating against HPV could be an effective way to prevent HIV infection," the authors wrote in their discussion. "Two prophylactic HPV vaccines have the potential to prevent invasive cervical cancer and precancerous disease attributable to oncogenic types HPV-16 and HPV-18. The quadrivalent vaccine can also prevent low-risk HPV-6 and HPV-11, which cause genital warts.

"[Hazard ratio] estimates from our analysis suggest that prophylactic vaccines that provide protection against the oncogenic types HPV-16 and HPV-18 may reduce the hazard of HIV infection by half, assuming that vaccination prevents infections with HPV-16 or HPV-18 when administered to young men before first sexual intercourse.

"In uncircumcised men, HPV vaccination and circumcision could lead to even greater reductions: for instance, in our study the estimated 24-month cumulative incidence of HIV infection among uncircumcised men infected with HPV-16 or HPV-18 was 3.9 percent (95 percent CI [confidence interval] 0.5-7.2 percent), compared with only 0.8 percent (95 percent CI, 0.2-1.4 percent) among circumcised men without HPV-16 and HPV-18 infection.

"Although community-based randomized controlled trials have investigated the effect of the prevention of bacterial sexually transmitted infections on the incidence of HIV infection, no trials have examined the effectiveness of preventing HPV infection. Our results warrant the conduct of a randomized controlled trial to determine whether prophylactic HPV vaccination reduces the acquisition of HIV infection," the authors concluded.

The full study, "Increased Risk of HIV Acquisition Among Kenyan Men with Human Papillomavirus Infection," was published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases (2010;201(11):1677-1685).

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.


Together We Remain Strong!