Event Aims to Demystify Sex: Teens Get Chance to Learn, Question

Planned Parenthood-Greater Memphis Region held a teen clinic Tuesday to help mothers and daughters talk about sex. “We want to springboard discussions between moms and daughters to educate,” said Elokin CaPece, director of education.

At the event, teens were offered information about birth control, pregnancy, the female anatomy, using a condom, performing breast self-exams, and understanding the HIV test. The young women were encouraged to look at all the exhibits and ask questions, even if it was uncomfortable to do so.

One 16-year-old said the experience made her aware she has options, and she learned “that pregnancy isn’t the only negative outcome to having sex.”

Aimee Lewis, who works for Planned Parenthood, brought her daughter to build off conversations they have already had about sex. “I want her to be able to laugh about it and make it easier to start a conversation,” she said.

“More people should come to classes like this for better insight,” Lewis’ 13-year-old said. “If we aren’t educated, how are we supposed to know what it’s going to be like in the real world?”

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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School Plans Condom Giveaway for Prom

Condoms will be made available to students leaving the June 7 prom at Bedford-Stuyvesant Preparatory High School in Brooklyn. A forum on protected sex - sponsored by NV Healthcare, which is donating 500 condoms - and an essay contest on the topic will be held a few days ahead of the prom. The effort is part of BSPHS programming that includes forums about safe sex and other sex education initiatives.

“As they leave the prom, they are welcome to [the condoms]. We are not forcing it on anybody, but we want them to have that option,” said Darryl Rascoe, principal of BSPHS, a school of 130 students who have transferred there due to academic, disciplinary or other difficulties.

Whatever may have happened before a student arrives at BSPHS, “the first thing that should roll off your tongue when you say Bed-Stuy Prep is college. We are trying to prepare you for college and life,” Rascoe said. BSPHS also houses a day-care center for the young children of current students.

The BSPHS parent-coordinator has notified parents about the prom initiative, Rascoe said. Other New York City high schools allow students to request free condoms as part of HIV prevention efforts.

“It’s a great idea,” a female senior said of the condom giveaway. “You know, there are after-parties and stuff” where unanticipated sexual situations may arise, she 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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Supporting Patient Adherence to Antiretrovirals Using Mobile Phone Reminders: Patient Responses from South India

In India, the exponential growth in mobile phone use in recent years has generated great interest in the devices’ potential benefit as a health care tool. In the current study, the researchers used mobile phone reminders to encourage adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) among HIV-positive patients in a Bangalore tertiary hospital’s infectious-disease clinic.

Between March and June 2010, 139 HIV-positive adults who had been taking regular ART for at least one month received weekly reminders about treatment adherence. The reminders were a weekly interactive call and a non-interactive neutral pictorial short message service (SMS).

Following four weeks of the intervention, interviews were conducted to learn participants’ perceptions regarding preference, usefulness, potential stigma, and privacy concerns. Eighty-nine percent of participants were urban, and 85 percent had received at least a secondary education.

Of 744 calls made during the intervention, 545 (76 percent) were received by patients. All patients received the weekly SMS reminder. One month later, 90 percent said the reminders were helpful, and they did not feel their privacy was violated.

Most patients (87 percent) preferred the telephone call reminders; 11 percent preferred the SMS reminders alone. Fifteen percent never viewed any SMS reminders; only 59 percent viewed them all. Some patients said another person had inadvertently received their reminder call (20 percent) or SMS (13 percent); despite this, participants “denied any discomfort or stigma.”

“Mobile phone interventions are an acceptable way of supporting adherence in this setting,” the authors concluded. “Voice calls rather than SMSs alone seem to be preferred as reminders. Further research to study the influence of this intervention on adherence and health maintenance is warranted.”

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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CORE Center Working on HIV/AIDS Healthcare

CORE Center was the first Midwestern outpatient facility to provide comprehensive HIV/AIDS care beginning in the 1990s. Clients of the Chicago-based center have access to medical services, dental care, a pharmacy, research trials, and case managers. Fees are based on a sliding scale.

In 1994, the fledging CORE enlisted the aid of former Playboy Enterprises CEO Christie Hefner. Serving as project director, she helped the center exceed its capital campaign goal, raising more than $30 million by 1998. In a 2005 interview with TimeOut Chicago, Hefner said she “put together a board representing people in the business community, the arts community, the public sector, and the medical sector. Also, we did something quite innovative, which is put together a community action council ... the idea was that the people who were actually going to be the patients ought to have input into how the facility was designed and the kind of programs it would run.”

The facility, now known as the Ruth M. Rothstein CORE Center, currently serves more than 15,000 clients per year. One of the center’s most innovative programs is the Continuity Clinic, which targets those recently released from incarceration. Clinic doctors work at CORE and in Cook County Department of Corrections’ facilities, in order to ensure patients can access the same provider post-release.

