HIV Test Urged for 7,000 Oklahoma Dental Patients

On March 28, the Oklahoma Board of Dentistry said that state and county health inspectors visited the practice of oral surgeon Dr. W. Scott Harrington in Tulsa, Okla., after a patient without other known risk factors tested positive for both hepatitis C and HIV.

During their inspection, they found cross-contamination of instruments and the use of a separate, rusty set of instruments for patients known to carry infectious diseases. Harrington has voluntarily closed both his practice in Tulsa and in suburban Oswasso and is cooperating with investigators.

According to a dentistry board complaint, Harrington and his staff told investigators that a “high population of known infectious disease carrier patients” received dental care from him. The complaint also stated that a device used to sterilize dental instruments was not working properly and that a dental assistant who had been working for the practice for 6 years had never once witnessed the dentist or other staff perform a test that was supposed to be performed monthly and sent to a lab to determine if this device was successfully sterilizing the equipment.

Officials are sending letters to encourage testing for hepatitis B and C as well as HIV to the 7,000 patients who have received treatment at Harrington’s clinics in Tulsa and Owasso since 2007, but they do not have information for individuals who may have been treated before that time; Harrington has been practicing for 36 years. Harrington will attend a hearing on April 19 and could lose his license.

The Tulsa Health Department’s North Regional Health and Wellness Center will offer free testing for patients.

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 Vaccine 200 Bicycle Ride Will Benefit AIDS Vaccine Research

This year’s AIDS Vaccine 200 (AV200), an annual 200-mile bicycle ride event that benefits AIDS vaccine research at the Emory Vaccine Center in Atlanta, Ga., projects that more than 200 riders will participate on May 18–19.

The volunteer-run Action Cycling Atlanta is sponsoring the event, which will begin at Emory University in Atlanta and travel to Eatonton, Ga., located in the Oconee National Forest, and back to Emory. Since its beginning 11 years ago, AV200 has raised more than $1 million for AIDS vaccine research. The Emory Vaccine Center is the largest and most comprehensive academic vaccine center in the world.

Some of the projects supported by Action Cycling’s annual AV200 include the development of one of the world’s first preventative HIV/AIDS vaccines, currently in phase II clinical trial testing, and work at the vaccine center’s satellite campus in New Delhi, India, on development of an HIV/AIDS vaccine designed specifically for the clade-C strain of HIV that is prevalent in that country.

For further information about the AV200 bicycle ride, visit http://www.actioncycling.org.

For more information about the Emory Vaccine Center, visit http://vaccines.emory.edu.

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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Englewood Students Are Taking Active Role in Teaching Peers About Sexual Health

Students at Dwight Morrow High School in Englewood, N.J., are participating in a peer education program to teach their peers how to make smart choices concerning their sexual health. The school instituted the program, called Teen Prevention Education Program (Teen PEP), after The Zone, a youth service program run at the school by the Bergen Family Center, held a teen leadership conference. Tenafly High School brought the Teen PEP program to this conference and it was a huge hit with the youth. After that, Dwight Morrow staff decided to bring TEEN PEP to its school.

Teen PEP is a five-days-a week, four-credit elective course that helps students learn about pregnancy prevention, birth control, and STDs as well as how to educate one’s peers. The participants, mostly juniors, hold regular workshops with freshmen, performing skits of different scenarios students may encounter during their high school years and the best ways to handle the situations. Before participating in workshops, Teen PEP members take a three-day retreat to learn the material they will teach the freshmen and to bond with each other. Program participants have found that freshmen are more willing to discuss issues and ask questions about sexual health with peers rather than adults.

After the skits, each junior spends one-on-one time with a small group of freshmen to review topics covered in the skits and address questions. Teen PEP helped the freshmen learn about sexual health while helping the juniors develop leadership and public speaking skills.

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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A New Drug Shows Promise of Hepatitis C Cure

Researchers report success in blocking the hepatitis C virus’s ability to colonize liver cells in 18 hepatitis C-infected patients with five weeks of treatment using the antisense oligonucleotide miravirsen. Fourteen weeks after miravirsen injections ended, hepatitis C viral loads were still undetectable in 5 of 18 patients.

Miravirsen binds tightly to messenger proteins of liver cells and blocks the hepatitis C virus from colonizing the proteins, which the virus needs to survive and replicate. Without a foothold in liver cells, the hepatitis C virus does not have the chance to develop resistance to protease inhibitors such as teleprevir and boceprivir. As a result, hepatitis C patients could be able to stop taking interferon and ribavirin, which cause side effects like fatigue, anxiety, depression, flu-like symptoms, nausea, and diarrhea.

Harvard University physician Dr. Judy Lieberman and Stanford University professor Dr. Peter Sarnow cautioned that long-term miravirsen use could be unsafe because it also targets “genetic material that helps suppress the development of fatty liver, liver fibrosis, and liver tumors”—side effects of hepatitis C. Miravirsen does offer the side benefit of lowering cholesterol; hepatitis C patients taking protease inhibitors cannot take statins that lower cholesterol.

Although miravirsen might not present a safe cure for hepatitis C, Sarnow and Lieberman stated that miravirsen could become part of a drug regimen that can keep hepatitis under control. Worldwide, 170 million people are infected with hepatitis C.

