Meet Octavio Vallejo, A Friendly Rectal Microbicide Advocate

Check out this interesting mini-bio of  Octavio Vallejo, the latest in IRMA's "Meet a Friendly Rectal Microbicide Advocate" series on the IRMA website here.  Octavio is one of five new bios posted this week.

Octavio Vallejo
Los Angeles, California, USA

Octavio Vallejo has been working in the HIV prevention field for more than 22 years. As an HIV+ gay Latino man, Octavio has long recognized the need for additional methods of protection for young gay men and other men who have sex with men. His involvement with rectal microbicides came through his interactions with scientists such as Dr. Ian McGowan and Dr. Ross Cranston. Their passion for this issue was contagious and soon Octavio became involved with IRMA's active body of passionate researchers and advocates.


Octavio was drawn to IRMA by its spirit of inclusion and the resolve, resilience, and passion shown by the advocates connected with IRMA. He works for the Capacity Building Assistance program at AIDS Project Los Angeles as a Biomedical Prevention Specialist. This role have given Octavio more opportunities to share evidence-based information to all parties interested in changing the course of the HIV epidemic and educate them about the new generation of prevention tools and approaches.

Currently, Octavio and his fellow staff members are in the process of creating the platform to bring microbicide advocacy to the forefront of all their trainings, educational endeavors and prevention discussions.

Thank you Octavio for your continued dedication to HIV/AIDS prevention advocacy! 

------------------- *Join IRMA's robust, highly-active. moderated, global listserv addressing rectal microbicide research and advocacy as well as other interesting new HIV prevention technologies by contacting us at rectalmicro@gmail.com. Joining our listserv automatically makes you a member of IRMA - a network of more than 1,100 advocates, scientists, policy makers and funders from all over the world.

*Please look for us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/InternationalRectalMicrobicideAdvocates, and you can follow us on Twitter: @rectalmicro.

*Also, please note that shared news items from other sources posted on this blog do not necessarily mean IRMA has taken any position on the article's content. -------------------

Meet Javier Lopez, A Friendly Rectal Microbicide Advocate

Check out Javier Lopez's mini-bio, the latest in IRMA's "Meet a Friendly Rectal Microbicide Advocate" series on the IRMA website here.  Javier is one of five new bios posted this week.

 

Javier Lopez

New York City, USA

Javier Lopez first learned about rectal microbicides when his partner worked for Project Gel in Puerto Rico. Javier was immediately impressed by the creativity of this approach to HIV prevention as promotion of condoms alone is often difficult in all populations.

Soon after, he attended a talk on rectal microbicides by IRMA's Jim Pickett at Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) in New York City. Then he was hooked and snatched up a few "Rectal Pride" stickers that now fabulously adorn his Ipad cover.

Javier has long been an advocate for HIV testing and for years has been involved in the HIV prevention fight in Puerto Rico. During his undergraduate studies he took part in numerous educational sessions for HIV/STI prevention in gay men. Currently, Javier is working as an assistant research scientist at the HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies that seeks to improve intervention screening practices for acute HIV infection in primary care setting in New York City. Soon Javier will be taking his education further as he enters the Masters of Public Health program at Hunter College in New York City.

Javier is also proud to have been a part of the recently launched HIV testing campaign for the CDC called "Reasons/Razones" which targets Latino gay and bisexual men to consider their reasons for getting tested. More information about this exciting campaign is available here.

Javier is excited to be a rectal microbicide advocate because he believes that it is important for this research to continue and that youth of all backgrounds should get involved.

Thank you Javier!

 

------------------- *Join IRMA's robust, highly-active. moderated, global listserv addressing rectal microbicide research and advocacy as well as other interesting new HIV prevention technologies by contacting us at rectalmicro@gmail.com. Joining our listserv automatically makes you a member of IRMA - a network of more than 1,100 advocates, scientists, policy makers and funders from all over the world.

*Please look for us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/InternationalRectalMicrobicideAdvocates, and you can follow us on Twitter: @rectalmicro.

*Also, please note that shared news items from other sources posted on this blog do not necessarily mean IRMA has taken any position on the article's content. -------------------

Meet Coco Alinsug, A Friendly Rectal Microbicide Advocate

Check out this interesting mini-bio of  Coco Alinsug, the latest in IRMA's "Meet a Friendly Rectal Microbicide Advocate" series on the IRMA website here.  Coco is one of five new bios posted this week.

  
Coco Alinsung
Boston, Massachusettes, USA

A native of the Philippines and a resident of Lynn, Massachusetts with his partner, Coco Alinsug has made a lifelong commitment to devote his time and energy to social justice, HIV/AIDS prevention, and issues facing LGBT youth.

Coco started his career as an HIV Counselor and Tester at the Gay and Bi Men's Health Program in Beverly, MA and later was appointed as the Executive Director of the North Shore Alliance on GLBT Youth which is funded by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to provide HIV/STI education to youth 14-24 years old - a position he has held for eight years.