Helping clients stay in care is a top priority at CORE. The center participates in Project IN-CARE, a linking service for men of color, and in a federally funded program that helps HIV-positive women of color connect with and stay in care.

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.

Status Sexy Hits Bus Stops in Pontiac, Detroit, Washtenaw County

The “Status Sexy” campaign uses images of attractive, shirtless men to convey its message encouraging men who have sex with men to be tested for HIV.

Bus stop ads are running in Pontiac and Detroit. The Ann Arbor Transit Authority recently approved the ads for placement in its buses. Advocates see this as a victory since last year, when the campaign was introduced, AATA first approved and then rejected the ads, describing them as “inappropriate.”

“Fear, homophobia, racism, and a top-down mentality are factors that we feel enable this epidemic, so we won’t allow those factors to guide this campaign” said Will Bowen, community mobilization project associate with AIDS Partnership Michigan (APM). “Everyone is allowed to have an opinion, but the opinions of our community are the ones that matter. We didn’t set out to make everyone happy. We’re fighting AIDS.” Campaign planners spent eight months gathering community input on the concept, which was carried out by the local creative boutique AndSoSheWrote.

Campaign partner testing sites include the HIV/AIDS Resource Center, Washtenaw County Health Department, Detroit Community Health Connection, Detroit Health and Wellness Promotion, EMU Wellness Center, Horizon’s Project, Access, Teen Health Center, APM and APM Pontiac. Areas targeted were based on data from CDC and the Michigan Department of Community 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.

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Struggling with HIV Stigma

Around 150 people gathered near the state Capitol in Baton Rouge to mark International AIDS Candlelight Memorial Day.

The city has some 5,000 residents living with HIV/AIDS, of whom 76 percent are black, said Jack Carrel, administrator for the Baton Rouge Ryan White Program. Ninety-one percent of new diagnoses are black. “The disparity here in Baton Rouge is really something,” he said.

Twanda Lewis, who was among those in attendance, said HIV/AIDS stigma is a particular problem for Baton Rouge’s African Americans. “We struggle in this community with stigma. It’s a big issue,” she said.

Education and prevention are key to reducing the stigma and impact of AIDS, according to Cassandra Whitty. She has been living with HIV since 2000 and chairs the board of the HIV/AIDS Alliance for Region Two Inc. (HAART). “I feel great, I feel happy. But there are a lot of people who live in silence,” she said.

Another concern is that more young people and women are becoming infected, said Tim Young, executive director of HAART, which sponsored the event. “They think they’re invincible, like ‘this can’t happen to me,’” he said. “But with such high rates in the city, if they’re having unprotected sex, they’re greatly increasing their chance of contracting the virus.”

                     

HAART offers free HIV testing, as well as free treatment and services for those who are positive. The Baton Rouge AIDS Society also provides free testing.

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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Report: Nearly 10 Percent of Inmates Suffer Sexual Abuse

The first National Former Prisoners Survey, released May 17 by the Department of Justice (DOJ), reported almost 10 percent of former inmates said they were the victims of sexual abuse while incarcerated. About 3.7 percent said they were forced to have sex with another prisoner, while about 5.3 percent reported incidents involving staff members.

One-quarter of those victimized by inmates said they had been restrained during the attack, and one-quarter were physically injured. Twenty-three percent reported serious injuries, including anal or vaginal tearing (12 percent), chipped or lost teeth (12 percent), being knocked out (8 percent), internal injuries (6 percent), stab wounds (4 percent) or broken bones (4 percent).

Men who have sex with men suffered victimization at 10 times the rate of heterosexual men (3.5 percent of heterosexuals, vs. 39 percent of homosexuals and 34 percent of bisexuals).

Half of those who reported being victims of sexual misconduct by staffers said they had been offered special privileges; one-third said they had been talked into participating. More than three-quarters of these reports involved male inmates and female staff members. All sexual contact between prisoners and staff is considered legally nonconsensual; however, respondents characterized some of these encounters as “willing.”

The survey includes responses from 518,000 former prisoners who were on supervised parole in mid-2008.

“For too long, incidents of sexual abuse against incarcerated persons have not been taken as seriously as sexual abuse outside prison walls,” DOJ said in a statement. “In popular culture, prison rape is often the subject of jokes; in public discourse, it has been at time dismissed by some as an inevitable - or even deserved - consequence of criminality.”

Immediately after the report’s release, the Obama administration announced new mandatory standards aimed at reducing sexual victimization in correctional settings.

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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Justice: Prisons to Step Up Anti-Rape Efforts

The Obama administration on May 17 issued mandatory screening, enforcement, and prevention regulations to reduce the number of inmates sexually victimized in correctional settings. Federal, state, and local officials must adopt a “zero tolerance” policy on prison rape, the administration said.