The full study, “Treatment of HCV Infection by Targeting MicroRNA,” was published online in the New England Journal of Medicine (2013; doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1209026).

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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Legislature Advances Bill To Aid Doctors in Fighting STDs

The Nebraska legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee voted 32 to 3 to give first-round approval to Legislative Bill 528 (LB 528), which would authorize healthcare providers to give expedited partner therapy for STDs. The practice allows doctors to prescribe antibiotics for the sexual partner of an STD-infected patient, even if the partner refuses to come in for a doctor’s exam. CDC recommends expedited partner therapy because if only one partner receives STD treatment, that person can be re-infected by the untreated partner.

State Senator Sara Howard sponsored the bill to combat high rates of chlamydia and gonorrhea in Nebraska. In 2011, Douglas County, which includes the city of Omaha, had the highest chlamydia incidence in the United States. Nebraska also ranked worse than 31 other states for gonorrhea incidence in 2011. Untreated chlamydia and gonorrhea can cause health problems for the patient, and can result in blindness, premature birth, and “life-threatening” infections for babies born to women with chlamydia and gonorrhea.

Bill opponents objected to providers prescribing antibiotics without examining the partner. The bill requires doctors to call partners to verify names and to ask about drug allergies prior to writing a prescription. Others opposed the bill because it allows providers to treat minors for STDs without notifying parents. The committee rejected an amendment to require notification of parents of minors. Since 1972, Nebraska law has allowed physicians to treat minors for STDs without notifying parents.

Nebraska’s medical community, pharmacists, and public health clinics support passage of LB 528. Although many providers already prescribe expedited partner therapy, public health clinics have been reluctant to adopt the practice without the guidance of state law.

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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Advocate Advises Against Passing Judgement After HIV Warning in N.B.

Referring to public reaction over news that a New Brunswick resident has tested HIV-positive and admitted to being a frequent user of a Web site that facilitates anonymous sexual encounters, Deby Warren, executive director of AIDS Moncton, said a March 25 public health warning about possible HIV exposure should serve as a wake-up call rather than an opportunity to pass judgment.

Dr. Eilish Cleary, chief medical officer for the Canadian province, urged individuals who have anonymous sex to be tested. Officials believed that the individual had approximately two dozen sexual partners within the province, mostly through connections with the Web site Manhunt. Cleary said they were working with Manhunt, which was cooperating, to identify those who might be at risk, and were attempting to send a message to them through the Web site.

New Brunswick has one of the lower rates of HIV in Canada, with 1.4 cases per 100,000 individuals.

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 Clears Needle Exchange Bill

On March 27, the Florida House Health Quality subcommittee unanimously approved House Bill 735, which would legalize syringe and needle exchanges in Miami-Dade County, in a 12-0 vote.

The proposal would allow for the creation of a pilot program in which intravenous drug users could exchange used needles and syringes for clean ones, which would assist in preventing the spread of diseases such as HIV/AIDS.

Such exchange programs are currently illegal under Florida law. The proposed program would be administered by the state’s Department of Health and would require the department to disseminate educational materials and to offer HIV counseling and testing to participants.

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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Free HIV Testing Offered on Union Avenue

A local organization called Magdalene Hope recently teamed up with California’s Kern County Department of Public Health to offer free oral HIV testing to the high-risk female sex workers on Union Avenue near 8th street. Doug Bennett, founder of Magdalene Hope, felt that even though the women live a risky lifestyle, it is unlikely that they would seek HIV testing. He explained that the women were being used to make money and had to stay in a certain area. If they were away for a half hour getting tested or some other unapproved purpose, they could be beaten.

Magdalene Hope and the Department of Public Health recently began offering free HIV tests in locations frequented by prostitutes. Bennett noted that the idea was to focus on the sex workers on Union Avenue as they are not able to leave the area. They live, eat, sleep, and work in that vicinity. Denise Smith, public health disease control director, stated that it was important to reach out to people at higher risk of contracting the virus. She felt it was important to give them the opportunity to be tested so that they would know their status and, if positive, be able to get treatment.

Bennett said that of 21 women tested, all had negative results; he hoped that the tests increased their awareness of the disease. He planned to double his efforts so that by September, the number of people tested could reach the 80s and be more than 100 by the end of the year. Bennett stated that free mobile testing would be available every few months, with the next session planned for June. Free HIV testing is available regularly at the public health department.

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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San Francisco's Gains in Combating HIV Threatened by Funding Shortfalls

Individuals working on HIV/AIDS prevention in San Francisco contend that if the city government does not restore millions of dollars in federal cuts, they would lose ground in the fight against the disease.

Since the beginning of the epidemic in the 1980s, San Francisco has created a system of care with the Department of Public Health and nonprofit groups. The system relies on federal funding to provide prevention, testing, and treatment services. In December 2011, 15,489 people were living with AIDS in San Francisco. In 1992, there were 2,330 cases diagnosed compared to 2011, when there were only 392 newly diagnosed cases.

Lance Toma, executive director of the Asian and Pacific Islander Wellness Center, explained that the funding cuts would cause the work to regress at the time when San Francisco could visualize an AIDS-free generation. Toma and others attended a board of supervisors’ budget and finance committee hearing recently to persuade city officials to fill in the federal cuts.

