News 2010
STUDY
Taken Preventively Daily HIV Meds Could Reduce HIV Risk Among Gay, Bisexual Men
Years ago, when scientists predicted that some day you would be able to take a pill once a day to keep from contracting HIV, that idea sounded more Orwellian than real.
But the future is now.
The results of a large, international clinical trial published online this morning in The New England Journal of Medicine found that a daily dose of an anti-retroviral pill reduced the risk of contracting HIV by 43.8 percent. The study, known as iPrEx, found even higher rates--72.8 percent effectiveness--in participants who adhered most closely to their daily drug regimen. Pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP as it’s known, uses tenofovir, a medication that is already effective in treating HIV infection.
Read more: Taken Preventively, Daily HIV Meds Could Reduce HIV RIsk Among Gay, Bisexual Men
NEWS
More Black Gay and Bi Men Are HIV Positive; Most Unaware
The eye-catching signs are hard to miss in subway stations across New York City. Headline "I Love My Boo," they show young Black and Latino men "booed up," or embracing their significant other--in this case, another young brotha or papi. The campaign, developed by the GMHC, fights homophobia, increases visibility of gay men of color and encourages safe sex.
"It's about being responsible, getting tested, knowing your status, talking to your partner," says Francisco Roque, GMHC's director of community health.
Read more: More Black Gay and Bi Men are HIV Positive; Most Unaware
EVENT
CNN's Roland Martin and Actor-Comedian Sinbad Host 10th Annual Heroes in the Struggle Gala Awards
Commentator Roland Martin (CNN) and Actor/Comedian Sinbad (Comedy Central) will co-host the 10th Annual Heroes in the Struggle Gala Awards Presentation on World AIDS Day, Wednesday, December 1, 2010 at the Avalon, Hollywood.
Read more: Roland Martin and Sinbad Host 10th Annual Heroeis in the Struggle
NEWS
Health Law Expected To Boost Medicaid Enrollees In Managed Care
From Kaiser Health News
By Phil Galewitz
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — After Tonya Bauserman slipped in a grocery store and hurt her right knee last July, an emergency room doctor prescribed painkillers and told her to see an orthopedic surgeon.
But Bauserman, 27, who's insured by a Medicaid managed health care plan called HealthCare USA, says she had trouble finding an orthopedist in her plan who would see her. Finally, she drove 2 ½ hours to Columbia from her home in a northwestern suburb here to see a physician, who fitted her for a brace and recommended physical therapy. HealthCare USA later said it wouldn't pay for the brace.
Read more: Health Law Expected to Boost Medical Enrolles in Managed Care
NEWS
I Am HIV Positive and I Don’t Blame Anybody—Including Myself
From ColorLines
by Kirk Grisham
I am HIV positive, and I don’t blame anybody for it—not myself or anybody else.
He didn’t rape me and he did not trick me. It was through our unprotected sex that I became HIV positive. Since seroconverting, I have been very conscious of the language I use to discuss transmission, particularly my own. To say “he gave me HIV” obscures the truth, it was through a mutual act, consensual sex, that I became HIV positive. When speaking to him a couple months after my diagnosis I gathered that he knew he was positive when we had sex. But that is beside the point; my sexual health is mine to control, not his.