[We are very proud of IRMA Steering Committee Member Lourence Misedah - great work!]
Closeted Calamity: The Hidden HIV Epidemic of Men Who Have Sex with Men
via Scientific American, by Bob Roehr
Excerpt:
Excerpt:
Even in Africa, at the heart of the pandemic, in Malawi, 21 percent of MSM are infected with the virus compared with 11 percent of the general population, whereas Zambia's rates are 33 percent versus 15 percent, respectively, says Chris Beyrer, director of the Johns Hopkins Center of Public Health and Human Rights.Read the rest.
"The argument that gay and bisexual men are a trivial sideshow in the global fight against AIDS is wrong," he told the Global Forum on MSM and HIV, an advocacy network that met this summer prior to the International AIDS Conference in Vienna, Austria.
From Peace Corps to IRMA and on to a Masters in Public Health
Everyone in my family, and anyone that I can get to listen, now knows the importance of developing a rectal microbicide.by Jessyca Dudley, IRMA intern
Prior to joining the IRMA team I was a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in South Africa. My main responsibility was to engage community members in HIV/AIDS prevention in whatever forum I could conceive of. It was a challenge everyday to work within the
community and attempt to create change against the cultural, social, and outside forces that seemed destined to oppose me. When I returned I had no doubt that I would continue to work to advocate for people living with HIV/AIDS and am happy to be a part of this community, of IRMA. When I came to the AIDS Foundation of Chicago/IRMA I was still in the midst of culture shock having moved home to Chicago from South Africa only a few weeks earlier. There was a lot to digest and I took pages of notes my first day in the office. New acronyms to be learned, new studies to read, and getting use to being back in an office from 9 to 5, it was all exciting and I knew that I had a lot to look forward to. It was only a short time before I began to find my rhythm and begin telling everyone about the work that I was doing on rectal microbicides.
Everyone in my family, and anyone that I can get to listen, now knows the importance of developing a rectal microbicide. I tell them about the challenges to confronting the institutional, socio-cultural and political stigma around the public health need for rectal microbicide research. I tell them about all the advocates who do so much to bring these advances to their communities. I try to make it relevant to them, try to explain why it is more than just an issue for MSM or women in Africa, why it will bring change to everyone.
Hopefully I succeeded in teaching a few people something that they didn’t know before and hopefully I will continue to have to opportunity to teach others about what I have learned here at IRMA. As I move on to purse my master in public health I have no doubt that I will benefit from my experiences here and will continue to stay connected to this community.
I wish everyone the best! Keep up all the important work of advocating for rectal microbicides!
Music
Robyn, Robin Miriam Carlsson, bo tak naprawdę nazywa się 31-letnia wokalistka, przebojem wdziera się do światowej czołówki śpiewających kobiet. Jak to gdzieś przeczytałem ”… jest uosobieniem fajnego popu” i zdecydowanie się z tym stwierdzeniem zgadzam. Słucha się jej miło, a po przesłuchaniu płyty chce się więcej. „ Skandynawska Maddona” – bo tak o tej szwedzkiej wokalistce piszą na Zachodzie – już swoim pierwszym krążkiem zatytułowanym „Robyn” zjednała sobie rzesze fanów i co najważniejsze została dostrzeżona również przez niezależną krytykę. Jej najnowszy album ( premiera była w czerwcu) „Body Talk Part 1” to mieszanka popu, elektro z domieszką sentymentalnych ballad. Cała płyta to zaledwie pół godziny świetnej muzyki, ale bez obaw - 6 września ma się ukazać 2 płyta z serii. W planach na ten rok jest jeszcze zamykająca trylogię płyta. Pozostaje mieć nadzieję, że Robyn wyrobi się w czasie :) Będzie ją można usłyszeć w PL, na żywo, na Free Form Festival w październiku.
Kleerup, a właściwie Andreas Kleerup, to szwedzki producent, perkusista oraz członek zespołu The Meat Boys. Popularność zdobył w roku 2007 dzięki współpracy ze szwedzką artystką Robyn, dla której wyprodukował singiel With Every Heartbeat, który dotarł do 1. miejsca zestawienia w Wielkiej Brytanii. W 2008 roku wydał debiutancki album zatytułowany 'Kleerup'. Na krążku gościnnie wystąpiły między innymi wspomniana już Robyn, a także Titiyo, Neneh Cherry, Linda Sundblad, Lykke Li, Lisa Millberg oraz Marit Bergman. W Polsce bardzo duży sukces odniosło nagranie Longing For Lullabies.
Świetni goście na płycie oraz doskonałe bity, przy których nie sposób powstrzymać nogi przed podrygiwaniem sprawiają, że nie raz powrócicie do tej płyty. Kleerup nagrywa muzykę w stylu Pop, Synth pop z domieszkami elektro.