The city experienced a $7.2 million HIV-related reduction in federal funding for this fiscal year, and local taxes revenues had to make up the loss. For the next two fiscal years, the city had been expecting federal cuts of $9.5 million and $10.3 million until it budgeted $5.1 million for each year. That results in shortages of $4.4 million and $5.2 million.

The shortages are expected to worsen by at least $1.3 million each year due to federal budget cuts. This is also a difficult time for the city, which is facing a budget deficit of $126 million next fiscal year while the Department of Public Health is asking to meet a $45 million deficit for the current fiscal year. In five years, the total San Francisco budget deficit is expected to grow to $487 million. The mayor has to submit a balanced budget to the board of supervisors for review and adoption by June 3.

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 Sufferers Need Hepatitis Safeguards

Michigan State University (MSU) researchers report the need for stronger protections—vaccination for hepatitis B and additional blood transfusion safeguards—to prevent hepatitis coinfection for HIV-infected people. Based on a review of all registered Michigan HIV cases, lead researcher Zahid Butt stated that approximately four percent of HIV-infected people were coinfected with hepatitis. Butt asserted that the prevalence of HIV and hepatitis B and C coinfection in Michigan was higher than expected, given the existing blood screening protocols.

According to CDC, HIV infection “more than triples” the risk of death from liver disease and liver failure for people with hepatitis C. Hepatitis B and C attack the liver; untreated hepatitis infections can be fatal.

In contrast to earlier studies that indicated African-American males have higher coinfection rates, the MSU study found males who marked their race as “other” had the highest coinfection rates. Butt theorized the higher rates among this group were due to insufficient safeguards during blood transfusions and lack of hepatitis B vaccination. He suggested the high coinfection cohort might have originated in countries that do not require childhood immunization for hepatitis B. Distrust of the healthcare system could also discourage people from hepatitis B immunization.

To prevent future hepatitis infections among HIV-infected persons, Butt recommended “proper screening” of blood products used for transfusions and hepatitis vaccination for all HIV-infected individuals.

The full report, “Hepatitis B and C Co-infection in HIV/AIDS Population in the State of Michigan,” was published online March 12, 2013, in the journal Epidemiology and Infection at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23481310.

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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AHF: Congress Puts Foot Down on Funding High-Priced AIDS Drugs

The US Congress has passed legislation that caps FY2013 AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) funding, prompting the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) to urge Gilead Sciences and other AIDS drug makers to lower ADAP HIV drug costs. AHF President Michael Weinstein asserted that pharmaceutical companies have used ADAP funding increases to launch “overpriced” new HIV medications and to give “million-dollar bonuses” to chief executive officers (CEOs).

Tim Boyd, AHF’s director of domestic policy, stated that Gilead CEO John Martin’s salary topped $54 million while 10,000 HIV-infected people were on ADAP waiting lists, and Gilead now plans to increase Martin’s pay to $90 million. The congressional funding cap means ADAP will not be able to provide treatment to 8,000 HIV-infected people on waiting lists across the country.

The cap halts years of increased congressional funding to keep pace with the rising cost of HIV drugs and longer ADAP waiting lists. In 2011 alone, Congress added $48 million to ADAP funding and supplemented ADAP with $30 million in “emergency funding” to provide HIV medications to ADAP wait-listed patients. The National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors reported that ADAP spending for HIV drugs has increased by 806 percent since 1996; the number of ADAP clients rose by only 341 percent in the same time period. AHF estimated that the average price of new HIV/AIDS drugs went up by 70 percent since 2000.

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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Keep the Promise HIV/AIDS March Coming to Brooklyn

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), which sponsors the annual “Keep the Promise on HIV/AIDS” march and rally in Washington, DC, will bring the march to Brooklyn, N.Y., in April. The AHF Web site noted that the march unites national and local HIV/AIDS activists to call on leaders to create "universal access to AIDS care and treatment.”

AHF and advocates have called for affordable housing for people living with HIV/AIDS, increased HIV/AIDS prevention and care funding, and lower HIV/AIDS drug prices by pharmaceutical companies so that those infected can stay alive.

The upcoming Brooklyn march will take place April 6 at Cadman Plaza Park, beginning at 12:00 noon. HIV/AIDS advocate Reverend Al Sharpton will be taking part in the march. Musical guests performing for the crowd before the march begins will be DJ Lina, rapper Cassidy, Bridget Kelly, Miri Ben-Ari, and the Rude Mechanical Orchestra.

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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Boston College Tells Students to Stop Dispensing Condoms

Officials at Boston College (BC) sent a letter to a group of students on March 15 demanding an end to student-run Safe Sites, a number of dorm rooms and other locations that provide free contraceptives and safe-sex information.

The letter, signed by both the dean of students and the director of residence life, demanded that the students stop distributing condoms, as it was in conflict with their “responsibility to protect the values and traditions of Boston College as a Jesuit, Catholic institution.” The letter warned that if the students were distributing condoms on campus, the matter would be referred to the student conduct office for disciplinary action.

Lizzie Jekanowski, chairperson of BC Students for Sexual Health, said that the Safe Sites program fills a need that is not being met by the university for its students. With Safe Sites, students can go to any of 18 locations, including an off-campus location and dorms, to collect free male and female condoms, lubricant, and pamphlets about sexual health.