Currently Coco works as the Clinical Trials Field Recruitment Manager at The Fenway Institute where he has been for nearly seven years. It was in this role that Coco first came into contact with rectal microbicide advocacy as he was tasked with recruitment for all clinical trials, including the rectal microbicide study called Project Gel.

In his role at Fenway, Coco oversees outreach and recruitment for research studies looking at everything from possible HIV vaccines to microbicides to the use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent HIV transmission. Coco and his team travel around New England, educating people about HIV and STD transmission and safer sex practices while also recruiting potential study participants.

Coco is also Chair for Community Education and Recruitment group for both HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) and HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) and sits as a member of the protocol team for two studies, HVTN505 and HPTN069. Coco also is a consultant for various HIV and STD Outreach Programs both in the North Shore and Boston, and sometimes organizes and hosts shows in several clubs.

Coco would also like to encourage IRMA to keep up the good work and always stay fabulous.

Thank you for all your work Coco, and you stay fabulous too!


------------------- *Join IRMA's robust, highly-active. moderated, global listserv addressing rectal microbicide research and advocacy as well as other interesting new HIV prevention technologies by contacting us at rectalmicro@gmail.com. Joining our listserv automatically makes you a member of IRMA - a network of more than 1,100 advocates, scientists, policy makers and funders from all over the world.

*Please look for us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/InternationalRectalMicrobicideAdvocates, and you can follow us on Twitter: @rectalmicro.

*Also, please note that shared news items from other sources posted on this blog do not necessarily mean IRMA has taken any position on the article's content. -------------------

Most young Thai MSM define as heterosexual, even if they mainly have sex with men

via aidsmap, by Gus Cairns

A large, randomised sample of 21-year-old Thai men, presented at the 19th International AIDS Conference in Washington recently, has found that by far the largest risk factor for HIV infection is gay identity. Contrary to the oft-quoted saying “it’s not who you are, but what you do,” actual male/male sexual behaviour, while still an important risk factor, was not as strongly associated with being HIV positive as gay identity.

The survey was conducted among over 35,000 army conscripts from all parts of Thailand. All 21-year old Thai men enter a lottery at the age of 21 for conscription into the Thai army and of these half a million young men, 60,00 to 100,000, in any year, are conscripted, twice a year in May and October.

This survey thus constituted a truly randomised, cross-sectional survey of the 21-year-old men who were inducted into the Thai army in May 2011. It was conducted no more than two weeks after induction and therefore serving in the army had no influence on the results. Men from all provinces in Thailand were included and from both urban and rural areas.

The survey found that 7% of respondents had had sex with another man (MSM) but that only 1.1% only had sex with men.

Read the rest.


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*Join IRMA's robust, highly-active. moderated, global listserv addressing rectal microbicide research and advocacy as well as other interesting new HIV prevention technologies by contacting us at rectalmicro@gmail.com. Joining our listserv automatically makes you a member of IRMA - a network of more than 1,100 advocates, scientists, policy makers and funders from all over the world.

*Please look for us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/InternationalRectalMicrobicideAdvocates, and you can follow us on Twitter: @rectalmicro.

*Also, please note that shared news items from other sources posted on this blog do not necessarily mean IRMA has taken any position on the article's content.
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Uganda AIDS Activist Sees Hope in Rectal Microbicides

[Citizen News Service and IRMA are collaborating to amplify rectal microbicide research and advocacy, as well as IRMA-led initiatives, throughout AIDS 2012.]

via Citizen News Service, by Chief K Masimba Biriwasha

UGANDAN AIDS activist and medical doctor, Paul Semugoma, 42, said that rectal microbicides have a potential to save the unnecessary loss of lives among men who have sex with men in Uganda and across Africa. According to a study titled, "HIV Infection among Men Who Have Sex with Men in Kampala, Uganda – A Respondent Driven Sampling Survey," it is estimated that the adult male HIV prevalence in Kampala is 4.5 per cent but the prevalence estimates among men who
have sex with men (MSM) is 13.7 per cent. Most MSM still have sex with women, many are married, co-habit with women, and have biological children. MSM in Kampala appear firmly embedded in the general population.

Semugoma, who recently opened up about his sexual orientation after living in a closet for the best part of his life said that rectal microbicides are intuitive and therefore conducive to anal sex.

“The best part is that lubrication is required anyway for anal sex, and having a lube which also serves as a microbicide will help to save the lives of men who have sex with men. A lube will be fantastic because lube is always associated with penile anal sex,” said Semugoma, who is also a medical doctor.

Semugoma said that putting a rectal microbicides on the market in Uganda will be an uphill task due to the hostility against gay men in the country.

Read the rest.