Study: Aldara Treatment Helps Clear High-Grade Anal Lesions
Long-term treatment with a topical immune-stimulating cream called Aldara (imiquimod), approved for the treatment of external genital warts, may also improve or clear high-grade lesions inside the anuses of men living with HIV and may potentially reduce the risk of cancer. This is the conclusion of a study published online August 19 in the journal AIDS.
Read the rest.
Nurses 'critical link' in implementing new WHO HIV guidelines
Active support of nurses is critical for effective implementation of the revised World Health Organization (WHO) HIV treatment guidelines, MaryAnn Vitiello and Suzanne Willard state in a letter published in the August 2010 online edition of AIDS.
The authors are nurses who work in countries which receive US PEPFAR support, and they are affiliated with the International Training and Education Center on Health (I-TECH) and the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation respectively.
While a well-informed and highly skilled nursing workforce is considered essential for all national health care systems, in reality it just doesn’t happen, note the authors.
Nurses are on the front lines of care, represent the largest group of health care workers and have the most interaction with women and children, highlight the authors.
Recognising and understanding the training and support needs of those who interact with women and children affected by HIV – nurses (as well as clinical officers, midwives, physicians and the community)- is vital to ensuring the successful implementation of the guidelines, and an integral part of a comprehensive approach to the prevention of mother-to-child transmission, Vitiello and Willard note.
Nurses are proven leaders in HIV treatment and care, often under the most trying of circumstances, and nurses in both resource-rich and resource-poor settings continue to adapt standards and practices to meet the needs of their patients, say the authors.
For more click here.
Communities debate microbicide results in South Africa
The recent release of positive results from a microbicide trial in South Africa have kick-started discussions between scientists, activists and community workers about the quickest and most responsible way of getting a product into women's hands.
The trial by the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA) found that a vaginal gel containing tenofovir, an antiretroviral (ARV) drug, was 39 percent effective at reducing women's risk of contracting HIV during sex.
In other parts of the world, such results might not be cause for celebration, but in South Africa, and particularly in hard-hit KwaZulu-Natal Province, where the trial was conducted, even such partial effectiveness could prevent 1.3 million new HIV infections over the next two decades and avert over 800,000 deaths, according to mathematical modelling.
"The discomfort we all have is that if this [product] is working, shouldn't we be pushing its use as quickly as possible?" said Prof Helen Rees (pictured), director of the Reproductive Health and HIV Research Unit (RHRU) of Witwatersrand University, at a meeting about the CAPRISA trial results in Johannesburg.
Read the rest.
Engaging cities in the HIV response
Approximately half of the world’s population lives in cities. By 2050, seven out of ten global citizens will be living in a “mega-city” of more than 10 million people. In an official visit this week to Shanghai—one of the world’s largest metropolises—UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé called attention to the central role that cities can play in the AIDS response.
“While it is clear that cities are important to the HIV response, they have not been sufficiently mobilized and supported to act,” said Mr Sidibé, addressing an audience of more than 100 health sector leaders and practitioners from across China. “I believe that it is time for this to change and for cities to take the lead in making HIV history.”
The rapid growth of cities has created conditions where HIV can thrive. Globally, it is estimated that as many as 50% of HIV-positive people live in cities. In some urban areas, the HIV epidemic is so pervasive that it is compares to national epidemics of entire countries.
For more click here.
Eiffel Tower..
Bardzo długo szukałem wisiora z Wieżą Eiffla :) Nic nie mogłem znaleźć, a jak już coś się pojawiło, to cena nie była zachęcająca. W końcu szczęście się do mnie uśmiechnęło i zdobyłem ją w... Paryżu ;p Pod samą wieżą sprzedają masę breloczków z mini "ajfelkami", i to za śmieszne pieniądze! Nie mogłem sobie odmówić :)
T-shirt - H&M
Hat - Asos
Necklace - Paris :)
Shorts - Levis ( Sh +DIY)
Espadriles - Asos
Hat - Asos
Necklace - Paris :)
Shorts - Levis ( Sh +DIY)
Espadriles - Asos
FashionMen...
Adrien Brody zawdzięcza swoją sławę nie tylko świetnym kreacjom aktorskim, ale także swojemu stylowi. W 2004r. został uznany przez magazyn Esguire najlepiej ubranym mężczyzną w Ameryce .
Częstymi elementami jego garderoby są kapelusze,szale czapki.
Jego styl można określić jako wariację na temat najnowszych trendów w połączeniu z klasycznymi dodatkami. Świetnie wygląda w garniturach i smokingach.
Częstymi elementami jego garderoby są kapelusze,szale czapki. 
Nie należy także zapominać o fularze. To chyba najbardziej charakterystyczny element jego garderoby, zarówno w setach casualowych jak i bardziej formalnych.