She noted that the group has always been transparent with the administration and was disappointed that the signatories of the letter did not contact the association beforehand, as the group has had a very open and positive relationship with the university. According to Jekanowski, the student group is scheduled to meet with six directors of various BC administrative offices at the end of April.

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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Sexual Transmission of Hepatitis C Very Rare in Monogamous Heterosexual Couples

Researchers in California conducted a cross-sectional study with 500 heterosexual, sexually active, monogamous couples in which one partner had chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. The researchers recruited these participants between 2000 and 2003. Participants were required to have been in a monogamous sexual relationship for at least three years and to be currently sexually active. Injecting drug users and persons with hepatitis B infection or HIV coinfection were excluded, as were couples with the HCV-infected partner taking antiviral drugs.

The participants with HCV and their partners received HCV antibody and viral load tests; participants with HCV also had genotype analysis, and for couples with concordant genotype infection, researchers conducted phylogenetic analysis to determine if the infections were genetically linked. Participants also provided information about sharing grooming and hygiene equipment. The couples had been together for a median of 15 years and had a median age of 48 years; approximately 75 percent of participants were white. The persons with HCV and their partners were interviewed separately about their sexual behavior. Approximately 17 percent of the couples used condoms in the first year of the relationship; this dropped to 13 percent in the year of the study. Participants also answered questions about sexual behavior that potentially involved contact with blood, as HCV is primarily a blood-borne virus.

The estimated incidence of sexual HCV transmission ranged from 3.6 per 100,000 person years, or 1 transmission per 380,000 sexual contacts, to a maximum of 7.2 per 100,000 person years, or 1 transmission every 190,000 sexual acts. The researchers concluded that sexual transmission of HCV among monogamous heterosexual couples is an extremely infrequent event. Since condom use was infrequent and decreased throughout the course of the sexual relationship, the low rate of sexual transmission was not due to use of barrier methods.

The researchers could not pinpoint any sexual practices linked with increased risk of sexual transmission. However, couples with whom possible sexual transmission occurred were more likely to report vaginal sex during menses and anal sex than couples with no evidence of sexual transmission. They also reported less frequent condom use. The researchers noted that the outbreaks of sexually transmitted HCV reported in HIV-positive gay men in a number of countries likely resulted from “disrupted mucosal integrity” and the effects of HIV coinfection.

The full report, “Sexual Transmission of Hepatitis C Virus Among Monogamous Heterosexual Couples: The HCV Partners Study,” was published online in the journal Hepatology (2013; doi:10.1002/hep.26164).

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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Russia Reports over 69,000 New HIV Cases in 2012

At a scientific conference in Moscow, Gennady Onishchenko, Russia’s top public health official, reported that new cases of HIV in Russia increased from 62,000 in 2011 to 69,000 in 2012 – bringing the total number of people diagnosed with HIV to 720,000. Children under the age of 14 represented 6,300 of the HIV diagnoses.

HIV infections have been rising since the fall of the Soviet Union. Although drug use continues to be the main transmission route, with contaminated needles accounting for 56 percent of all infections, the number of persons infected through heterosexual sexual contact increased to 40 percent in 2011, an increase of 4.5 percent over the previous three years.

According to Health and Social Development Ministry data, Russia has earmarked 19 billion rubles ($600 million) for HIV prevention and treatment in 2012–2013.

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 CD4s, Not Viral Load, Increase Risk of Non-AIDS Diseases for Those Off Treatment

The National AIDS Treatment Advocacy Project (NATAP) reports that individuals with untreated HIV and a CD4 count below 350 have more than twice the risk of developing serious non-AIDS diseases as those with levels over 500.

Researchers studied a cohort of 13,000 people from the ATHENA study in the Netherlands. The participants were diagnosed with HIV in 1998 or later and had not been taking antiretirovirals (ARVs). The researchers considered new diagnoses of major cardiovascular diseases such as myocardial infarction, stroke and invasive coronary procedures, liver fibrosis or cirrhosis, and non-AIDS-defining cancers.

In 18,641 person-years of follow-up, 208 participants (1.6 percent) developed new non-AIDS diseases in one of the three categories. There were 82 with non-AIDS cancers, 79 cases of liver disease, and 53 cardiovascular incidents. There was an overall likelihood that 6 percent of individuals with a CD4 count below 200 would receive a diagnosis of one of these non-AIDS diseases every year. Compared with persons having a CD4 count of 500 or higher, those with a CD4 count below 200 had more than four times the risk, and those with CD4 counts between 200 and 349 had more than twice the increased risk for developing non-AIDS diseases.

This study was presented at the 20th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, March 3–6, 2013, in Atlanta.

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/AIDS Testing Services to be Set up in Major Sea Ports

Nabi Azad, India’s Minister of Health and Family Welfare, announced that the government plans to provide testing and counseling for HIV/AIDS at major sea ports to prevent HIV transmission and help manage the disease.

He explained that the Department of AIDS Control of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Shipping on February 14. According to the MoU, the Ministry of Shipping will make the health infrastructure and human resources available at major sea ports for prevention and management of STIs and HIV/AIDS.