The rules, which have been in development since Congress passed the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003, are immediately binding on federal prisons. States that do not comply will face the loss of 5 percent of their Department of Justice (DOJ) prison funds unless the governor certifies that an equal amount is being spent to bring the state into compliance. Organizations that accredit prisons will be barred from receiving federal grants unless their processes include similar anti-rape standards, meaning that noncompliant local jails could lose their accreditation.

The president said the standards apply to all federal confinement facilities; all other agencies with confinement facilities - including the Homeland Security Department, which operates immigrant detainment facilities - are required to put anti-rape protocols in place within a year. This drew objections from some immigration advocates, who denounced the idea that HSD would be permitted to develop its own rules instead of following those of DOJ.

The new regulations: stipulate that inmates be screened for the potential of sexual victimization, and that this information be used in assigning housing and work; require employee background checks; and prohibit abusers from being hired. Firing is the presumptive punishment for employees who violate the blanket ban on sexual contact between staff and inmates.

Cross-gender pat-downs of female and juvenile inmates are banned. Juvenile inmates must be held separately from adult inmates; evidence must be preserved after incident reports; anonymous and outside-prison reports of sexual victimization are permitted; and facilities must have plans for adequate staffing and video monitoring.

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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HIV Grants Lack Oversight

A recent city audit of contracts with various HIV treatment and prevention groups during 2009-11 found gaps in oversight, double-billing mistakes, and other inadequacies. Of the eight contracts for $3.2 million in HIV services awarded, the sample of three audited totaled $1.4 million.

Auditors found no evidence of fraud. However, the public HIV clinic David Power Health Center double-billed $31,561. Staff members missed some duplicates when they had to manually enter billing, said Leslee Froehlich, COO of CommUnityCare, the system that includes the center. A computerized system now in operation catches such errors, and the amount double-billed will be deducted from future payments, she said. The second contractor audited, Austin Travis County Integral Care, double-billed about $3,264. No duplicate billings were found for a contract with AIDS Services of Austin.

On the city side, contract renewals lagged and business was conducted without contracts “more than 30 percent of the time,” the audit said. Data for payment and service monitoring were at times inaccurate or incomplete, it said. In addition, “prior leadership” at the Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services Department directed staff members not to monitor contracts awarding federal money “due to other priorities,” said the report dated this month.

The health department’s director since last August, Carlos Rivera, concurred with the audit and said new procedures being put in place will solve the problems.

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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Officials Link Rise in Jeff Co HIV Cases to Growing Social Networking Trend

Health officials are seeing a rise in HIV cases in Jefferson County linked to risky sex and the many online and mobile phone applications that facilitate it. The county’s HIV/AIDS population grew by 16 percent from Dec. 31, 2007, and March 31 this year to 5,122 individuals, state Department of Public Health data show.

“At least 90 percent of the cases we interview, when we ask who were their contacts ... they say, ‘Well, I went on the Internet,’ ‘I went to a chat room’ or ‘I had an app that was on my phone,’” said Lee Eakins, county disease investigation supervisor. The health department has responded by creating a social networking database targeting apps linked to risky sex.

More testing is critical to preventing more infections, since 60 percent of new cases are linked to people who do not realize they are HIV-positive, said Michael Saag, director of the Center for AIDS Research and the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Alabama-Birmingham.

“The rate of new infections ... is roughly the same today as it was 20 years ago,” Saag said. “So we need every way we can to stop transmission.” With treatment, the risk of people transmitting HIV is cut significantly, “not 100 percent, but it’s darn close,” 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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Listening to Loud Music Linked to Pot Use, Unsafe Sex, Study Says

A new study of youths in the Netherlands finds that those who listen to digital music players with ear buds at loud volumes were more likely to smoke marijuana, binge-drink, and have unprotected sex.

The Rotterdam-based authors surveyed 944 low-income students at two vocational schools (age range, 15-25; average age, 18). Listening to music at 89 dBA (decibel A-weighting) for at least one hour per day was defined as risky listening; that level of exposure can cause noise-induced hearing loss.

Compared to responsible listeners, those students identified as risky MP3-player listeners were 1.99 times more likely to report marijuana use in the past four weeks; 1.19 times as likely to smoke cigarettes daily; and 1.10 times more likely report inconsistent condom use.

Compared to students who listened safely, those who attended loud concerts and clubs were 5.94 times more likely to have had five or more alcoholic drinks at one time in the previous four weeks; 2.03 times more likely to report inconsistent condom use; 1.12 times more likely be daily cigarette smokers; but 43 percent less likely to report marijuana use in the past four weeks.

The authors did not conclude that loud music was leading students to engage in other risky behaviors, but they noted a strong correlation between them. The researchers suggested that public health officials could use this knowledge in the design of prevention interventions, such as passing out condoms along with earplugs at music venues, and printing warnings about alcohol abuse on ticket stubs. And they said manufacturers should create “safer listening environments” by designing digital music players that offer high-quality sound at lower dBA levels.