Bolstering the Search for HIV Vaccine
Intensifying their search for a vaccine to prevent HIV infection, scientists are planning to run an improved version of the successful Thai HIV vaccine trial in South Africa next year.
News from Thailand late last year that a vaccine trial conducted among 16 000 Thais gave a 31% protection rate against HIV infection has given scientists hope that their quest to find a vaccine to prevent HIV infection is on the horizon. But further tests are needed and South Africa is an obvious place for these to be run, given our high HIV rate.
"There was a clinical trial that was done in Thailand and the results were reported in October last year that, for the first time, showed a hint that we'll be able to protect people from HIV by vaccination. We're really building on those findings and there are big plans to repeat those trials, both in South Africa and elsewhere, and, of course, improve on those, but to really see whether these first signs are really something that we can use to make a better vaccine", explained Lynn Morris, a Wits University professor and researcher for the National Institutes of Communicable Diseases (NICD), adding that "the Thai trial showed that the vaccine in question had a protective rate of 31%".
For more click here.
HIV, transmitted drug resistance, and the paradox of preexposure prophylaxis
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
by Virginie Supervie, J. Gerardo García-Lermb, Walid Heneine, and Sally Blower
Excerpt:
by Virginie Supervie, J. Gerardo García-Lermb, Walid Heneine, and Sally Blower
Excerpt:
If the results from the phase III trials ending in 2010 show moderate to high efficacy, then PrEP interventions could be implemented in the near future inRead the entire article.resource-rich countries. We have shown PrEP could significantly reduce transmission in the MSM community in San Francisco even if efficacy is only moderate, provided coverage is high and risk compensation does not occur. High coverage may be attainable: recent surveys indicate ~70% of MSM in California and in Massachusetts have stated they would be willing to take PrEP on a daily basis if it were proven safe and effective (41, 42); furthermore, MSM reporting risky behaviors were more likely to anticipate using PrEP (42). Although our quantitative results are specific to the MSM community in San Francisco, the qualitative insights we have gained are applicable to any high-risk community where treatment has been readily available for many years and current levels of transmitted resistance are already high.
Criminalisation of HIV exposure and transmission
This meeting prior to the XVIII International AIDS Conference (AIDS2010) by and for advocates against the criminalisation of HIV nondisclosure, exposure and non-intentional transmission was held to:
• Understand where and how laws and prosecutions are happening;
• Hear how different solutions to complex issues are being found in the international arena, in national policy, and in case law judgments; and
• Explore pragmatic advocacy strategies in order to move towards the goal of decriminalisation.
The entire meeting, lasting around 2 1/2 hours, has been split into eight videos: an introduction; six presentations; and an audience and panel discussion.
To watch the videos, click here.
No single formula for HIV risk
via Plus News
In southern Africa, prevention campaigns highlighting the HIV risks of having more than one partner at the same time have largely targeted heterosexuals and ignored the fact that men who have sex with men also have multiple partners.
"Men who have sex with men" (MSM) describes men who have reported ever having had sex with another man, but who may not necessarily identify themselves as homosexual, or "gay".
In one of the first studies to investigate multiple concurrent partnerships (MCPs) among African MSM, just over half of the 537 men surveyed in Malawi, Namibia and Botswana reported that they had had sex with both men and women in the last six months, and about a third of these men reported that the relationships had been concurrent. MCPs have been identified as a main driver of the HIV epidemic in southern Africa.
Presented at the annual meeting of the African Network for Strategic Communication in Health and Development (AfriComNet) in Johannesburg, the study also found that about a third of the men surveyed had a wife or long-term girlfriend.
Read the rest.
"Men who have sex with men" (MSM) describes men who have reported ever having had sex with another man, but who may not necessarily identify themselves as homosexual, or "gay".
In one of the first studies to investigate multiple concurrent partnerships (MCPs) among African MSM, just over half of the 537 men surveyed in Malawi, Namibia and Botswana reported that they had had sex with both men and women in the last six months, and about a third of these men reported that the relationships had been concurrent. MCPs have been identified as a main driver of the HIV epidemic in southern Africa.
Presented at the annual meeting of the African Network for Strategic Communication in Health and Development (AfriComNet) in Johannesburg, the study also found that about a third of the men surveyed had a wife or long-term girlfriend.
Read the rest.
Until we bleed...
Od kiedy kupiłem sandały praktycznie się z nimi nie rozstaje. Są mega wygodne (nie licząc pierwszych kilku dni) i w tegoroczne upały sprawdziły się znakomicie :) Szkoda tylko, że w polskich sklepach tak ciężko cokolwiek sensownego znaleźć. Całe szczęście, że jest internet i takie sklepy jak Asos, NewLook i Topman :)
Gladiator sandals -Asos
T-shirt -Reserved
Shorts - Sh
Necklace - Asos
Bag - NewLook
Hat - NewLook
Sunglasses - NewLook
Watch - No name
Gladiator sandals -AsosT-shirt -Reserved
Shorts - Sh
Necklace - Asos
Bag - NewLook
Hat - NewLook
Sunglasses - NewLook
Watch - No name
Visit IRMA and check out these resources today
In addition to materials (in English, Spanish, Russian, and French) we have a growing catalogue of informational resources in the following sections on our site under the Resources tab: Teleconferences, Community Presentations, IRMA Materials, Other Published Materials.
