Tuesday, November 27, 2018

🏳️‍🌈✝️🔻 Five ways you can make a difference in the youth HIV & AIDS pandemic

Saturday, December 1 is World AIDS Day. AFP, Getty Images via CNN.

By Lauren Lee, CNN

11/28/2018


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December 1 is World AIDS Day, an annual event dedicated to raising awareness and money to fight AIDS around the world.

Over the last four decades, HIV and AIDS have been at the forefront of advocacy and research. But despite medical advances, AIDS remains one of the most destructive pandemics (link is external) in history, particularly of youth.

According to World Health Organization estimates, more than 30% of new HIV infections occur in people between 15 and 25 years old. Combined with the increasing number of babies infected at birth, some 5 million young people now live with HIV.

CNN Impact Your World spoke with two high-profile AIDS activists about five ways we all can play a role in preventing HIV and AIDS among youth.

1. Know your status
Knowing your HIV status is crucial. Some people think they know their status because they had one HIV test at some point. But HIV can be transmitted at any time through blood, semen, vaginal fluids, or even the breast milk of someone who is infected.

Deondre Moore, an ambassador for the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation, was diagnosed with HIV at 19.

"If you know your status, that empowers you," Moore told CNN. "That protects you, that protects the next person, and it helps you to navigate and know what to do next."

Knowing your status shows that you care about yourself and your sexual partners. The CDC (link is external) suggests that anyone who has unsafe sex or shares drug needles should get tested at least once a year.

Online tools like AIDS Vu provide geographically specific information and resources for testing.

2. Stop the stigma
Many people have fears, prejudices and negative attitudes about HIV and AIDS that might not be rooted in facts. What is fact: Stigma leads to discrimination, which can marginalize the HIV-affected community.

As a 24-year-old, Moore looks back on his diagnosis back in 2014. That's when he realized he had to get past his own thoughts and misconceptions about HIV.

"All I actually heard was, 'You're probably going to die soon.' That was the lack of education that I had."

20-year-old Ashley Rose Murphy was born with HIV, exposed by her infected birth mother in the womb.

Murphy is now an ambassador for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. Both she and Moore agree there is a generational divide between the people who were alive while the disease was considered a death sentence and those born later.

"These parents are more than aware of what happened in the '80s, and they are scared," Murphy said. "There is a lot of shame and hush-hush remaining from that time.

"On the other hand, my generation, they weren't alive during the '80s, so they don't fully grasp the AIDS epidemic."

Moore added, "To decrease stigma, to kill the notion that HIV looks like it did in the '80s, we have to talk about it."

Both said the misconceptions and stigma around HIV are what drive them to advocate for the AIDS cause publicly.

Moore remembers when he told his mother he wanted to tell his hometown church about his HIV status.

"There was so much stigma around sharing that she was afraid," he recalled. "Afraid of how people would treat me, afraid of how it would be taken from the outside world."

Despite his mother's fears, Moore told his story. What fuels him now is the impact he's made on young people across his home state of Texas.

"I became a domino effect that just kept going," Moore told CNN. "I always am thinking about what can I do so that the babies or the youth don't have to grow up worrying about HIV all their lives."
You can also play an essential role in reducing stigma and discrimination by offering support to people living with HIV and by speaking out against myths and stereotypes.

3. Educate yourself and spread the word
While in high school, Murphy traveled the world speaking about HIV and AIDS. She was once asked by her health teacher to write an essay about her speeches.

"I had discussed that I'm very healthy, I have a great future, I can grow up, have children and a family," recalled Murphy. "When my teacher read this she said 'I didn't know this.' I had to educate the educator."

Education plays a crucial role in fighting HIV and AIDS. Young people who know more about HIV/AIDS are more likely to get tested. School-based HIV/AIDS education is a well-proven intervention strategy. But it's not always available.

"A lot of public schools in the United States don't enforce a comprehensive and inclusive sex education," said Moore.

Both Murphy and Moore suggest speaking to your family physician and tracking down credible resources for information like HIV.gov and advocates like themselves. "I'm hoping my voice breaks stigmas and educates people," said Murphy.

4. Be an Ally
There are some simple things you can do to be an ally to the HIV-affected community.
Murphy said a big part is including it in normal conversation.

"Being able to casually talk about HIV and being as comfortable as you can discussing it little by little can make it a normal part of the conversation," she said.

Become an active listener who can offer support and assurance that the infection is manageable.
Encourage AIDS and HIV patients to stick with their medical protocols. Proper HIV treatment early can make all the difference in the progression of AIDS.

"It's in your own backyard," said Moore. "The more people know these facts, the more they can tell people."

5. Donate to AIDS-related causes
HIV and AIDS-related charities aim to prevent new infections by encouraging safer sexual behavior and distributing prevention methods (like condoms, medications, etc.). Although none of these can cure HIV or AIDS, some charities additionally fund research for a cure. Here are some Impact Your World-approved charities you can support.