[PNU editor’s note: The study, “Risky Music-Listening Behaviors and Associated Health-Risk Behaviors,” was published online in Pediatrics (2012;doi:10.1542/peds.2011-1948).

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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Worst-Off Patients Get More Help

An $8.5 million, three-year federal grant will support a telemedicine program targeting approximately 5,000 of Medicaid’s sickest patients, such as those with hepatitis C and HIV/AIDS, in New Mexico and Washington. The goals are to improve patient care by giving primary providers access to specialists via the Internet, and to drive down the cost of the government-funded health insurance program for the poor.

Dr. Sanjeev Arora of the University of New Mexico created the program in 2003 to expand the reach of his hepatitis C practice. Under Project ECHO, Arora devised a web-based teleconferencing system that allows primary care clinicians to consult with a team of specialists from UNM. The program is a “force multiplier” that lets a small team of specialists recruit local providers in treating difficult diseases, he said.

Across the country, 1 percent of Medicaid patients consume 22 percent of the program’s resources. “The whole nation is struggling with the problem that a small number of patients account for a huge amount of cost,” Arora said. These patients “tend to have many hospital stays and [emergency room] visits because they don’t have primary care support.”

In New Mexico, the program will identify roughly 2,500 of the state’s sickest patients. About 300 medical providers at 10 community-based clinics statewide will be trained under the initiative, Arora 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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Students in Beijing Call for Equality for AIDS Patients

Some 200 students from 21 universities gathered Sunday at Beijing’s University of International Business and Economics to take part in a ceremony marking the 29th annual International AIDS Candlelight Memorial.

“The campaign we launched this year is different from previous ones, as it is the first time we held the memorial on campus,” said Ye Dawei, vice secretary-general of the China Red Ribbon Foundation, which held the gathering with UNAIDS and the China Alliance of People Living with HIV/AIDS.

“I have learned more about the living conditions of AIDS patients by participating in the memorial service,” said Wang Yuanyuan, a student at UIBE. In his remarks, UNAIDS official Guy Taylor said he hopes China will devote greater effort to protecting the privacy and equality of those 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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Lee to Restore All HIV/AIDS Funds

Mayor Ed Lee said Thursday he will use city funds to restore more than $6 million in federal HIV/AIDS cuts to San Francisco.

San Francisco faced Ryan White reductions of about $4.6 million in fiscal year 2012-13 and CDC cuts of around $3.1 million, causing concern among city officials and service providers. Lee is able to restore $6.6 million “because of a smaller reduction than expected” from the city’s Ryan White Part B award, spokesperson Francis Tsang said in an e-mail.

Supervisor Scott Wiener said Thursday he has been working “very closely” with the mayor and his staff for six months to backfill federal funds for HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention. At a town hall on the city budget in April, Lee said his administration had not come to a decision, but was working to pay for the cuts with local dollars. “It is up to us to find that money,” Lee said.

“Tax revenue has been trending up,” said Wiener, noting San Francisco has a projected budget shortfall of $150 million, down from an expected $170 million. “The wild card in all this” will be the state and federal governments, he said, referring to Gov. Jerry Brown’s recent announcement that he wants to cut more than $8 billion from California’s budget to help close a gap of nearly $16 billion.

Lee is due to submit his budget proposal to supervisors on June 1, said spokesperson Christine Falvey. The mayor has asked HIV/AIDS-related organizations to begin looking at 2013-14 cuts during the next few months, she said. The mayor wants “an open dialogue” with these groups using the same “collaborative approach that resulted in this funding restoration,” she 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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Urgent Action on HIV Needed: Doctors

On Sunday, Queensland officials announced a decision to cut $2.5 million (US $2.47 million) in funding to Healthy Communities, saying the LGBT service’s HIV prevention initiatives are not effective. New infections in the state have risen by 50 percent in the last year. Health Minister Lawrence Springborg said an advisory committee will be established to help guide outreach efforts.

Dr. Richard Kidd, president of the Australian Medical Association Queensland, could not say whether pulling funds from Healthy Communities was the correct decision, but the doubling of new diagnoses requires a rethinking of prevention approaches in the state. “If we just keep doing what we’ve always done we’re just going to get the same result, and at the moment that result is that it’s increased by 50 percent,” he noted.

“What I’m pushing for is more funding quite urgently to go into looking quite quickly but comprehensively at why we’re seeing this increase,” Kidd said.

Healthy Communities Executive Director Paul Martin questioned Springborg’s move, saying he did not consult Queensland Health in cutting support to the service. A ministerial spokesperson rejected that claim. “It [the funding cut] has been done with the full consultation under the department’s guidance,” said the spokesperson.

A rally to protest the cut is planned for May 30 in Brisbane.