-------------------
 *Join IRMA's robust, highly-active. moderated, global listserv addressing rectal microbicide research and advocacy as well as other interesting new HIV prevention technologies by contacting us at rectalmicro@gmail.com. Joining our listserv automatically makes you a member of IRMA - a network of more than 1,100 advocates, scientists, policy makers and funders from all over the world.

 *Please look for us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/InternationalRectalMicrobicideAdvocates, and you can follow us on Twitter: @rectalmicro.

 *Also, please note that shared news items from other sources posted on this blog do not necessarily mean IRMA has taken any position on the article's content.
 -------------------

MSM Population in Bejing Express Interest in PrEP

via AIDSmap.com, by Micheal Carter

Few gay and other men who have sex with men (MSM) in Beijing have heard of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), investigators report in PLoS One. Despite this, over two-thirds of men said that they would be willing to take or consider PrEP.

“To our knowledge this is the first study to assess awareness and acceptability of PrEP among MSM in China,” write the authors. “Awareness of PrEP was rather low…however, 68% reported that they were definitely or probably willing to accept PrEP if available.”

The study was carried out in 2009 and 2010 prior to release of results from the IPrEX study, an international trial which showed that pre-exposure prophylaxis with oral Truvada (tenofovir/FTC) reduced the risk of HIV infection in men who have sex with men.

PrEP is considered a promising area of HIV prevention, but the factors associated with willingness to accept PrEP, adherence and the treatment’s impact on sexual risk behaviour are poorly understood.

Most of the research evaluating PrEP acceptability has been conducted in the US and other western countries. There are an estimated 740,000 HIV-positive people in China and, in recent years, prevalence of the infection has increased substantially among gay and other MSM. PrEP could therefore provide a useful prevention intervention for this population.

Investigators from Beijing wanted to establish awareness and acceptability of PrEP among gay and other MSM in the Chinese capital.

They designed a study involving 152 men who were tested for HIV and syphilis in 2009 and 2010. All the men reported sexual activity with another man. An explanation of PrEP was read to the men and they were asked if they had ever heard of this prevention technology. Further details of the therapy – including the need for high levels of adherence and potential side-effects – were then read to the study participants, who were asked if they would be willing to accept the treatment.

Read the Rest.

 
[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

U.S. Policy Addresses HIV Epidemic in the LGBT Community

via HuffPost, by Charles Stephens

We finally are starting to scratch the surface of the depth of the HIV crisis among young black men who have sex with men (MSM). Late last summer the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced the most recent HIV incidence numbers, indicating that young, black MSM were the only population in the United States that showed an increase. In the three-year period between 2006 and 2009, there was an almost 50-percent increase in HIV incidence in that group.

This information was startling. Those of us working in the field had suspected that the HIV incidence numbers among young, black MSM would be disproportionately high. But to know it, to hear it confirmed, was shocking. For a few months after the updated HIV incidence numbers were announced, there seemed to be a collective gasp, even as we struggled to crank out solutions. And since then there has been a persistent conversation among many sectors of the HIV prevention realm about next steps. Just what are we going to do next?

So it was this spirit of persistence to find answers that many of us brought to the White House LGBT Conference on HIV/AIDS in Atlanta, Ga. on April 19. Held at the Morehouse School of Medicine, the conference was as well attended as it was ambitious. On the campus of a historically black college, in a historically black community, the symbolism was as rich as it was breathtaking. Those of us who attended assembled dutifully, with both grace, because we were called, and urgency, because of the calling. Several White House officials, including Dr. Grant Colfax, the new director of the Office of National AIDS Policy, as well as numerous HIV experts, gathered to talk about the HIV epidemic today in LGBT communities.

Two groups that entered almost every conversation were young MSM and transgender populations. Dr. Kevin Fenton, director of the CDC's National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, shared his insights about the social and structural drivers of HIV, particularly among vulnerable populations and sexual minorities. He affirmed the commitment of the CDC to LGBT communities and announced some of the agency's next steps, including a roll-out of additional social marketing campaigns.

Homophobia must frame how we think about the devastating impact of HIV. This was a key insight to the entire conference. Anti-gay stigma, HIV stigma, and environments that dehumanize and demean sexual minorities and gender-nonconforming people create a perfect storm for HIV and other public health disparities. Young, black MSM and transgender people are vulnerable in a variety of ways, including to physical and psychic homophobic violence, familial and community rejection, discrimination, and a litany of other kinds of social stigma. These vulnerabilities fuel health disparities, particularly with regard to HIV. As Dr. Patrick Sullivan, an Emory University professor and researcher, stated, "homophobia is a public health hazard." In this sense, the scientific and social, negative health outcomes and human rights and, by extension, sexual rights, are not separate spheres but are intricately connected within a wider spectrum of issues we must work on together, and not separately.

Read the Rest.


[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

U.S HIV Funding for Gay and Bisexual Men May Cause Concerns

via Funders Concerned About AIDS, by Sean Cahill



Over the past few years we have witnessed a number of advances in science-based HIV prevention and care policy and LGBT health policy in the U.S.