Here are a few highlights from Other Published Materials, a section which highlights published research of interest to IRMA members:
"Heterosexual Anal Sexuality and Anal Sex Behaviors: A Review", Kimberly R. McBride and J. Dennis Fortenberry, Journal of Sex Research, 47(2–3), 123–136, 2010
"Perceptions of anal sex in rural South Africa" by Catherine Ndinda, Chiweni Chimbwete, Nuala McGrath, and Robert Pool in Culture, Health & Sexuality, 10:2, 205 - 212
And in the IRMA Materials section, you can find our "Rectal Microbicides: The Basics" presentation - above.
The adapatable presentation, prepared in May, 2010, comes complete with talking points. Slides may be edited as appropriate. To download the actual slide set, click here.
IRMA members and other community advocates are encouraged to use this presentation and help increase awareness and education around rectal microbicides. IRMA is available for any technical assistance needs - just send an email to rectalmicro@gmail.com.
Please plan to join us for two IRMA hosted global teleconferences in September.
*CHARMed - An update on the Combination HIV Antiretroviral Rectal Microbicide program
Tuesday, September 14, 2010, 10am eastern
More details will be available closer to the call date.
Join Ian McGowan, Principal Investigator, to learn about the status of CHARM - the Combination HIV Antitretrovial Rectal Microbicide Program - a 5-YEAR, $11 million project funded by the NIH.. The purpose of CHARM is to develop rectal-specific anitretroviral microbicides. Candidates include tenofovir, UC781, and a combination of tenofovir and UC781. Learn more in Section 2 of IRMA's report "From Promise to Product: Advancing Rectal Microbicide Research and Advocacy."
*The Basics of Drug Development Science – Nothing to be scared of!
Wednesday, September 29, 2010, 10am eastern
More details will be available closer to the call date.
Enhance your advocacy skills and bone up on some of the basics. Jim Turpin of the Microbicide Research Branch at the National Institutes of Health, National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, will explain the basic science of drug discovery – the research that happens before we move on to Phase I safety testing in people. Many of us find basic science confusing, daunting, and scary. Jim will show us that it doesn’t have to be any of those things, and is in fact, fascinating!
Is Development Management failing Development?
Who and what is this “We”, what authority does this “We” have to make such a statement, what power and means does this “We” have to empower men who have sex with men, sex workers, and transgender people?
IRMA Steering Committee Member
Senior Programme Manager, International HIV Clinical Trials Research Management Office at Imperial College, London
In July 2010, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) released a draft of its Business Case on MSM, transgender people and sex workers. This Business Case is UNDP’s plan to operationalize the new UNAIDS indicators focussed on these populations within the UNAIDS Joint Outcome Framework. The “aim of all UNAIDS programming is that every person should have the ability to avoid HIV infection and achieve full health and realisation of human rights.”
The goals and ambitions of the Business Case are intentionally bold and broad: “Men who have sex with men, sex workers and transgender people will be empowered to prevent HIV infection and to claim their human rights in at least 15 countries by the end of 2011, and at least 50 countries by the end 2015.” (Draft 0, 25 June 2010, emphasis mine).The strategy is firmly rooted in the empowerment of all marginalised populations, because “empowerment is the first foundation for action” and again because “a core aim of UNAIDS programming will be that men who have sex with men, sex workers, and transgender people should be empowered to avoid HIV infection and achieve full health and realisation of their human rights (emphasis mine).
Despite all UNDP’s good intentions, the strategy is methodologically flawed, defining objectives without having established first the baseline of what it aims to change, targeting metropolitan areas without acknowledging their diversity or having asserted their suitability, ignoring exiting power structures that will either be unable or hinder the implementation of a top-to-bottom framework designed with what seems to be limited input from its beneficiaries or awareness of how it will affect local and regional interventions.
But most importantly, the strategy is confusing aims and goals by setting up a framework around empowerment as the de facto solution that will lead MSM, transgender people and sex workers to avoid HIV infection and achieve full health as well as realising their human rights. It is not that empowerment, which is at no point defined in the draft document, may not be what the targeted population needs or wants, but because the empowerment response automatically implies that MSM, transgender people and sex workers are powerless entities unable to achieve their human potential without the help of an external intervention, in this case forcefully lead by UNDP.
