Yearly Archives: 2012

YOUTH AT INTERNATIONAL AIDS CONFERENCE

The impact of HIV on youth and young people was a predominant theme at the 2012 International AIDS Conference in Washington DC recently. We heard encouraging news about the real possibility of achieving an AIDS-free generation. Critical to achieving that goal is reducing stigma as a means to encourage people – particularly young people – to know their HIV status and if positive, to get into care and treatment.

Having diverse young people who are living openly with HIV and sharing their experiences with others is one way to combat stigma. AIDS Alliance sponsored 5 young people to attend the conference and supported their work in putting together two workshops. The workshops were a huge success- they were both standing room only and youth from around the world participated! Voice of America (VOA) did a 3 minute video piece on the workshop – go to YouTube to view VOA: Young People Navigate Relationships, Romance, HIV.
 

We had many requests to share the power-points from the youth developed and youth led presentations and they are available on our website for you to download & use yourself!

Click here and go to the far right of the page under “What’s New – IAC Youth Presentation I ” for HIV Disclosure at School and the Workplace

Click here and go to the far right of the page under “What’s New- IAC Youth Presentation II ” for HIV Disclosure and Dating

Our presenters shared their personal experiences about disclosure and factors to consider.However, they stressed that they were not the experts on legal issues surrounding disclosure and encouraged participants to consult experts. They developed a HIV Disclosure Resource Guide of sixteen websites and experts regarding disclosure issues.  Huge thanks to our youth team – Cristina, Dee, Jahlove, Sophia, Trell and Yuri.

National Youth HIV & AIDS Awareness Day: Another way to combat stigma is to have more open discussions and awareness about youth and HIV and AIDS throughout the country. AIDS Alliance is a Founding Partner in the call for a National Youth HIV & AIDS Awareness Day. We are proud to join with Advocates for Youth and others to call on President Obama, Congress, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the HIV & AIDS community to officially recognize April 10 as National Youth HIV & AIDS Awareness Day. To add your individual name – or the name of your organization – to this call, go to http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/youthaidsday
This campaign was announced at IAC 2012. Today’s young people are the first generation who has never known a world without HIV and AIDS. In the United States, one in three new HIV infections is among youth ages 13 to 29. Despite this harsh reality, young people and their allies are determined to end this pandemic once and for all.  The creation of National Youth HIV & AIDS Awareness Day is one step towards acknowledging and addressing the needs of youth — and towards holding our leaders accountable each year as we continue this fight. Only by investing in young people in all aspects of the HIV and AIDS response will we achieve the dream of an AIDS-free generation. As Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton said at the conference: “HIV may be with us into the future, until we find a cure and a vaccine,” she said. “But the disease that HIV causes need not be with us.”

For more information contact:

 Carole Treston: ctreston@aids-alliance.org

 Michelle Scavnicky: mscavnicky@theaidsinstitute.org

 www.aids-alliance.org

National Policy Office
1705 DeSales Street NW, Suite 700
Washington, DC 20036
(202) 785-3564

Program Office
17 Davis Boulevard, Suite 403  Tampa, FL 33606
(813) 258-5929

The World Health Organization (WHO) is developing guidelines on HIV care for

adolescents living with HIV. To do this, they are requesting information from

several sources, including the young people themselves. WHO developed a survey to

gain insight into the needs and opinions of young people, 10-24 years of age, living

with HIV, regarding their healthcare.

Here is the link to the survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/YPLHIVneedswants

The deadline for young people to complete the survey is 25 September.

• Updated Version in Latest Forum Annals •

A revised and updated HCV drug resistance report, published by the Forum’s HCV DrAG is now available.  The report is intended as a systematic and comprehensive one-stop information source for researchers, clinicians and the HCV community at large.  The report’s table and appendix summarize information obtained in vitro, whereas the figure summarizes information observed in clinical trials.
A volunteer panel of stakeholders from the DrAG’s Phenotype Working Group with expertise in HCV virology and clinical outcomes performed a detailed review of published data and reached consensus on resistance mutations to be included in the figure and tables.  Regular updates to the Figure and Table are planned to keep pace with emerging drug resistance data from HCV drug discovery programs and the outcome of clinical tests.