We have a first-ever National HIV/AIDS Strategy that prioritizes reducing the disparity affecting gay and bisexual men—who were 64% of new infections in 2009, although just 2% of the adult population.

We repealed a number of counterproductive policies dating back to the dark days of the 1980s and Senator Jesse Helms, such as ending the HIV entry ban, ending the ban on using federal funds for syringe exchange, and ending funding for abstinence-only-until-marriage education. Unfortunately, the latter two changes were short-lived. And we’ve seen long overdue increases in funding for Ryan White care, the AIDS Drug Assistance Program, HIV prevention through the CDC, and research at NIH, including promising biomedical prevention research.

In LGBT health policy—an overlapping area of concern as about 600,000 people living with HIV in the U.S. are gay and bisexual men and transgender women—we’ve got a public health strategy, Healthy People 2020, that prioritizes for the first time ending LGBT health disparities. President Obama has guaranteed hospital visitation rights for same-sex partners, offered domestic partner health insurance to civilian federal employees, and Secretary Sebelius is adding a sexual orientation question to the National Health Interview Survey. This is all great news, and we are grateful to our allies in government who have worked with community leaders to accomplish these important advances.

However, as the HIV epidemic among gay and bisexual men, and especially Black gay men, rages—with 30,000 gay men newly infected each year, 60% of them Black and Latino—federal government funding targeted toward gay and bisexual men and transgender women is not matching the demographics of the epidemic. Furthermore, critically needed, bold policy initiatives that address key structural drivers of vulnerability among gay men are lacking.


Read the Rest.


[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

MSM Population May Be Neglected From HIV Funding

via Funders Concerned About AIDS, by Owen Ryan

At a community meeting in Atlanta, Georgia on March 20th, Kevin Fenton, director of Centers for Disease Control & Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention said, “Our own stigma, our own homophobia, cascades down in our funding and allocations…” Dr. Fenton was recognizing a reality in the United States that has become increasingly apparent to health policymakers throughout the world: that despite high prevalence rates of HIV among gay men and other MSM, funding for HIV prevention, treatment and care consistently neglects these populations, often due to stigma and discrimination.

Our own research at amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research, in partnership with the Center for Public Health and Human Rights at Johns Hopkins University has drawn similar conclusions. In our report, “Achieving an AIDS-Free Generation for Gay Men and Other MSM”, we found that MSM are neglected and marginalized by national HIV responses throughout the world, even in countries where MSM are a significant proportion of all HIV infections. For example, in Guyana where MSM account for a large majority of infections, funding to this population was as little as .05% of overall HIV funding from the Global Fund (a major donor in that country).

However there is an even larger reality that is more pernicious than budget cuts. In many settings, MSM are completely neglected by epidemiological surveillance, the data that informs funding flows. In countries like Ethiopia and Mozambique, which have received billions of dollars in aid for their HIV response, epidemiological surveillance of HIV deliberately excludes MSM and other key populations leading to a dearth of programming; this despite several reports that have shown significant epidemics among gay men throughout Africa. Our data reflect a simple truth: if MSM aren’t counted, they aren’t funded.


Read the Rest.


[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

Digital Technologies Changing the face of HIV Prevention

via Advocate.com, by By Gurmit Singh & Christopher S. Walsh

Why are we so fixated on finding a medical solution when, as social networks revolutionize sex in our community, gay men are successfully using new technology to combat HIV?

More and more gay men are hooking up online. The explosion of “Gaydar culture” through Xtube, Manhunt, Adam4Adam, and Grindr can increase risky sexual behavior, spawning fears of a new wave of HIV infections, particularly among young gay men. Yet, as new digital technologies change the way we enjoy sex and experience relationships, they are also changing the face of the AIDS response in remarkable ways.

In recent years, the global AIDS establishment has become fixated on medical approaches to HIV prevention. The success of antiretroviral therapies and new clinical trials on pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) have transformed the field, and “Treatment as prevention” is now promoted by the US PEPFAR, UNAIDS and the WHO.

The prospect of ending the HIV epidemic with a simple pill is seductive – but falsely so.

Fuelled by disparity and discrimination, HIV slams communities on the margins of society. Gay men have experienced this since the beginning of the epidemic, yet the medical establishment continues to advocate for chemical “quick fixes” to an exceedingly complex social problem. We cannot let these medical – albeit important – scientific advances distract us from what social science researchers have been telling us for years: the roots of this epidemic lie in the lack of health and human rights for gay men, other men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender people in the developed and developing world.

Fortunately, just as we did at the beginning of the AIDS epidemic, our communities are taking the lead in tackling these fundamental challenges. As digital technologies become integral to our lives, they have become equally central to innovative HIV education, prevention and care efforts. These technologies enable us to work together in ways never before possible, offering unprecedented opportunities to tackle the many barriers that make our communities vulnerable to HIV.

Read the Rest.