Indeed, the UNDP brochure affirms “We can empower men who have sex with men, sex workers, and transgender people to protect themselves from HIV infection, achieve full health, and realise their human rights” (emphasis mine). Who and what is this “We”, what authority does this “We” have to make such a statement, what power and means does this “We” have to empower men who have sex with men, sex workers, and transgender people? These are questions worth asking because results or lack thereof will depend on the answers.
The proposal was presented during a discussion group organised at the Be Heard pre-conference in Vienna on July 17, 2010. It was pleasing to hear that UNDP has adopted SMART objectives (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely). The problem is that deciding bold objectives without knowing the environment in which the intervention will take place makes the whole plan rather meaningless.
The reception was rather cold and critics fumed from the audience, starting with a Russian representative who had never heard of the year-old proposal, which incidentally had not been translated into Russian and willingly exclude drug users (another problem since vulnerable populations often overlap). One of the most constructive and valuable remarks came from an African representative who thought the proposal was too bold and should start with a feasibility study in a limited number of countries. I fully support a feasibility proposal as I am very much concerned with the soundness of the Business Case in its current version. Human rights, their violations and how the Business Case intends to address these issues would also be worth discussing, but I will limit my discussion to empowerment.
In 2000 I visited Thai university friends in Bangkok for the first time. I was
Thailand is a relevant country for the Business Case, with an HIV prevalence of about 30% amongst MSM in the capital’s hotspots (saunas, bar, cruising areas). But don’t make the mistake thinking that the country is MSM-and-gender-variant-friendly; scratch the surface and stigma and discrimination are all around. I met many of these allegedly disempowered and vulnerable people that the Business Case wants to empower; here are a few of them.
Silom Soi 4 is a well know Bangkok cul-de-sac where Thai, other Asian, and Western men meet in the evening to enjoy, amongst other things, a beer and a beauty contest. In May 2007, the Miss and Mister Pink beauty contest saw a large pageant of men and Ladyboys (or Katoey as they are commonly referred to locally). Though the custom can easily be misunderstood by Westerners, it is an occasion to show off your best smile and physical attributes and make some money; often more in one night that can be earn in one month working in a factory. Setting judgement on beauty contests and economics aside, note the second contestant starting from the left, holding her “Miss trying to be beautiful” prize.
The same night saw the election of Mr Pink. That year, the winner then nicknamed Koh, won nearly all male contests as he did the year before and the year after. Not all contestants are MSM; beauty contests are a source of income for all. Koh now has a different name and is a well known model strolling more conventional catwalks. He has a large crowd of online followers and magazines picture him selling products like the once famous Bangkok Roti Bun (which originated in Malaysia and got Bangkokian queuing for hours to buy one and street urchins to set up a re-sale business without the need for a UNDP economic empowerment framework).
Bangkok also used to have its own Pride but the event has not been running
for a few years. The year 2006 saw a particularly impressive parade followed by a party in Lumpini Park during which a condom fashion show took place with the participation of SWING members. The show was later repeated on World AIDS Day in December. SWING stands for Service Workers in Group an organisation set up in September 2004 by Surang Janyaem in response to the demand for male sex worker support groups. “Sex Workers” would not have gone down well with the local authorities and “cultural sensibility”. Surang previously volunteered for 20 years for another group of sex workers rightly called “Empower”. Nevertheless, that did not stop the service workers to come together to support each other and to put a fantastic show and to promote condom use. One of the bold objectives of the Business Case is to ensure that 50% of large municipalities will have informed vocal and capable organisations of men who have sex with men, sex workers and transgender people that are recognized as partners to advance universal access. SWING and other groups such as M-Plus and Fasirong did not wait.
This picture of Sak (middle, above) was taken whilst a friend was helping him dressing up as a Katoey in my room (a 30 sq. meter, no air-con, neon-bleached space where the temperature rarely fell below 30C) before "going to work". Sak used to live an extravagant city lifestyle, changed from boy to girl many times, but has now disappeared. In deep North-eastern Thailand, aka Isaan, some populations will never be reached by UNsDP’s empowering programme, should they need it, like the young ladyboy pictured here near Mukdahan a border town with Laos, 10-hours from Bangkok by bus.
shown on this picture taken when Bangkok set up a new record (since then beaten) for the longest condom chain, an event organised by UNESCO.
Behind each of these pictures is a story. I have hundreds of other pictures from the time I spent living in Thailand. Though these may only represent the high
Empowerment is an unknown concept to them (and to many other) and I doubt it would score high on their agenda or that they would understand why good doers in the Global North are so obsessed with it. Empowerment has come to represent the latest incarnation of colonialism, a well meant, cuddly way not only to tell people what they should do, but also what they should need and what they should ask for on the ground - we can do something for them.
Empowerment is not part of my equation, as I have no power to give, and neither does UNDP or any other NGO.