A recent UN report states that HIV cases among adults have declined by half in India since 2000. Also, the prevalence of HIV/AIDS has decreased to 0.31 percent with an estimated 2.7 million persons in India living with the disease. Azad said that recent estimates for 2012 indicate that the overall HIV prevalence among adults in India in 2011 was 0.27 percent. He also listed a number of programs, including the Red Ribbon Express, that are used to create HIV awareness and halt the transmission of the disease.

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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Alabama Students Challenge Law on Sex Education

Two students in Alabama are using YouTube and an online petition to try to change the sex education curriculum in the state. The students object to a part of the state sex education law and curriculum that describes homosexuality as unacceptable and unlawful in the state. Alabama’s sodomy law was invalidated in 2003 by the US Supreme Court, but the state law on sex education has not been changed.

The two students are using the video and petition to rally support for a bill introduced by Rep. Patricia Todd (D-Birmingham), the legislature’s only gay member to have the language removed. So far, the bill has not been considered by a House committee. The bill addresses other portions of the law, including removal of abstinence-only education. Todd said that she will reintroduce a new version of the bill addressing the language on homosexuality only. She felt that a narrower bill would have a better chance of passing.

The students’ petition on http://www.change.org  has received over 80,000 signatures.

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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Local Residents Help Raise HIV/AIDS Awareness

Several local residents recently travelled to Durham, N.C., to help raise awareness in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The Office on Women’s Health (OWH), part of the US Department of Health and Human Services, organized the event in which organizations visited women in the Cornwallis Road Apartments to commemorate National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. So AttracTiff Hair Studio and Apex-based Partners Against Sexually Transmitted Diseases (PASTD) were two of the organizations participating. Beauty and the Bull Spa representatives spoke about the importance of healthy skin care and self-esteem. Tiffany Bagley, the owner of So AttracTiff Hair Studio, provided goodie bags containing jewelry and hair and make-up products.

Green Hope High School Freshman Kyree Holland, Apex Youth Council member, spoke about the “Teen Safe Sex Pledge,” which is part of the dosomething.org campaign. Holland said, “I really just wanted teens to understand the seriousness surrounding HIV/AIDS and teens. I became interested in learning more when my mom shared a [CDC study stating that] 46 percent of North Carolina high school students did not use a condom during their last sexual act.” Holland added that the pledge can be found at the PASTD Web site: http://www.PASTD.org

OWH encourages all to embrace the National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day theme of “Share Knowledge. Take Action.” According to CDC statistics, one in five people living with HIV are unaware of their status. OWH hopes the campaign inspires women to get tested and talk with their daughters about 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.

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Senate Committee Passes Bill Approving Organ Transplants Between HIV-Positive People

The Senate Health Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee approved the HIV Organ Policy Equity (HOPE) Act, a bill that would lift the ban on medical research on HIV-infected organs.

Committee approval of the bill is the first step toward changing US policy to allow organ donation between HIV-infected people, if future research confirms the safety of such procedures. For the HOPE Act to become a law, the full US Senate must first vote to pass the bill. The HOPE Act has bipartisan support from sponsoring senators Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), and Rand Paul (R-Ky.).

The bill’s sponsors stated that passing the HOPE Act will help to remove stigma linked to HIV/AIDS and will speed up the organ transplant process for HIV-infected people, saving both lives and healthcare costs. The American Society of Transplant Surgeons and the American Medical Association support passage of the HOPE Act.

According to Dr. John Fangman, medical director of the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin, the HOPE Act ensures that organ transplant policy will reflect advances in medical science rather than outdated stereotypes.

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 Funding Renewed For Medical College, Children's Institute

The US Health Resources and Services Administration will continue funding the Medical College of Wisconsin and Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin Research Institute’s statewide, community-based HIV care system, which focuses on care for women, infants, and children.

The "Wisconsin Primary Care Support Network has received a three-year, $2.5 million award to continue providing care services for pregnant women with HIV and their infants in Wisconsin, youth with HIV in Wisconsin and the upper peninsula of Michigan, individuals ages 19–24 with HIV in southeastern Wisconsin who are at high risk for nonadherence to medical care, and women in northeastern and southeastern Wisconsin who have risk factors that complicate engaging in medical care.

Dr. Peter Havens, professor of pediatric infectious diseases and researcher with the Research Institute as well as program director for the HIV Clinic at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, is the project director.

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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UVA Health System Doctors Develop App for HIV

University of Virginia (UVA) Health System doctors have developed an app called Positive Links to help HIV-positive people remember to take their medicines. Geared to helping recently diagnosed patients, the app’s name signifies being HIV-positive and linked to care. Rebecca Dillingham, an assistant professor of medicine at the UVA Health System, declares, "Obviously, we're not going to fix everybody's life, but we're hoping to come up with better strategies to better manage the stress both of living with HIV and also of daily survival."

The app will provide access to HIV information by helping patients remember their doctor’s advice, schedule doctor appointments, provide refill reminders, and give personalized daily medication reminders. The messages will be in the patient's own voice, asking them to respond when they have taken their medication and sending back a confirmation message indicating that they have taken it.

Dillingham explained that HIV patients really cannot miss medication doses, likening it to the difficulty patients sometimes have in taking a full course of antibiotics for other conditions. In this instance, a person needs to take HIV medications for the rest of one’s life. UVA Health System doctors’ research indicates that stress negatively affects patients’ ability to take care of themselves; therefore, the app also provides a stress relief strategy that motivates patients to monitor their stress level and gives them ways to manage it.