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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The Face of HIV Is the Human Face

On May 19th, LOGO TV will air “Positive Youth,” a documentary that looks at HIV/AIDS through the experiences of four young people in four US localities.

The individuals - a woman, 18, in a poor farm town; a man, 25, in a major city; an African American, 23; and a performer, 27 - were selected to represent four different situations of people living with HIV.

“We made this documentary to educate those who know little of HIV, shed light on the risk of HIV infection among today’s youth, give hope to people living with HIV, and let them know that they are not alone,” said Charles David, a TV personality known for his work on E! and the Travel Channel. The film airs at 8 p.m. on LOGO TV.

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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Many Pregnant Women May Not Get STD Tests

Many pregnant women are not following recommendations that they undergo testing for certain STDs, according to a new study.

CDC and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) say all pregnant women should be tested for chlamydia at their first prenatal visit. CDC and other groups also recommend gonorrhea screening for pregnant women at increased risk, including those younger than 25 and residents of areas of the country where the STD is common.

The new study showed that of almost 1.3 million US women who had blood tests done during pregnancy, only 59 percent were tested for chlamydia. Fifty-seven percent were screened for gonorrhea.

Because not all pregnant women are counseled to be tested for gonorrhea, it is difficult to determine whether the 57 percent rate is appropriate, according to Dr. Jay M. Lieberman, who worked on the study. Lieberman is infectious-diseases medical director at Quest Diagnostics Inc., which financed the research. But he noted the results found that some women for whom guidelines indicated screening did not get tested: Of pregnant women ages 16-24, only 69 percent were tested for gonorrhea. Left untreated, both STDs can endanger the health of a mother and her baby.

One limitation of the study is that it is based on tests conducted between 2005 and 2008, when screening guidelines were in transition. ACOG issued its guidelines in 2007.

Despite acknowledging that the situation is evolving, Lieberman said, “there’s also no evidence that screening rates have improved.” In 2009, a CDC study found that only a minority of all US women for whom chlamydia screening was indicated had undergone the test.

Lieberman said the current study’s data do not indicate why women were not taking the recommended tests. While access to care is a challenge for some, all the participants were receiving prenatal care. Pregnant women should consult their doctors if they have not been tested for STDs or do not know if they have been tested.

[PNU editor’s note: The study, “Chlamydial and Gonococcal Testing During Pregnancy in the United States,” was published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology (2012;doi:10.1016/j.ajog.2012.04.027).

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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Maternal Deaths Plunged over 2 Decades, to About 287,000 in 2010, UN Reports

Increases in contraceptive use, health care provider-assisted births, and treatment for HIV-positive mothers have helped cut the maternal death rate by 47 percent since 1990, according to UN agencies.

In 2010, maternal deaths declined to roughly 287,000, from the UN’s estimate of 543,000 in 1990. Deaths are falling rapidly in East Asia but slowly in Africa, according to the report compiled by the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, the UN Population Fund, the UN Population Division, the World Bank, and a team from the University of California-Berkeley. Countries in southern Africa are witnessing the start of a reversal as more HIV-positive women there receive antiretroviral treatment.

UN maternal death estimates have been challenged in the past. Two years ago, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, which was created by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as a way to validate WHO figures, disputed the UN’s 2008 tally using three times as much data. In response, the UN “revised and improved” its count for that year. The institute estimated maternal deaths at 274,000 in 2011, meaning the new UN number is within the same statistical boundaries, said Dr. Rafael Lozano, epidemiologist for IHME.

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 Panel Approves Anti-Cancer Bill

The Ohio House Ways and Means Committee recently approved a bill that would create an option to allow income tax filers to donate money to a state fund that supports cervical and breast cancer testing and treatment. The bill is expected to advance to the full House soon.

The state Department of Health’s Ohio Breast and Cervical Cancer Project provided services to 73,547 women between March 1994 and May last year. Women age 40 or older who earn less than twice the federal poverty limit are eligible for the program, and those needing treatment are eligible to apply for Medicaid coverage, said Sarah Gudz, OBCCP’s director.

OBCCP received about $4.2 million in the past year, much of it from CDC. The program also received a one-time $1.3 million payment from tobacco settlement funds and $832,000 from Ohio’s general-revenue fund.

“There’s never a guarantee when it comes to funding,” said Gudz. The additional resources help OBCCP serve more women, she added.

Many state lawmakers know women who have had breast or cervical cancer, said Peter Beck (R-Mason), chair of the House Ways and Means Committee. “It’s important to protect those women,” 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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AIDS Fight Enters New Phase with Prevention Pill

With a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) panel’s endorsement of the use of the drug Truvada to prevent HIV infection, the 30-year battle against the AIDS epidemic is advancing to a new phase, advocates say.

“With this recommendation, we’re nearing a watershed moment in our fight against HIV,” said James Loduca, a spokesperson for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. “We know this isn’t a magic bullet, and it’s not going to be the right prevention strategy for everyone, but it could save thousands of lives in the United States and potentially millions around the world.”