As someone put it to me talking about previous similar documents, “Though well-intentioned, they [...] frequently reflect an attempt by the big agencies to catch up with realities they had only begun to discover and explore, which was laudable on their part, but meant that they were being led by the representatives of the presumed beneficiaries, who sometimes were quite well empowered themselves but who rarely had the kinds of social science training and background that were required".
To its credit, UNDP is doing a lot of good work particularly in capacity building, which may be a better means than empowerment to achieve the Business Case’s goals, but there seems to be little connection between this work, the planned work proposed in the Business Case and the outputs it identified. A way forward is to ditch the institutional “cheap talk” of empowerment and identify SMART, meaningful, and relevant objectives for the target populations the proposal is focussing on and to developed a rigorous, dare I say scientific, approach to implement them.
Ensuring that everybody is heard will be crucial. Remarkably, the draft Business Case, still under consultation, states that UNAIDS will be accountable for achieving its stated bold results in at least 20 of the world’s 144 low and middle income countries by the end of 2011, with clear allocations of effort and responsibility in each region and country.
What it if fails?
***
Empowerment is an Anglo-Saxon concept which has no direct translation in French, Italian, Spanish or German or, I believe, any other language than English (if mistaken please empower me with that knowledge). For more on empowerment and how to use it, see Mick Moore's “Empowerment at last” published in 2001 and which discuss “cheap talk”. See also Laura Agustin on why Empowerment is failing people who “need to be empowered.” And do not miss reading a few life stories collected by Chris Littleton for UNESCO Bangkok, in “Mekong Erotics: Men Loving/Pleasuring/Using Men in Lao PDR.”
Straight Talk with Dr Zeda Rosenberg, CEO of the International Partnership for Microbicides
There were cheers and some tears at the International AIDS Conference in Vienna in July when delegates heard the news that a clinical trial in South Africa, had found a vaginal gel containing the antiretroviral drug, tenofovir, was 39 percent effective at reducing women's risk of contracting HIV during sex.
"There were tears from many people – tears of happiness that finally there is something we can work towards - and a lot of tears of sadness for all of the women whose lives have been lost waiting for a microbicide," Dr Zeda Rosenberg recalled at a recent meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa, hosted by the International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM), a non-profit organization.
IPM is involved in coordinating and funding the long process of developing effective microbicides - products that women can apply vaginally to protect themselves against HIV - and making sure they reach the women in developing countries who most need them. Rosenberg, who has been working in the field of HIV prevention research for more than two decades and is CEO of IPM, talked to IRIN/PlusNews after the meeting.
QUESTION: What do you think is the likelihood that women will use a microbicide any more consistently than men use condoms?
ANSWER: Part of the issue with condoms is that although they're highly effective, many people put a large value on skin-to-skin contact and ... in long-term relationships it just seems that condoms aren't used as often because it's a trust issue, an issue of intimacy; and also, if everyone uses a condom all the time, women can't get pregnant.
So there really does need to be a method that women can use where they and their partners don't feel it reduces intimacy, allows for conception, and is culturally acceptable.
I think microbicides need to be marketed with the message: 'Condoms should be used', because you don't want a less effective microbicide replacing highly effective condoms. At some point there will be all of these partially effective methods that, when used together, will be highly effective.
Adherence was a challenge in the [South African] trial - those women who reported greater adherence had greater efficacy. [The investigators] also saw a drop-off in product use over the course of the study, which means you need something that's sustainable in the long term.
For more click here.
"Love Audition" - Thailand's Raunchy, Sassy, Safe Sex Mini-Series
With its raunchy scenes and dialogue, appealing male characters and realistic local settings, the mini-series, Love Audition, is a form of entertainment that the average gay man may find hard to resist.
via Bangkok Post
Enjoying watching such a straightforward depiction of their lives, they may be unaware that the programme is also indirectly educating them about safe sex.
"Our audience hasn't perceived our mini-series as a campaigning tool but a real series they can actually enjoy," said Vitaya Saeng-aroon, a producer of the series shown on the Mango TV satellite channel.
The first season centres on a bet among three friends aged in their early twenties to use condoms whenever they have sex.
Targeting viewers aged 18-24, the series is not shy about portraying the lives of young gay men - nightclubbing, "bitchy" talks, onscreen kisses and some bizarre sexual encounters.
Read the rest.
via Bangkok Post
Enjoying watching such a straightforward depiction of their lives, they may be unaware that the programme is also indirectly educating them about safe sex.
"Our audience hasn't perceived our mini-series as a campaigning tool but a real series they can actually enjoy," said Vitaya Saeng-aroon, a producer of the series shown on the Mango TV satellite channel.
The first season centres on a bet among three friends aged in their early twenties to use condoms whenever they have sex.
Targeting viewers aged 18-24, the series is not shy about portraying the lives of young gay men - nightclubbing, "bitchy" talks, onscreen kisses and some bizarre sexual encounters.
Read the rest.
Wenecja...