More articles from CNN, here

Wednesday, November 14, 2018

🏳️‍🌈✝️🔻 6 Things You Should Never Say to Someone with HIV



Quotes under the pictures by Rainbow Pastor David

My philosophy is this - 

"I you DON'T WANT TO HEAR the TRUTH,
THEN DON'T ASK THE QUESTION!!!"





Asking the wrong question or saying the wrong thing can make a conversation awkward and uncomfortable, especially if it’s about someone’s personal health. 

Over the past five years of living openly with HIV, I’ve had many conversations about my journey with friends, family, and acquaintances. And through those conversations, I’ve gained insight into what the least helpful things are to say to someone who is HIV-positive.

Before you say one of the following statements or questions to someone who has HIV, please take a moment to consider what impact it might have on the person you’re speaking to. You’re probably better off leaving these words unspoken.



***Yes I am - I SHOWER REGULARLY***

When you ask me if I'm "clean" in reference to my HIV status, you are being dirty. Sure, it’s just a phrase that saves you a couple of seconds saying (or typing) some extra words, but for some of us living with HIV, it’s offensive. It can also negatively affect our confidence, whether that was your intention or not. 

As the Stigma Project puts it, “clean” and "dirty” are for your laundry, not for describing your HIV status. A better way to ask about someone's HIV status is simply to ask when they had their last HIV screening and what the result was. 



 ***YES FOOL I KNOW, Does NOT mean you NEED TO KNOW***

Asking questions about HIV and being curious about the day-to-day of living with a chronic condition are completely understandable. However, how I was exposed to HIV is not really something you have a right to know. There are many potential reasons why someone might have an HIV diagnosis, including exposure through sex, mother-to-child transmission, sharing needles with an infected person, blood transfusions, and more. If those of us living with the virus wanted you to know our personal details and the method of our transmission, we’d initiate the conversation ourselves.

Read more: Busting HIV transmission myths »


***That would be NONE of YOUR BUSINESS***


The best way to demonstrate a lack of social couth is to ask someone living with HIV if they know who exposed them to the virus. Asking such a personal question can elicit painful emotions. Perhaps their exposure is linked to a traumatic event, like sexual assault. Maybe they are embarrassed about it. Or maybe they just don’t know. Ultimately, it doesn't matter if I know who exposed me to HIV, so stop asking me. 



***We get sick like everyone else***

Catching the common cold, flu, or the stomach bug is not fun, and sometimes even allergies can slow us down. During these episodes, we all feel sickly and may even need to take a sick day to get better. But even though I have a chronic condition, I am neither someone you should consider sick, nor am I suffering. People living with HIV who regularly attend appointments with their doctors and who take antiretroviral drugs to control the virus have near normal life expediencies.




 ***Sorry have NOTHING to be sorry for, so please keep your sorry***

Saying "I'm sorry" after hearing about someone's HIV diagnosis might seem supportive, but to many of us, it’s not. Often, it implies that we have done something wrong, and the words are potentially shaming. After someone shares the personal details of their journey with HIV, it’s not helpful to hear the phrase "I'm sorry." Instead, offer gratitude to the person for trusting you with that private health information and ask if you can help in any way.




 ***AGAIN NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS***

It is best not to assume or even question if the current partner of someone living with HIV is also positive. First of all, when someone living with HIV has a sustained, durably suppressed viral load (called an undetectable viral load) for six months, there is no virus in their system, and there hasn't been for several months. That means your chance of acquiring HIV from that person is zero. (You might find this interview with Dr. Carl Dieffenbach from the National Institutes of Health helpful.) Therefore, relationships can exist without risk of transmitting HIV. 

Beyond the science, it’s simply inappropriate to ask about my partner's HIV status. Do not allow your curiosity to make you lose sight of someone’s right to privacy.

What to do instead

When someone shares their story of living with HIV with you, the best way to respond is simply by listening. If you want to offer encouragement and support or to ask a question, think about how what you say might affect them. Consider how the words you use will come across, and ask yourself whether it’s your business to say anything at all.

Josh Robbins is a writer, activist, and speaker who is living with HIV. He blogs about his experiences and activism at I’m Still Josh. Connect with him on Twitter @imstilljosh.



Monday, November 12, 2018

🏳️‍🌈✝️🔻 Switching to New Tenofovir Is Tied to Higher LDL Cholesterol


Researchers call for closer cardiovascular monitoring for those switching from the TDF form of the drug to the TAF version.