[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

Researchers Report that PrEP May Be Accepted as HIV Prevention in UK's Gay Men

via AIDSmap.com, by Roger Pebody

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) would be an acceptable HIV prevention strategy for large numbers of gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men in major UK cities, according to two studies presented to the British HIV Association (BHIVA) conference in Birmingham this week.

The conference also heard details of a small pilot PrEP study, likely to start recruiting later this year.

A cross-sectional survey of 842 HIV-negative gay and bisexual men, recruited at bars, clubs and saunas in London, suggested that half the respondents would be interested in taking PrEP.

Respondents were given information about pre-exposure prophylaxis and asked: “If PrEP were available, how likely is it that you would take a pill (oral dose) on a daily basis to prevent HIV infection?”.

Half said yes, with 16% saying they were likely to take PrEP and 34% saying they were very likely to. Men interested in PrEP were slightly more likely to be under the age of 35 (AOR adjusted odds ratio 1.58), have attended a sexual health clinic in the past year (AOR 1.59) and to have previously taken post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) (AOR 1.96). After statistical adjustment, various measures of risky sex were no longer associated with interest in PrEP.

In this survey, 17 men (2.1% of those answering the question) said that they had previously taken antiretroviral drugs to reduce their risk of HIV infection.

Secondly, clinicians at the Manchester Centre for Sexual Health surveyed HIV-negative men attending their service who reported unprotected receptive anal intercourse. Of the 121 men who responded, 36% said they would be “very willing” to take PrEP while only 14% said they would not take the treatment. Daily dosing was perceived as a better option by four fifths of respondents – just one fifth would prefer taking a dose before sexual activity.

Read the Rest.



[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

The Risks Caused by Unprotected Anal Sex

via Australian Federation of AIDS Organisation, by Eric Glare

This article describes the biological role of anal mucus and its association with the gastrointestinal immune system, which harbours a persistent reservoir of HIV that potentially leads to infectious anal mucus. ERIC GLARE argues that all HIV prevention discussions should highlight the role anal mucus plays in HIV transmission.

Strategic positioning, where an HIV-negative man takes the insertive role inunprotected anal intercourse with an HIV-positive partner in order to reduce his risk of infection, has been associated with an intermediate incidence of HIV in cohorts of Sydney men who have sex with men (MSM).

Circumcision of the insertive partner and an undetectable blood plasma viral load in the receptive partner are two factors often cited as contributing to risk reduction in strategic positioning practices, despite there being a paucity of data on HIV transmission by anal intercourse in men who take the insertive role in male-to-male sex.

Men who practise strategic positioning are attempting to take perceived risks into account to form personalised boundaries around anal intercourse but, until recently, a comprehensive understanding of HIV transmission through insertive unprotected anal intercourse has not been widely canvassed in research literature.

A 2008 study of risk factors associated with HIV seroconversion in gay men in England identified that some men taking the insertive role in anal intercourse contracted HIV because they did not perceive that they were at risk of infection. GMFA, a gay men’s health charity based in the UK, responded with a campaign called Arse Facts that identified anal mucus as a body fluid containing HIV at potentially infectious levels.

Anal mucus is increasingly being mentioned in Australian campaigns as the infectious body fluid potentially infecting the insertive partner during unprotected anal intercourse. At times, the explanation of the role that anal mucus plays in transmitting HIV to the insertive partner has been relegated to in-depth discussions of topics such as risk reduction, but is frequently left out of more introductory information about HIV transmission (e.g. Whereversexhappens.com),and some campaigns discuss the risk of insertive anal intercourse without mentioning any body fluids involved.

Some campaigns warn that even if an HIV-positive person has an undetectable blood plasma viral load they might have higher viral load in anal mucus, particularly if they also have another STI. However, it should also be noted that a recent study, looking at men who have sex with men, found that plasma and rectal viral load were correlated, and that STI in the rectum did not increase the likelihood of detecting HIV in anal mucus, including those that had low or undetectable levels of HIV in their blood. This study suggests that a lower HIV viral load in blood plasma would also mean a lower viral load in anal mucus.

Read the Rest.



[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

Sudan: New Magazine Causes Hope Amongst Gays

via GayStar News, by Dan Littauer

A new online lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender magazine in Sudan, north Africa, is a first for the country where homosexuality is still punished by death and an opportunity for gay people to start discussing their lives and hopes for the future.

Rainbow Sudan published articles discussing topics including being gay in Sudan, the history of homosexuality in the country, Islam and sexuality, being lesbian and Muslim, poetry and more.

Sudan is one of the strictest countries in the world which criminalize homosexuality. Same-sex sexual activity is illegal and, according to Article 148, capital punishment applies to a man or woman engaging in such acts.

Punishments also include lashes and imprisonment.

Even without that, being out can have serious social and economic consequences - it typically means a loss of jobs prospects, ostracisation from family and community, even murder by so called 'honour killings'.