Download the report here: [Download not found]

The Well Project, a nonprofit group focusing on women with HIV, has launched its first mobile app, according to a Well Project statement. The app includes HIV basics, treatment information, social issues and access to the “A Girl Like Me” blog. It is a first step in a global initiative to provide women even in the hardest-to-reach areas with information and support in their own languages. The app is available for both Apple and Android mobile devices. 

CLICK HERE to read the full statement.

Philadelphia (CNN) — Beth Rutstein rolls up the sleeves of her T-shirt, juggles a stack of fliers and knocks on the door of a stranger’s home. She’s on a mission to save lives.

After wiping sweat from her face beneath the sweltering afternoon sun on a recent Thursday, she ascends another set of stairs leading to a front door and knocks.

No one answers, but she’s greeted warmly by neighbors sitting in the shade of the covered connecting porch.

“We’re here doing free HIV testing,” she tells them, handing over a flier. “We decided to come here because 19143 has one of the highest rates of HIV in the entire city.”

That’s the ZIP code for southwest Philadelphia, one of many urban neighborhoods across the United States that account for the bulk of the nation’s HIV cases.

Rutstein, a second-year medical student, is one of 60 outreach volunteers who spent their summer going door-to-door alongside health care workers testing residents within the 19143 ZIP code.

This part of Philadelphia — like many other urban neighborhoods in the United States — has an HIV infection rate on par with many sub-Saharan African nations, including Sierra Leone and Ghana, according to UNAIDS.

In fact, more Americans are living with HIV infections today than ever before partly because of an increase in testing and treatment options, according to the Centers for Disease Control. About 1.2 million Americans are HIV positive, with a rate of 50,000 new cases each year, according to the CDC. Yet, 20% of those infected are unaware they are HIV positive.

AIDS survivor: Epidemic isn’t over yet

In Philadelphia, more than 19,000 residents have HIV, with the highest rates among black residents living in low-income neighborhoods with limited access to health care facilities and services.

“About 40 to 50 neighborhoods account for about half of the United States’ infections,” said Amy Nunn, founder of Philadelphia’s Do One Thing, Change Everything Campaign. “In Philadelphia, a few neighborhoods have very high rates of infection, and those few neighborhoods are driving the overwhelming share of infections.”

To change that, Nunn and her team enlisted volunteers to go to those neighborhoods, knock on doors, get people tested and, if HIV positive, get them free treatment.

While many volunteers get a “no thank you,” they have tested more than 160 people since the program started in July. So far, no one has tested positive for HIV.

CLICK HERE to read the full story 

The CHISS Program provides

HOUSING
& SUPPORTIVE SERVICES

to eligible HIV+ individuals and their families

An Eligible Applicant must be:

• Homeless OR at-risk of homelessness as
  defined by HUD
• Have income at or below 50% AMI (Area
  Median Income)
• Have been diagnosed with HIV within the
  last 3 months OR have been out of HIV care for at
  least 6 months OR have never been in care for HIV

To Apply:

Ask your case worker to complete a CHISS screening questionnaire

 OR

Contact the CHISS Program Manager for more information at (323) 344-4861

For more information

CHISS Program Manager, Erik EnriquezTel:(323) 344-4861, eenriquez@serraproject.org

Alliance for Housing and Healing, dba The Serra Project,
825 Colorado Blvd., Suite 100, Los Angeles, CA 90041

A new study finds that the percentage of HIV-positive Americans receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) increased during the past decade.

Among patients receiving HAART, the proportion whose viral loads were suppressed grew from 54 percent in 2000 to 81 percent in 2008. An increase in median CD4 cell counts among patients who died of HIV also was
noted.

Keri Althoff, an assistant professor in the epidemiology department of the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, was the study’s lead author. The results “are good news for the HIV epidemic in the US, but there is room for improvement,” Althoff said in a statement released by the school. She called for continued efforts to link those infected to care and treatment, “not only for the individual’s health, but to reduce the likelihood of transmission to others.”

Click here for the full HealthDay news article.