November 9, 2018 By Benjamin Ryan 


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People with HIV who switch from the older form of the antiretroviral (ARV) tenofovir to the newer form are more likely to have out-of-target LDL cholesterol, the National AIDS Treatment Advocacy Project (NATAP) reports. Consequently, Italian researchers have called for closer cardiovascular monitoring of people switching from the older form to the newer one.
The older form of tenofovir is known as tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, or TDF; the newer form is called tenofovir alafenamide, or TAF. Switching from TDF to TAF is associated with improved markers of bone and kidney health. However, researchers have suggested that this benefit may be significant only if both drugs are used with a booster medication, Norvir (ritonavir) or Tybost (cobicistat).

Gilead has swapped TAF into all its combination tablets that include TDF, with the exception of Atripla (efavirenz/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/emtricitabine), which is no longer a recommended first-line treatment because of side effects associated with the Sustiva (efavirenz) component. The updated TAF-inclusive tablets have new brand names and include Descovy (emtricitabine/tenofovir alafenamide), Odefsey (emtricitabine/rilpivirine/tenofovir alafenamide) and Genvoya (elvitegravir/cobicistat/emtricitabine/tenofovir alafenamide). Two new single-tablet regimens have also recently been approved that have no TDF-inclusive equivalent, including Gilead’s Biktarvy (bictegravir/emtricitabine/tenofovir alafenamide) and Janssen’s Symtuza (darunavir/cobicistat/emtricitabine/tenofovir alafenamide).

TAF is also approved for use as treatment for hepatitis B virus (HBV) treatment under the brand name Vemlidy, just as TDF has long been approved for this purpose under the brand name Viread.

Presenting their findings at the International Congress on Drug Therapy in HIV Infection (HIV Glasgow) in Scotland, Italian researchers conducted a retrospective analysis of 221 people with HIV who switched from TDF to TAF treatment without changing their anchor ARV. A total of 45.7 percent of them took a Tybost-boosted integrase inhibitor, 43.3 percent took a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI), 6 percent took a Tybost-boosted protease inhibitor and 5 percent took an unboosted integrase inhibitor.

Before switching to TAF, the cohort’s median LDL cholesterol was 105 milligrams per deciliter.
After the switch to TAF, total and LDL cholesterol each rose by about 20 percent among the cohort members; HDL cholesterol rose by about 5 percent. Before the tenofovir switch, about 35 percent of the 200 people analyzed had LDL cholesterol that was considered out of target. This proportion increased to 60 percent after the cohort members switched to TAF.
To read the NATAP report, click here.

More from POZ, here
  

Tuesday, November 6, 2018

🏳️‍🌈✝️🔻 Voting in the Midterms Is HIV Advocacy - QUIT LETTING THE REPUBLICANS and TRUMP @realDonaldTrump take away our HEALTH INSURANCE


Just think back on how the past 20 months have impacted health care, Medicaid, LGBTQ rights and more.


November 5, 2018 By AIDS United


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For anyone who is reading this who has yet to vote in the 2018 midterm elections and isn’t 100% sure that they are going to vote because they’re not quite sure if it’s worth it or if it will make a difference, we want you to think back on everything that has happened over the last 20 months.

We want you to think back on the Trump administration’s potential erasure of the transgender community and their repeated attacks on sexual and reproductive health care. We want you to think back on the traumatic and painful confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh and the impact that his time on the Supreme Court alongside Justice Neil Gorsuch will have on abortion rights, LGBTQ+ rights, and union rights.

We want you to remember the amount of blood, sweat, and tears that you poured into fighting the repeal of the Affordable Care Act and the continued attacks on Medicaid by members of Congress and the Trump administration and to remember the feeling you got when you realized that your fundamental right to health care was, and is, at constant risk of being taken away from you. We want you to remember the horror and fear that hit you when you first heard that our government wanted to ban people from entry into the United States based on their faith or to keep them from becoming citizens because they weren’t rich enough to pay for their own health care.




We want you to consider all of these things because none of them had to happen. And yet, they did happen and will continue to happen until the HIV advocacy community and our millions of allies who believe in the universal right to health care and dignity and freedom from discrimination based on race, sex, gender, religion, disability status, or nation of origin come together and demand that our representatives in Washington are beholden to us and not the other way around. We must advocate for ourselves and one another at the polls and outside of them.

Voting is HIV advocacy. It certainly isn’t the only form of HIV advocacy, but without it, we will never achieve all that is necessary to end the epidemic in this country and across the globe. If you’ve already voted, go out and make sure your friends and family have all voted as well, and then join Positive Women’s Network – USA’s Get Out The Vote community to find new ways to get involved. If you haven’t voted, then make a plan for yourself. Use AIDS United’s Election Resource Center to figure out where your polling place is, when early voting hours are, what candidates and issues you want to support, and how you’re going to get to the polls.

It may not feel like it, but filling in those little boxes on that ballot could be the loudest, most impactful statement you make all year. Join us—be an HIV voter and make sure all our voices are heard in the halls of power in the next Congress and beyond. Vote like your life depends on it, because, for many of us, it does.

More from POZ, here