Positive Links is targeted specifically to Virginia’s rural residents who face particular challenges, as the HIV epidemic is expanding quickest in the rural south, but rural residents live far from doctors and thus are isolated. Most of these people do not know anyone else who is HIV-positive, and while the epidemic is growing fast, they do not know it. Positive Links will connect them with medical care, even if they cannot get to a doctor. Dillingham stressed that when one is first diagnosed as HIV-positive, they should see their doctor every week if possible, because it is a stressful time for patients; however, when they live three to six hours away from their doctor, they cannot make it to weekly appointments. The app provides contact with the patient’s provider and the clinic support systems.

UVA doctors will launch the free app in June, and clinics will distribute it initially. Doctors say that the app could be adapted for use with other chronic diseases as well in the future.

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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Vaginal Products Linked to Infections

Researchers have found that products inserted vaginally can damage vaginal tissue and increase the user’s susceptibility to STDs such as herpes, chlamydia, and HIV. The most commonly used products were for washing, douching, or as commercial lubricants. Joelle Brown of the University of California, Los Angeles, and colleagues recruited 141 women in Los Angeles who completed questionnaires about product use and were administered lab tests for vaginal infections at entry into the study and one year later.

The researchers found that 66 percent of participants reported washing, douching, or inserting commercial lubricants and over-the-counter products other than tampons in the previous months. Approximately 45 percent of the study participants reported using washes, 70 percent used commercial lubricants, 17 percent used petroleum jelly, and 13 percent used oils. Lab tests showed that 40 percent of the women who used petroleum jelly had bacterial vaginosis, compared to 18 percent who did not use petroleum jelly. Also, 44 percent of participants who used intravaginal oils tested positive for Candida, the fungus that causes yeast infections, compared to 5 percent of those who did not use oils. The researchers suggest that the infection may have resulted from the products upsetting the women’s internal pH and beneficial microbe communities, allowing harmful organisms to multiply.

Since the study did not aim to identify the causes of the infections, it did not prove products were to blame. Brown noted that commercial sexual lubricants that were designed for internal use were not associated with increased risk of infection in the study, but that they require further evaluation. She commented that women were exposed to a great number of products on the market that were targeted to modifying the vaginal environment. Brown explained that the Food and Drug Administration “strongly urges” cosmetic manufacturers to test their products for safety but does not require it.

The full report, “Intravaginal Practices and Risk of Bacterial Vaginosis and Candidiasis Infection Among a Cohort of Women in the United States,” was published in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology (2013; 121(4):773-780).

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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Natives Call for Increased HIV Testing per CDC Recommendations

On March 20, the Seventh National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, Native people in the United States issued a challenge to health providers, government agencies, and individuals to increase testing in American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian communities. According to CDC data, Native Hawaiians/Other Pacific Islanders (NOPI) and American Indians/Alaska Natives (AI/AN) had the third and fourth highest rates of new HIV infections in the nation. However, more than 70 percent of NHOPIs and approximately 60 percent of AI/ANs have never been tested for HIV.

Dr. Pamela Jumper-Thurman, a senior research scientist with Colorado State University’s CA7AE project, stated that HIV affects native communities, but low HIV testing rates and irregular collection procedures conceal the disease’s true impact. Jumper-Thurman emphasized that, in addition to being tested for HIV, the community needs public health agencies, local health departments, and community health centers to make sure the data collection conforms to CDC recommendations.

In July 2012, CDC published recommendations on HIV surveillance in AI/AN communities, which included promoting routine, opt-out HIV testing and improving race/ethnicity classification of AI/ANs in HIV surveillance data. At present, the data that health departments and government agencies use do not give a complete representation of the disease in smaller populations like AI/AN/NHOPI, who most likely do not receive HIV treatment or 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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Routine HIV Testing to Start at Royal London Hospital's A&E

Beginning March 25, England's Royal London Hospital’s Accident & Emergency Department will pilot a month-long trial offering HIV testing to emergency patients needing other blood testing. According to HIV consultant Dr. Chloe Orkin, “The most important factor is to make an early diagnosis.”

The hospital’s emergency department, located in Whitechapel, sees approximately 3,000 individuals each week, with 720 of these patients needing blood tests as part of their diagnosis and treatment. The goal of the hospital’s pilot program is to screen 2,000 individuals throughout a 4-week time period.

The program has already been underway in other areas of the hospital such as Medical Admissions and the High Dependency and Intensive Treatment units, where patients must choose not to be tested for HIV rather than asking to be tested.

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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DCHHS Says Schools Need Free Condoms, Explicit Sex Education

In 2012, Dallas County had the fourth highest teen birth rate in the nation, and STDs are on the rise among teenagers. Zachary Thompson, director of Dallas County Health and Human Services (DCHHS), stated that teenagers are inundated with sexually explicit messages, silencing the current abstinence message taught in schools. “The issue is, we’re seeing an increase in the number of teen pregnancies statewide as well as STDs and HIV among the 13–18 age group,” he said. Thompson’s solution is to provide more explicit and detailed sex education as well as distributing condoms in schools, churches, and wherever young people gather.