We spoke to Rainbow Sudan editor Mohammad and other Sudanese gays and lesbians about the magazine and their life in Sudan.

Mohammad himself is a 32-year-old man, living in the capital Khartoum. He is energetic, comfortable about his sexuality, full of charm and wit. He also has a scholarly side; he loves poetry, history and sociology.

He told us that ‘to understand the gay community in Sudan you have to understand the religious factor here… it is a big taboo and regarded one of the biggest sins possible.’

Ibrahim, also 32 years old and a well-respected public figure, explained what that taboo means in practice.

‘If you are outed in Sudan the consequences are very serious: social rejection and even punishment according to the Sudanese law,' he said. 'The internet is my only life-line, I can talk with people, learn about LGBT issues and occasionally arrange to meet people. I have to be so careful, I if would be caught, exposed or worse, arrested, it would ruin me completely.’

Read the Rest.


[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

Researchers Investigate Acceptability for PrEP in Chinese MSM

via PLoS ONE, by Feng Zhou

Introduction

In pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), antiretroviral (ARV) drugs are given to HIV-negative people to decrease their chance of becoming infected. Several studies conducted among men who have sex with men (MSM) have shown that PrEP awareness was very low, and few participants reported having the experience of PrEP use, even in some countries where it is available. Although strategies including abstinence, being faithful, and condom use (ABC) have been proved to be effective for prevention of HIV transmission, the virus still prevails among MSM. It was estimated that 2.6 million individuals were newly infected in 2009 worldwide, which 19% fewer than the 3.1 million in 1999. China had about 740,000 people living with HIV and 105,000 with AIDS by the end of 2009. Homosexual intercourse has become a major mode of HIV transmission since 2009, and the prevalence of HIV in MSM has increased significantly from 2.5% in 2006 to 8.6% in 2009. A sociological study has estimated that there are 1.8–2.4 million homosexual or bisexual men in mainland China. In China, high-risk behavior, such as multiple partners and unprotected sex, have been reported to be common in this group. Also, recent studies have reported rapid transmission of HIV in this specific population from various geographic areas in China, despite the efforts made by the national and local governments and non-governmental organizations in the past few years. New effective approaches are urgently needed for this population.

In recent decades, researchers have made great efforts to explore alternative biomedical interventions, such as male circumcision (MC), HIV PrEP and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), HIV vaccines, and microbicides. Among these potential strategies, PrEP is considered to be one of the most promising strategies in MSM. Several animal and human studies have suggested that ARV drugs might reduce the risk of HIV infection either by PrEP or by non-occupational PEP. A 12-month PrEP clinical trial of daily oral tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) for HIV prevention was performed among 400 HIV-negative Ghanaian women, and achieved good acceptability and >82% adherence. In November 2010, the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced the results of the iPrEx trial of PrEP conducted among 2499 HIV-seronegative MSM in six countries, which showed that daily oral Truvada, a combination of emtricitabine (FTC) and TDF, reduced risk of HIV incidence by 44%, with a median 1.2 years follow-up, compared with the placebo group, and >75% adherence was reached. These findings represent a major advance in HIV prevention research, providing the first evidence that PrEP, when combined with other prevention strategies, can reduce HIV risk among MSM. A further study is ongoing in HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) 067 to evaluate the feasibility of intermittent dosing of PrEP. Recent results from Partners PrEP and CDC TDF2 have shown that PrEP with daily oral TDF/FTC or TDF was effective at reducing HIV risk in heterosexual men and women. However, the Fem-Prep program on Truvada, a closed clinical trial implemented by Family Health International (FHI) in partnership with research centers in Africa, does not support the theory of PrEP having an effect on HIV prevention. Therefore, some factors that might influence the efficacy of PrEP, including adherence, sexual behavior, or other factors still need to be determined.

The awareness and acceptability of new strategies are very important when they are recommended for use. Therefore, the objective of our study was to investigate the awareness and acceptability of PrEP among MSM and potential impact factors, which will provide suggestions and guidelines for future clinical trials in China.

Read the Rest.


[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

Ugandan Gay Rights Activists Fight Against Anti-Homosexuality Bill

via Chicago Sun Times, by Frank Mugisha

The world listened last week as Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf defended her country’s laws that discriminate against its lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex population. In an interview with the Guardian newspaper, she spoke of preserving Liberia’s “traditional values” and said in part, “We like ourselves the way we are.”

It’s a sad sentiment I hear in my own country of Uganda: the idea that homosexuality is somehow un-African and foreign to our culture, an import of the West that must be stopped. But it is not African to restrict another’s freedom. It is not African to spread lies and dissent and urge brutality against others. And it is certainly not African to deny fellow citizens basic human rights. No, these are ideas introduced and fostered by our colonizers, not by our ancestors.

