STD rates likely skyrocketing in US as fewer people get tested during pandemic
From businessinsider.com… As clinics and health departments across the country have shuttered during the coronavirus pandemic, the nation’s roughly 2,200 disease detectives, the so-called “contact tracers” of infectious disease outbreaks, have been re-deployed to track where cases of COVID-19 — the disease caused by the novel coronavirus — are spreading, to try to stop those outbreaks in […]
PrEP During COVID-19
From HIV.gov… The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) understands that its partners in HIV prevention are facing unprecedented challenges and demands as we continue to battle the COVID-19 pandemic together. While some clinics and HIV prevention providers have adapted to changing circumstances by offering expanded phone triage and telehealth services, other clinics that […]
Jurisdictions Use HIV Self-Testing Programs to Improve Testing Uptake and Increase Diagnoses
From HIV.gov… More than 160,000 Americans with HIV are unaware they have the virus because they have not been tested and diagnosed. Yet we know that early diagnosis and treatment with ART are associated with better health outcomes for those with HIV. There are profound prevention benefits as well—a CDC analysis found that the nearly 15% of […]
Pandemic sparks concerns about surging STD, HIV rates
From the Hill… The pandemic that has upended life in the U.S. could lead to increased STD rates and setbacks in the fight against HIV as public health resources are shifted to the coronavirus response. Access to STD and HIV testing and treatment services are dwindling as local health departments shuffle staff to respond to […]
HHS Collaborates with National Pharmacies to Expand PrEP Access
From HIV.gov… Beginning April 1, 2020, patients enrolled in the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) Ready, Set, PrEP program will fill their prescription for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) medication at no cost at their choice of Avita Pharmacy , CVS Health , Health Mart , Longs Pharmacy Solutions , Rite Aid , and Walgreens locations or through mail. Ready, Set, PrEP is a nationwide program led by HHS […]
National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day in Pennsylvania: ‘We’re making progress but…’
From the Pennsylvania Capital-Star… Black people make up 12 percent of Pennsylvania’s population of about 12.8 million people. But they accounted for 49 percent of HIV diagnoses in 2018 — and to Rep. Brian Sims that’s “racist as hell.” “A racist system produces a racist result. You don’t need to look at the data to […]
Prevention Point Pittsburgh providing needle exchange for 25 years
Prevention Point provides sterile syringes and other supplies to reduce spread of HIV and Hepatitis C. Prevention Point Pittsburgh was founded in 1995 when James Crow and Caroline Acker, along with a handful of dedicated volunteers, began providing needle exchange services once a week in the Hill District to prevent the spread of injection-related blood-borne […]
Trust and stigma affect gay couples’ choices on PrEP and PEP
From aidsmap.com… Both relationship-specific and structural factors influence whether coupled gay men living in New York City choose to use pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP/PEP) for HIV prevention. Some men – particularly those in monogamous relationships – felt that discussing PrEP and PEP in the context of a relationship could threaten the relationship by raising […]
Studies firmly establish “undetectable equals untransmittable”
From NIH.gov… Extensive evidence from HIV prevention research studies has firmly established that “Undetectable Equals Untransmittable,” or U=U. This means that people living with HIV who achieve and maintain an undetectable viral load — the amount of virus in their blood — by taking antiretroviral therapy (ART) as prescribed do not sexually transmit HIV to others. […]
Ending the HIV Epidemic: Ready, Set, PrEP
From the Department of Health and Human Services… Pre-exposure prophylaxis (or PrEP) medications are prescription medications that people take daily to significantly reduce their risk of acquiring HIV through sex. PrEP can stop HIV from taking hold and spreading throughout the body. Two medications are FDA-approved for use as PrEP: TRUVADA and DESCOVY. When taken […]