In This Issue

We open this week's issue with a story about the racial disparities in HIV diagnoses that Black gay and bisexual men experience. Research published in The Lancet earlier this year shows that the reasons for these disparities may not be as clear as we previously thought. Tamara Holmes reports.

Next, we run an interview of African American HIV University (AAHU) graduate Charles Pettiford, who tells us about how his AAHU experiences empowered him not only to manage his own HIV infection better, but also to excel a prevention coordinator back home at the renowned Meharry Medical College in Nashville.

Last week, the NAACP's Senior Director of Health Programs, Dr. Marjorie Innocent, published a compelling opinion piece about the important role Black churches play in ending the AIDS epidemic in Black communities, as the NAACP's annual Convention kicked off in Baltimore. We are rerunning her story here.

We also share a piece written by Drs. Rich Wolenski and Nathan Fecik from our friends at HIV.gov about the important work that remains to reach our nation's HIV prevention, care, and treatment goals. This work is particularly urgent since most of the indicators either have not been met or have moved in the wrong direction. The National HIV/AIDS Strategy Federal Implementation Workgroup (FIW) that Rich co-chairs is taking steps to figure out how our nation can obtain better results.

Finally, people living with HIV and AIDS also experience the same health challenges as people who don't have HIV. We share some recent research showing the relationship between a sickle-cell anemia trait and the risk of needing dialysis.

Yours in the struggle,

Phill