My organization, Sexual Minorities Uganda, works against these forces of hate and division, and we live every day under the threats of violence that keep so many LGBTI Ugandans from coming forward. In 2010, a local newspaper published photographs and addresses of many of us under the headline “Hang Them.”

But still we work, because there is so much work to be done: gay men to be rescued from jail after arbitrary arrests and beatings. Lesbian women who need to be sheltered after curative rape assaults. Friends to be healed after being denied medical care.

The anti–gay groups call this struggle a campaign for gay rights. But there is nothing gay or straight about the right to worship, to assemble publicly or to live without fear of sanctioned brutality.

In Uganda today, bosses routinely fire employees suspected of being gay. We can be expelled from school or denied medical attention. Our friends and neighbors can be persecuted just for being seen with us.
The Ugandan Parliament is pushing a bill that is inspired by hateful ideas brought to us, not from within Africa, but by anti-gay activists like Scott Lively from the United States. The new law would equate gay people with pedophiles and call on the LGBTI population to stop “promoting homosexuality.”


The original version of the legislation even called for applying the death penalty to gay couples, and although it may be revoked from the final bill, even the more “palatable” version seeks to silence our voices, criminalize anyone who speaks on our behalf and encourage the wrongheaded stigmas that increase our nation’s rising HIV prevalence.
Read the Rest.


[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

Sexually Explicit Media Analyzed as a Means for Preventive Education

via Huffington Post, by John-Manuel Andriote

Public health officials recommended early in the AIDS epidemic that HIV-prevention education be targeted and explicit, using language and images familiar to those it is intended to reach. Controversy has swirled ever since over what, exactly, is meant by "explicit" prevention education and who should pay for it.

Prevention educators recognized early on the potential of sexually explicit media (also known as porn) to provide instruction in the mechanics of safe sex and, they hoped, increase the use of condoms and practice of safe sex among gay and bisexual men.

In the late 1980s, Boston's AIDS Action Committee attempted to produce a safe sex film featuring porn star Al Parker. Cindy Patton, who today teaches sociology at Simon Fraser University, in Vancouver, worked on the project. Writing about it in her 1996 book Fatal Advice: How Safe Sex Education Went Wrong, Patton explained that the video wasn't intended to "eroticize" safe sex, but rather "to retrieve already and always safe activities" gay men might do together that seemed to have been lost in the shuffle as everyone focused singlemindedly on eliminating unprotected anal sex.

"Porn videos," wrote Patton, "are useful if they suggest positive attitudes about gay male sexuality because that helps create and sustain a social environment in which safe sex is practiced because it is viewed as a positive aspect of gay male sexuality." The group at AIDS Action Committee reasoned that gay men would practice safe sex if they were persuaded to view it as something positive rather than as a kind of punishment for being gay -- as many men seemed to see it.

Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that "men who have sex with men" (MSM) comprise only 2 percent of the American population, we consume as much as 50 percent of the porn produced and sold in this country, annually spending as much as $6.5 billion on it.

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[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

Ugandan Gay Rights Activists Take Action

via New York Times, by Laurie Goodstein

A Ugandan gay rights group filed suit against an American evangelist, Scott Lively, in federal court in Massachusetts on Wednesday, accusing him of violating international law by inciting the persecution of gay men and lesbians in Uganda.

The lawsuit maintains that beginning in 2002, Mr. Lively conspired with religious and political leaders in Uganda to whip up anti-gay hysteria with warnings that gay people would sodomize African children and corrupt their culture.

The Ugandan legislature considered a bill in 2009, proposed by one of Mr. Lively’s Ugandan contacts, that would have imposed the death sentence for the “offense of homosexuality.” That bill languished after an outcry from the United States and European nations that are among major aid donors to Uganda, but was reintroduced last month.

Mr. Lively is being sued by the organization Sexual Minorities Uganda under the alien tort statute, which allows foreigners to sue in American courts in situations asserting the violation of international law. The suit says that Mr. Lively’s actions resulted in the persecution, arrest, torture and murder of gay men and lesbians in Uganda.

Reached by telephone in Springfield, Mass., where he runs Holy Grounds Coffee House, a storefront mission and shop, Mr. Lively said he did not know about the lawsuit. Nevertheless, he said: “That’s about as ridiculous as it gets. I’ve never done anything in Uganda except preach the Gospel and speak my opinion about the homosexual issue.”

Mr. Lively is the founder and president of Abiding Truth Ministries. He is also the author of “The Pink Swastika: Homosexuality in the Nazi Party,” which says that Nazism was a movement inspired by homosexuals, and “Seven Steps to Recruit-Proof Your Child,” a guide to prevent what he calls “pro-homosexual indoctrination.”

He has traveled to Uganda, Latvia and Moldova to warn Christian clergy members to defend their countries against what he says is an onslaught by gay rights advocates based in the West.