Truvada has been on the US market as an HIV treatment since 2004. It is already being prescribed off-label by some doctors for preventing HIV infection in certain patients who are healthy but at risk. If FDA expands approval to formally sanction this use, insurance companies could likely cover the cost. And widening the market could prompt Truvada’s maker, Gilead Sciences Inc., to lower its price - currently around $11,000 to $14,000 a year.

Truvada is available in poor countries for as little as $9 per month, said a Gilead spokesperson, but generic versions will not be available in the United States until after the US patent expires in 2021.

Truvada can cause kidney and liver problems. But for some people, the risk of kidney problems “10 years down the line may be less than the risk for acquiring HIV, which is significantly more problematic and can be fatal,” said Jim Pickett, prevention advocacy director at AIDS Foundation of Chicago.

FDA’s decision is expected by June 15.

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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Low Rates of Hepatitis Screening and Vaccination of HIV-Infected MSM in HIV Clinics

Due to similar behavioral risk factors for the two infections, HIV-positive men who have sex with men are at increased risk of viral hepatitis. The authors of the current study set out to assess adherence to HIV management guidelines that recommend hepatitis A, B, and C testing for HIV-positive patients, and vaccination against hepatitis A and B for those susceptible.

The researchers evaluated the hepatitis prevention services received by a random sample of HIV-positive MSM at eight HIV clinics in six US cities. To estimate rates of hepatitis screening and vaccination both overall and by clinic site, the team abstracted the medical records of all clinic visits by these patients from 2004 to 2007.

The records of 1,329 patients making a total of 14,831 clinic visits from 2004 to 2006 were abstracted, indicating screening rates of 47 percent for hepatitis A, 52 percent for hepatitis B, and 54 percent for hepatitis C. Among screened patients found to be susceptible, 29 percent were vaccinated for hepatitis A, and 25 percent were vaccinated for hepatitis B. Significant variations in screening and vaccination rates by clinic were noted.

“Awareness of hepatitis susceptibility and hepatitis co-infection status in HIV-infected patients is essential for optimal clinical management,” the researchers concluded. “Despite recommendations for hepatitis screening and vaccination of HIV-infected MSM, rates were suboptimal at all clinic sites. These low rates highlight the importance of routine review of adherence to recommended clinical services. Such reviews can prompt the development and implementation of simple and sustainable interventions to improve the quality of care.”

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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Exploring the Role of Mobile Technology as a Health Care Helper

In rural areas of the developing world, mobile telephones are helping people connect with health care providers in major cities. For instance, today a woman in Uganda having a difficult childbirth can get help from a physician in Kampala, contact a community health worker, or even secure transportation to a hospital.

“Now, a phone call can compress the time that it would have taken before to come to that decision point and get the woman care more often and quickly,” said Dr. Alain Labrique, a professor of international health and epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University (JHU).

JHU’s Global mHealth Initiative is evaluating the role of mobile technology for care in 51 projects involving 120 students and more than 60 faculty members. Next March, JHU’s Bloomberg School of Public Health will start two courses on using these technologies in the field.

“There’s a lot of excitement among faculty, but there’s 10 times as much excitement coming from students,” Labrique said. “What mobile technologies are doing is changing the way that we see global health in terms of our ability to impact populations, to collect data in real time, to develop real strategies, to impact public health that we hadn’t thought of before.”

JHU’s Dr. Larry Chang, who studied HIV/AIDS and technology in Uganda, and Labrique both agree on the need to rigorously evaluate the potential of such tools. In addition, greater patient access to care would require a larger capacity to absorb the extra workload, such as more health workers, Labrique 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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HIV May Afflict Almost Half Asia-Pacific Transgenders: UN

Stigma, poor health care access, and high-risk sex are pushing up HIV infection rates among Asia-Pacific transgender women, the UN Development Program said Thursday. Some 9 million to 9.5 million transgender people live in the region, and they are “bearing the brunt of the HIV epidemic,” a new UNDP report says. “Scattered and often small-scale research” suggests that 49 percent of transgender women there could have HIV.

Disapproval at home and school leads many transgender youths to leave both, and scant economic opportunities mean many turn to sex work and have unprotected sex, according to the report. “Social exclusion, poverty, and HIV infection contribute to what we call a ‘stigma sickness slope’ - a downward spiral that is difficult to reverse,” said report author Sam Winter of Hong Kong University.

In positive developments, the report notes the emergence of a confident transgender identity and a greater willingness by transgenders to access mainstream services and engage in policy discussions.

[PNU editor’s note: For more information about the report, visit: http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/presscenter/pressreleases/2012/05/17/transgender-persons-are-lost-in-transition-on-human-rights-and-hiv-responses-says-new-asia-pacific-report/.]