In strong disagreement with Thompson is Marilyn Morris, president of AIM for Success, a school abstinence program she and her husband founded 20 years ago. She became pregnant as a high school senior, even though her dream was to be a professional tennis player. She married the father of her child, and they have been married for 44 years. Her abstinence beliefs are based on freedom. Morris declares, “It is totally a freedom message. You’re free to go on with your dreams and goals. Go have fun. Enjoy life. But don’t worry about pregnancy. Don’t worry about paying child support. Don’t worry about sexually transmitted diseases. You’re totally free to have an exciting life to avoid this.” She pointed out that providing teens with condoms sends the wrong message. She emphasized that society needs to help young people control their sexual desires instead of giving them permission and added that the abstinence message works; it originated in the early 1990s, and since then, rates for birth and pregnancy and abortion have declined, according to Morris.

According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, statistics for pregnancy rates across the United States have dropped; however, as a state, Texas still ranks fourth in the nation for teen pregnancies. Dallas County teenage STD rates are also increasing. One quarter of the 5,000 gonorrhea cases and 16,000 chlamydia cases were diagnosed in Texas’s teenagers in 2010. Morris explained that the numbers are higher in states with larger percentages of minority populations. At Tasby Middle School, with a high enrollment of black and Hispanic students, some parents believe condoms should be made available to their children. Thompson wants the Texas legislature to study the matter and consider funding the purchase of condoms for Dallas County schools.

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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Sofosbuvir plus Ribavirin Works Well for Hard-to-Treat Inner-City Hepatitis C Patients

Researchers recently reported that a simple 24-week oral regimen of Gilead Sciences’ nucleotide analogue hepatitis C virus (HCV) polymerase inhibitor sofosbuvir and full-dose ribavirin cured approximately 70 percent of previously untreated individuals with HCV genotype 1. Many of the participants had factors predictive of poor response. Anu Osiniusi of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and colleagues tested a two-drug, interferon-free treatment regimen in a small phase IIa study of difficult-to-treat patients in inner-city neighborhoods of Washington, D.C.

The SPARE study, which began in 2011, evaluated sofosbuvir plus ribavirin. The study was conducted in two parts. In Part 1, researchers treated 10 people with absent to-moderate liver fibrosis (stage F0–F2) for 24 weeks with 400 milligrams once-daily of sofosbuvir plus weight-based ribavirin at 1,000 milligrams per day (mg/day)if weight was less than 75 kilograms (kg), or 1,200 mg/day if 75 kg or more. In part 2, researchers randomly assigned 50 people with all stages of liver disease to sofosbuvir with either weight-based ribavirin or a lower fixed dose of 600 mg/day regardless of weight. Seventy percent of the subjects chosen for the second part of the study were men; the median age was 54 years; and 80 percent of the subjects were African-American. African Americans usually respond poorly to interferon. Approximately 70 percent of participants had the more difficult-to-treat HCV sub-type 1a, and approximately 60 percent had a high baseline viral load.

In Part 1, there was a 90-percent sustained virological response rate at 12 weeks post-treatment, rising to 100 percent in a modified analysis of all participants treated for at least 8 weeks. In Part 2, HCV RNA declined rapidly with almost all participants reaching undetectable viral load by the fourth week. Response rate remained high at 24 weeks of treatment. Some participants started to relapse soon after stopping treatment, especially in the low-dose ribavirin group. Sustained response rates at the fourth week post-treatment (SVR 4) were 72 and 56 percent, respectively. A few later relapses occurred resulting in SVR 12 rates of 68 and 48 percent. Viral decline after starting treatment was slower among people who eventually relapsed compared with sustained responders, with clearance occurring in 3.6 vs 5.6 days on average. Host and viral factors associated with relapse included lower baseline viral load, male sex, and using low-dose rather than weight-based ribavirin. Having worse fibrosis or cirrhosis seemed to predict poorer response.

Sofosbuvir plus ribavirin was generally safe and well tolerated, with no serious adverse events, drop-outs due to side-effects, or deaths in either group. Laboratory abnormalities differed according to ribavirin dose. The researchers concluded that, in an inner-city population of HCV genotype 1 subjects with negative treatment predictors, an interferon-free regimen of sofosbuvir with weight-based ribavirin was effective in achieving high SVR rates.

This study was presented at the 20th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Atlanta, Georgia.

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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Senator Concerned About AIDS Quarantine Possibility

The Kansas Senate approved a bill to update public health statutes related to quarantine of individuals with infectious diseases. Sen. Marci Francisco (D-Lawrence) expressed concern that the previous law explicitly excluded HIV and AIDS as grounds for quarantine, because those diseases are not spread by casual contact, but the new House Bill 2183 did not contain the exclusion. The senate rejected Francisco’s amendment to restore the exclusion.

At the committee hearing for the bill, the head of the Kansas Equality Coalition, which lobbies for gay rights, also stated that his group was worried about eliminating the explicit exclusion of AIDS patients from the quarantine law. However, members of both parties commented that eliminating the AIDS exclusion reflects the modern understanding that there is no fear of the disease spreading like some other infectious diseases.