Wenecja kojarzy mi się przed wszystkim z gondolami pływającymi po wąskich kanałach, dlatego gdy miałem w tym roku przyjemność odwiedzić to miasto, postanowiłem, że trochę się upodobnię do Panów gondolierów:) Pasiak obowiązkowy , no i kapelusz pożyczony do zdjęcia od dziewczyny :)
Espadriles - Asos
Trousers - H&M
Bag -Sh
T-shirt - H&M
Hat - NewLook
Trousers - H&M
Bag -Sh
T-shirt - H&M
Hat - NewLook
BE HEARD! - Presentations Now Available from AIDS 2010 Event
Condoms Aren’t Enough!
Will Pills and Lubes Define the Future Of Sex?
Click 'n Learn right here!
More than 100 of the world's top experts on human rights and HIV among sexual minorities led presentations and workshops in Vienna on July 17 at BE HEARD, an all-day conference event that addressed soaring global rates of HIV among men who have sex with men (MSM). The event preceded the launch of AIDS 2010, the XVIII International AIDS Conference (IAC) and had nearly 600 participants.
IRMA was an event sponsor and Steering Committee members Ian McGowan, Jorge Sanchez, Roger Tatoud and Jim Pickett led a 2-hour session with other top researchers including Drs.Gaudensia Mutua, Jorge Saavedra and Patrick Wilson called "Condoms Aren’t Enough! Will Pills and Lubes Define the Future Of Sex? An Overview of New HIV Prevention Tools in Development."
Below are 5 of the presentations - please give each of them a click and learn. The first - directly below - begins with Dr. Mutua's talk - "Basic Concepts about AIDS Vaccine Research."
Hosted by the Global Forum on MSM & HIV (MSMGF), BE HEARD focused on challenges and solutions to achieving universal access to HIV-related prevention, care, treatment, and support services for sexual minority communities worldwide.
Will Pills and Lubes Define the Future Of Sex?
Click 'n Learn right here!
More than 100 of the world's top experts on human rights and HIV among sexual minorities led presentations and workshops in Vienna on July 17 at BE HEARD, an all-day conference event that addressed soaring global rates of HIV among men who have sex with men (MSM). The event preceded the launch of AIDS 2010, the XVIII International AIDS Conference (IAC) and had nearly 600 participants.
IRMA was an event sponsor and Steering Committee members Ian McGowan, Jorge Sanchez, Roger Tatoud and Jim Pickett led a 2-hour session with other top researchers including Drs.Gaudensia Mutua, Jorge Saavedra and Patrick Wilson called "Condoms Aren’t Enough! Will Pills and Lubes Define the Future Of Sex? An Overview of New HIV Prevention Tools in Development."
Below are 5 of the presentations - please give each of them a click and learn. The first - directly below - begins with Dr. Mutua's talk - "Basic Concepts about AIDS Vaccine Research."
Hosted by the Global Forum on MSM & HIV (MSMGF), BE HEARD focused on challenges and solutions to achieving universal access to HIV-related prevention, care, treatment, and support services for sexual minority communities worldwide.
Planning for pre-exposure prophylaxis to prevent HIV transmission: challenges and opportunities
There are currently several ongoing or planned trials evaluating the efficacy of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) as a preventative approach to reducing the transmission of HIV. PrEP may prove ineffective, demonstrate partial efficacy, or show high efficacy and have the potential to reduce HIV infection in a significant way.
However, in addition to the trial results, it is important that issues related to delivery, implementation and further research are also discussed. As a part of the ongoing discussion, in June 2009, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation sponsored a Planning for PrEP conference with stakeholders to review expected trial results, outline responsible educational approaches, and develop potential delivery and implementation strategies.
The conference reinforced the need for continued and sustained dialogue to identify where PrEP implementation may fit best within an integrated HIV prevention package. This paper identifies the key action points that emerged from the Planning for PrEP meeting.
For the full article click here.
Microbicides in the prevention of HIV infection: current status and future directions
More than 28 years since the first cases of HIV/AIDS, there is still no cure or vaccine. The worst affected region is sub-Saharan Africa and, increasingly, it is young women who are bearing the brunt of the epidemic. Consequently, there is an urgent need for HIV prevention options for women in developing countries.
Microbicides are topical products that can be used vaginally by women to impede sexual transmission of HIV and thus represent one of the most promising prevention strategies. Efficacy trials with early nonspecific microbicide gels have so far been unsuccessful, but the field has now switched its focus to products containing highly potent and highly specific antiretroviral drugs that are easier to use, and can be formulated in a variety of dosage forms to suit individual and regional preferences.
However, these products have their own challenges, with a greater likelihood of absorption, and the potential for systemic toxicities or the development of resistance in in fected individuals who are unaware of their HIV status. The conduct of clinical trials is complex for all microbicides, with limited availability of trial sites, difficulties in dose selection and safety monitoring, and a lack of a truly objective measure of adherence.