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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State Cuts Jails' HIV Programs

Due to federal funding reductions, Massachusetts has cut $1.25 million for HIV testing and education in county jails and houses of correction. Sheriffs warn the decision will eliminate HIV educator positions, curb HIV testing, and end the monitoring of inmates by infectious-disease experts. The cuts, effective July 1, will not affect state prisons.

“I’m very concerned,” said Thomas M. Hodgson, Bristol County’s sheriff. “We want them to be tested for HIV because they need to be aware if they have it, and, number two, how to manage it.”

The federal cuts are being phased in over five years, but already Massachusetts has slashed $2.3 million. That has led to the elimination of eight positions in the state HIV/AIDS office, HIV testing campaigns, and training for and some contracts with community-based service providers.

“The decision to reduce these services is driven by the loss of funding, not the quality of the services,” said Kevin Cranston, director of the state Bureau of Infectious Diseases.

Jails tended to have higher HIV-positive rates when injecting drug use was a more common route of infection, Cranston said, but new cases are increasingly seen among men who have sex with men. Public health officials are asking HIV prevention groups to provide outreach in jails; however, many of these providers are financially stressed themselves, he said.

In one instance, the HIV diagnosis of an inmate led public health officials to track down eight other HIV cases among his non-incarcerated contacts, said Matthew Robitaille, HIV coordinator for the Bristol County sheriff’s office, whose position likely will be eliminated.

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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Valley Tattoo Shops, Artists Face Inspections

A law requiring California counties to enforce new safety rules for tattoo and body piercing shops goes into effect July 1. Under the Safe Body Art Act, these businesses will be subject to public health permitting, inspections and standards. The law will impact nearly 200 shops in Fresno County alone.

Currently, tattooing and body piercing are unregulated in much of the state - meaning health inspectors do not ensure equipment is sterilized, shops are clean or practitioners are trained.

“This is long overdue,” said Dave Olvera, manager of Tower Tattoos in Fresno’s Tower District. “Fresno is known for its bad shops. There are people working out of their homes. I saw a tattoo shop operating out of a gas station.” A health certificate from the county would reassure customers that safety standards are in place, he said.

The law requires shops to obtain annual permits from county health departments. It also requires individual practitioners to register. As part of registration, practitioners must undergo training on blood-borne diseases, get vaccinated against hepatitis B, and have more than six months’ experience in their field.

Fresno County recently began mailing out notices about the law to known body art practitioners; however, health officials concede that others exist.

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 Digs Prove Prosperous for South Dallas HIV Agency

Abounding Prosperity has already begun HIV testing at its new location on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Dallas, though it has not yet held a grand opening. People who do not self-identify as gay are more likely to come to the new office for testing and prevention counseling, said Kirk Myers, AP’s executive director. The organization is in the first year of a five-year CDC grant to expand HIV testing, especially among black men ages 17-29 who have sex with men (MSM).

The new site is in the middle of the business district and easy to access. “Male sex workers, the previously incarcerated - all come here,” said Myers. The rate of those testing HIV-positive in the AP program is very high, 6.6 percent, and Myers believes many of the infections are not recent. “We’re just bringing testing to the area,” he said. The AP office across from AIDS Arms’ Peabody Clinic is still open, he added.

One of AP’s successful new programs is “Let’s Talk About Sex,” a group targeting young black MSM peer networks to encourage protected sex. “We pay one person to host a party,” Myers said. “He invites his friends, and we come in and do an educational party.” In “Chat and Chew” meetings, one for men and one for transgender women, groups of 12-15 people meet for a seven-week series and address issues such as spirituality, homophobia, family, and attitudes about HIV.

[PNU editor’s note: For more information, visit http://aboundingprosperity.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.

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Sudden Cardiac Death Risk Higher in HIV Patients

Sudden cardiac death, which occurs when the heart unexpectedly stops, was second only to AIDS as a leading cause of death among HIV patients in a new 10-year study. The results indicate that even if their virus is under control and they appear relatively healthy, HIV-positive people are 4.5 times more likely to die of sudden cardiac arrest than HIV-negative individuals.

Among the study’s subjects - 2,860 HIV patients receiving treatment at San Francisco General Hospital’s (SFGH) HIV/AIDS ward from 2000 to 2009 - 230 died: 57 percent from AIDS, 13 percent from sudden cardiac death, 11 percent from other natural diseases, and 19 percent from suicides, overdoses or unknown causes. Eighty-six percent of the cardiac deaths occurred suddenly, compared to about half of all heart-related deaths in the general population.

Among those who suffered sudden cardiac death, more than half had a history of smoking, heavy drinking or drug use; 80 percent already had been diagnosed with heart disease or had one or more risk factors; and one-third reported symptoms like chest pain or shortness of breath at their last clinic visit. Their T-cells counts were only slightly below average for all study patients.