According to Sen. David Haley (D-Kansas City), the Kansas Department of Health and Environment had made it clear that there was no reason to quarantine an AIDS patient. Haley said that if the bill were capable of discriminating against anyone, he would not support it. Sen. Mary Pilcher-Cook (R-Shawnee) felt that Francisco’s amendment would make the bill discriminatory, as it would separate people with a specific disease from others. However, Sen. Laura Kelly (D-Topeka) argued that the amendment would clarify the law’s intent. Kelly commented that, unless it were specified in administrative rules and regulations, the bill would permit isolation and quarantine of individuals with HIV and AIDS despite the fact the Department of Health has maintained that HIV/AIDS patients do not need to be quarantined.

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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Chaka Khan to Headline 2013 Florida AIDS Walk

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is hosting the Florida AIDS Walk and Music Festival on March 24th to benefit South Florida nonprofit organizations. The annual fundraising 5K walk provides funds that allow nonprofit agencies to serve persons living with HIV in South Florida. According to Michael Weinstein, President of AHF, Florida still ranks third in HIV/AIDS infections; therefore, the need to raise awareness and funds to fight the disease must be a high priority.

The walk, which begins and ends at Fort Lauderdale’s South Beach Park, will be hosted by HIV activist Sheryl Lee Ralph, star of stage and screen, and will be followed by live performers including pop icon Chaka Khan. It is sponsored by AHF Pharmacy, a national chain whose proceeds fund AHF’s global work providing HIV/AIDS treatment, testing, and advocacy in 28 countries. Supporting sponsors include Wells Fargo, LabCorp, Starbucks, Target, and local South Florida media outlets.

The beneficiaries include AHF; Broward House; Latinos Salud; Sunserve; Minority Development and Empowerment, Inc.; and the Pride Center at EqualityPark as well as new local beneficiaries, such as The Village and the League Against AIDS. These organizations keep all the money they raise by sponsoring teams of walkers in addition to receiving a monetary gift to help support their programs serving people living with HIV in South Florida.

For more information, contact Mark Martin (954) 318-4337, mobile (954) 383-8007, or e-mail mark.martin@aidshealth.org; or Kyveli Diener (323) 308-1821 Ext 1805, mobile (310) 779-4796, or e-mail kyveli.diener @aidshealth.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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Art Auction Raises Funds for HIV Patients

On March 16, the East Texas Cares Resource Center sponsored the eighth annual silent auction called “Matisse March Madness” to raise money for the Center, which assists HIV/AIDS patients. Executive director of the Center, Jeanette Deas Calhoun, stated, “We have the makings of a really, really exciting and fun art auction. This fundraiser is extremely important to our agency because it allows us to continue and support the programs that we have for our clients. Moneys generated will go directly into program services.” Local artists donated approximately 170 art pieces to the silent auction expected to generate funds in the $12,000 to $16,000 range for the Center.

Approximately 150 people attended the auction held at The Market at the Crossing in Tyler, Texas. The auction included photographs; print art; acrylics; oil paintings; watercolor paintings; panels done with heavily textured fibers; vintage jewelry; hand-thrown, high fired pottery; and a blue dog lithograph. Bids ranged from $20 for a small object to an opening bid of $1,000 for a framed watercolor.

East Texas Cares Resource Center has experienced several names since its inception in 1989. It began as a hospice for HIV-positive persons called “His House, serving in that capacity for 12 years. In 2001, it became Tyler AIDS Services, which provided services to people living with HIV/AIDS as well as prevention education services to East Texas residents. The organization changed its name to the East Texas Cares Resource Center in October 2012 to better reflect its activities. Currently, its emergency assistance program provides case management and support for housing, utilities, and pharmacy needs for HIV clients. East Texas Cares Resource Center also administers the Reclaim project, which helps people find jobs, return to college, or obtain a GED. The goal is to get people back in the workforce.

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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French Study Indicates Some Patients Can Control HIV After Stopping Treatment

Fourteen adults who started antiretroviral therapy (ART) soon after becoming HIV-infected and continued treatment for at least a year have been able to control the virus for one to seven years, even after stopping ART, according to French researchers. Lead author Asier Sáez-Cirión called the success a “functional cure” in which the virus is still present in low levels; most of the patients had undetectable HIV blood levels (below 50 copies per milliliter), but some had up to a few hundred copies per milliliter.

Sáez-Cirión described the study patients as “post-treatment controllers” in contrast to “elite controllers” who comprise the less than one percent of HIV-infected people whose bodies are able to control HIV without antiviral drugs. The study indicates that the post-treatment controllers developed high viral loads shortly after infection, which led to starting drug treatment within several months of infection. Post-treatment controllers also have smaller viral reservoirs and a smaller proportion of long-lived immune cells. Elite controllers are able to keep virus levels down, even at the start of infection.

The study did not provide enough information to identify HIV-infected people who could safely stop ART. Dr. Douglas D. Richman, director of the Center for AIDS Research at the University of California – San Diego, emphasized that it is difficult to identify newly infected patients and start treatment in a timely way. Dr. Max Essex, of the Harvard School of Public Health AIDS Initiative, stated that current tests for viral loads are so sensitive it might be possible to take patients off treatment for a month and restart ART if the viral loads go up sharply.

The full report, “Post-Treatment HIV-1 Controllers with a Long-Term Virological Remission after the Interruption of Early Initiated Antiretroviral Therapy ANRS VISCONTI Study,” was published online in the journal PLOS Pathogens (2013; doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1003211).

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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