Once a microbicide has been shown to be safe and effective, there will need to be a clear pathway to regulatory approval, and the successful launch of a product will depend on having in place appropriate methods for distribution to the women who need it, along with a strategy for ensuring that they use it correctly. This will require substantial effort in terms of education and community engagement, and these activities need to be initiated well in advance of microbicide rollout.
For the full article click here.
HIV Transmission Risk Through Anal Intercourse: systematic review, meta-analysis and
Background
The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infectiousness of anal intercourse (AI) has not been systematically reviewed, despite its role driving HIV epidemics among men who have sex with men (MSM) and its potential contribution to heterosexual spread. We assessed the per-act and per-partner HIV transmission risk from AI exposure for heterosexuals and MSM and its implications for HIV prevention.
Methods
Systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature on HIV-1 infectiousness through AI was conducted. PubMed was searched to September 2008. A binomial model explored the individual risk of HIV infection with and without highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART).
Results
A total of 62 643 titles were searched; four publications reporting per-act and 12 reporting per-partner transmission estimates were included. Overall, random effects model summary estimates were 1.4% [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.2–2.5)] and 40.4% (95% CI 6.0–74.9) for per-act and per-partner unprotected receptive AI (URAI), respectively. There was no significant difference between per-act risks of URAI for heterosexuals and MSM. Per-partner unprotected insertive AI (UIAI) and combined URAI–UIAI risk were 21.7% (95% CI 0.2–43.3) and 39.9% (95% CI 22.5–57.4), respectively, with no available per-act estimates. Per-partner combined URAI–UIAI summary estimates, which adjusted for additional exposures other than AI with a ‘main’ partner [7.9% (95% CI 1.2–14.5)], were lower than crude (unadjusted) estimates [48.1% (95% CI 35.3–60.8)]. Our modelling demonstrated that it would require unreasonably low numbers of AI HIV exposures per partnership to reconcile the summary per-act and per-partner estimates, suggesting considerable variability in AI infectiousness between and within partnerships over time. AI may substantially increase HIV transmission risk even if the infected partner is receiving HAART; however, predictions are highly sensitive to infectiousness assumptions based on viral load.
Conclusions
Unprotected AI is a high-risk practice for HIV transmission, probably with substantial variation in infectiousness. The significant heterogeneity between infectiousness estimates means that pooled AI HIV transmission probabilities should be used with caution. Recent reported rises in AI among heterosexuals suggest a greater understanding of the role AI plays in heterosexual sex lives may be increasingly important for HIV prevention.
For the full study click here.
IRMA Member! Gay Nigerian activist Bisi Alimi shares his compelling story
via San Diego Gay and Lesbian News
Bisi Alimi was born in Nigeria in 1975, grew up and went on to attend the University of Lagos (Nigeria) pursuing a degree in theater. While as a student in 2003, he was outed by the university's student newspaper during student government elections.
Homosexual activity is illegal in Nigeria, the conservative influences of the Muslim faith in the north and a large Christian presence in the south. It is punishable by death by stoning in all 12 states, or being sentenced up to 14 years of imprisonment. There is no legal protection against discrimination for LGBT Nigerians. Very few are out, and violence against those in the LGBT community is frequent. Legislation is pending to criminalize same-sex marriage throughout Nigeria.
Alimi was expelled from university in 2004, before he was able to receive his degree.
Later that year, he was selected to be the Nigerian face of homosexuality at the fourth National Conference on HIV/AIDS in Abuja. Also that year, he was brought onto Funmi Iyanda's New Dawn talk show on the Nigerian Television Authority and it was here that he publicly came out before the nation and asked for acceptance from the public.
Almost immediately, there were repercussions for both Alimi and the interviewer. Almini received both love letters and death threats, and lost his home and his job. The New Dawn talk show's Friday edition was canceled and further interviewees on the show were were screened by the NTA in a country where censorship against homosexuality is already tight.
Read the rest.
Bisi Alimi was born in Nigeria in 1975, grew up and went on to attend the University of Lagos (Nigeria) pursuing a degree in theater. While as a student in 2003, he was outed by the university's student newspaper during student government elections.
Alimi was expelled from university in 2004, before he was able to receive his degree.
Later that year, he was selected to be the Nigerian face of homosexuality at the fourth National Conference on HIV/AIDS in Abuja. Also that year, he was brought onto Funmi Iyanda's New Dawn talk show on the Nigerian Television Authority and it was here that he publicly came out before the nation and asked for acceptance from the public.
Almost immediately, there were repercussions for both Alimi and the interviewer. Almini received both love letters and death threats, and lost his home and his job. The New Dawn talk show's Friday edition was canceled and further interviewees on the show were were screened by the NTA in a country where censorship against homosexuality is already tight.
Read the rest.
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