Half the patients for whom lab results were available had undetectable viral loads when they died, suggesting that HIV alone is not causing the heart problems, according to authors Dr. Zian Tseng, a University of California-San Francisco electrophysiologist, and Dr. Priscilla Hsue, director of the HIV Cardiology Clinic at SFGH, and colleagues. They noted that HIV causes inflammation that could affect the heart. In addition, some HIV drugs are known to interrupt the heart’s electrical activity.

Thanks to effective treatment, Hsue said some HIV patients who were initially reluctant to adopt healthier lifestyles now are thinking, “‘I could live another 25 years if I take care of myself.’ And I’m really hammering on stop smoking, take blood pressure medication, watch your cholesterol.”

[PNU editor’s note: The study, “Sudden Cardiac Death in Patients with Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection,” was published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (2012;59:1891-1896).]

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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US HIV Aid Has Prevented 741,000 Deaths: Study

Some 741,000 deaths from any cause were averted in 12 African countries receiving aid from the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, a new study suggests. Previous research has shown PEPFAR-associated declines in AIDS, but it was unclear whether there were any changes in mortality for other illnesses, researchers said.

“There were concerns that there’s been this shift in physicians and nurses [toward HIV clinics] to the detriment of other public health concerns,” said lead author Dr. Eran Bendavid, an infectious-diseases specialist from Stanford University. “We can’t find evidence of unintended harms, or benefits. More or less we find that PEPFAR seems to have been very effective at reducing deaths, probably mostly HIV-specific deaths.”

The study found that in 2003, the year PEPFAR was created, eight to nine deaths occurred per 1,000 adults in 27 African countries, which included nine PEPFAR recipients. By 2008, deaths had declined to four of every 1,000 adults in PEPFAR countries and seven in 1,000 for non-PEPFAR countries. Data were based on surveys of adult women who were asked about recent deaths in their families.

Critics said the more than $20 billion spent on PEPFAR during 2003-2008 could have been spent more wisely, such as on preventing pneumonia and diarrhea.

“No one says that HIV [funding] isn’t making a big difference; the question is whether other things would make an even bigger difference,” said Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, a medical ethicist from the University of Pennsylvania-Philadelphia. “You cannot escape the ‘How do we allocate the money?’ question when we don’t have enough.”

[PNU editor’s note: The study, “HIV Development Assistance and Adult Mortality in Africa,” was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (2012;307(19):2060-2067).]

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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Sanders Bill Aims to Lower HIV Drug Costs

The US Senate subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging held a hearing Tuesday to discuss cost as a barrier to HIV treatment for Americans. A new bill would end drugmakers’ exclusive rights to market new HIV/AIDS drugs, instead granting the companies monetary rewards from the government.

AIDS patients are dying not because there is no effective treatment but rather because they cannot afford antiretroviral drugs, a situation the “average American would be very upset to know,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the sponsor of S 1138. The HIV drug Atripla costs “more than $25,000 per person per year” in the United States, compared to a generic version going for $200, Sanders said.

Under the bill, those who won patents for new HIV/AIDS drugs would qualify for a federally funded award. The money would be a substitute for the profits that would otherwise accrue during the firm’s monopoly period, Sanders said. Panelists at the hearing estimated that S 1138 could reduce the price of HIV drugs by at least 90 percent.

“The bottom line is that the goal of our laws and policies for medicines must be to develop drugs as quickly as possible ... and to get them out to every person who needs them as soon as possible,” Sanders said, adding that the bill also would save money for federal and state health programs.

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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FDA Panel Backs OraSure's In-Home HIV Test

A panel of outside experts voted unanimously on Tuesday to recommend that the Food and Drug Administration approve OraSure Technologies Inc.’s OraQuick In-Home HIV Test. The 17-member FDA advisory committee said the benefits of people knowing their HIV status - and seeking treatment, if positive - outweigh the risks of false results.

If approved, OraQuick would be the first over-the-counter, at-home HIV test. OraSure said it will likely retail the test for less than $60.

Panel members called on the company to conduct post-marketing studies to ensure OraQuick is accessible by under-served populations in a way that links testers to services, including confirmatory follow-up for those who have a positive result. Some of the experts urged clear labeling about false results; another concern was linking consumers who phone OraQuick’s hotline with questions to health care professionals.

The panel heard supportive testimony from more than two-dozen witnesses including HIV/AIDS activists and representatives from the African-American community and public health. OraQuick could help eliminate HIV stigma, a key barrier to testing, by being available just like other home testing kits at a local pharmacy, they said. Some of those testifying received money or assistance from OraSure.

FDA officials said the test was highly effective at detecting HIV infection, but some data indicated OraQuick lacks sufficient sensitivity to avoid false-negative results. One witness called on the agency to withhold approval until additional studies can raise the test’s accuracy to a standard in line with clinical settings.

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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