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[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

Will high risk MSM use over the counter HIV tests?

via Journal of Sex Research, by Alex Carballo-Diégueza, Timothy Frascaa, Curtis Dolezala & Ivan Balana

Abstract

The Food and Drug Administration may license OraQuick™, a rapid HIV test, for over-the-counter (OTC) sale. This study investigated whether HIV-uninfected, non-monogamous, gay and bisexual men who never or rarely use condoms would use the test with partners as a harm-reduction approach. Sixty participants responded to two computer-assisted self-interviews, underwent an in-depth interview, and chose whether to test themselves with OraQuick. Over 80% of the men said they would use the kit to test sexual partners or themselves if it became available OTC. Most participants understood that antibody tests have a window period in which the virus is undetectable, yet saw advantages to using the test to screen partners; 74% tested themselves in our offices. Participants offered several possible strategies to introduce the home-test idea to partners, frequently endorsed mutual testing, and highlighted that home testing could stimulate greater honesty in serostatus disclosure. Participants drew distinctions between testing regular versus occasional partners. Non-monogamous men who have sex with men, who never or rarely use condoms, may nevertheless seek to avoid HIV. Technologies that do not interfere with sexual pleasure are likely to be used when available. Studies are needed to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of using OTC rapid HIV tests as one additional harm-reduction tool.


Read the full study here.
 
 
[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

Reasons behind high risk behaviors in Chinese MSM

via BMC Public Health, by Guanzhi Chen, Yang Li, Beichuan Zhang, Zengzhao Yu, Xiufang Li, Lixin Wang, Ziming Yu

Background

Men who have sex with men (MSM) have become a high-risk group of HIV infection in China. To date, little is known regarding the behavioral, social and psychological characteristics in Chinese MSM, which makes the implementation of preventive and therapeutic strategies for this high-risk subpopulation of people extremely difficult.

Methods

A total of 714 questionnaires were retrieved from the database of a Chinese government-sponsored National Key Research Project titled "Risk Analysis and Strategic Prevention of HIV Transmission from MSM to the General Population in China". The respondents were categorized into a high-risk group and a control group. Their behavioral, social and psychological characteristics were comparatively analyzed.

Results

Of the 714 MSM analyzed, 59 (8.26%) had high-risk homosexual behaviors. This sub-group of MSM had a higher in-marriage rate, a higher monthly income, heavier alcohol consumption and more serious problems with sexual abuse in childhood, intentional suicide attempts and mistaken assumption on condom's role in protecting HIV infection, as compared with the control group (P < 0.05). In contrast, the two groups did not differ significantly the sexual orientation, level of education, types of profession, drug use, condom use and experience of social stigma and discrimination (P > 0.05). A vast majority of the individuals in both behavior categories expressed support of legally protected gay clubs as well as gay marriage legislation in China. There was a strong correlation between high-risk behaviors and sexual abuse in childhood, alcohol drinking, income level and a mistaken belief in perfect HIV protection through the use of condoms.

Conclusions

MSM with and without high-risk homosexual behaviors have different social and psychological characteristics, which should be taken into account when implementing behavioral and therapeutic interventions aimed at preventing HIV/AIDS transmission among MSM as well as from MSM to the general population in China.

Read the full study here.


[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

Age as a Risk "Marker" for MSM

via JAIDS, by Potterat, John J BA; Brewer, Devon D PhD

Hurt and colleagues observed that primary HIV infection (PHI) in men who have sex with men (MSM) was associated with selecting older sex partners. Specifically, MSM with PHI (median age, 24.5 years) tended to choose partners 5 years older (median, 29.8 years) compared with uninfected MSM who were much closer in age (22.5 years; partners, 23.9 years). This result is not surprising, because older MSM are more likely to be infected. In Colorado Springs, for example, rigorously sought, community-wide sexually transmitted disease/HIV surveillance data show that whereas chlamydia is an infection of the late teens and early 20s, and gonorrhea of the early to mid-20s, the average age for HIV seroconversion is late 20s (median, 27 years; mean, 27.8 years), an average age approaching that of older partners of men with PHI in Hurt and colleagues' study.

What is remarkable is Hurt and colleagues' and Coburn and Blower's interpretation of the observed association between partner age disparity and PHI. They mislabel sex with an older man as a risk factor for HIV and correspondingly call for prevention messages to be refocused on this behavior. Sex with an older MSM cannot be a risk factor for HIV infection, although it is a risk marker. The fact that the age of sex partners remained an independent correlate of recent HIV infection in Hurt and colleagues' multivariate model reflects mismeasurement of exposure to HIV. It appears objective data on partners' HIV statuses were unavailable for 90% (18 of 20) of men with PHI and 46% (25 of 54) of uninfected men. It is unclear whether all such partners were classified as “serostatus unknown” (and thus regarded as having exposed participants to HIV) or their serostatuses were estimated from participants' perceptions (the authors did not describe such procedures). In the former scenario, uninfected men's exposure to HIV may be overestimated. In the latter scenario, men with PHI may have incorrectly perceived infected partners as uninfected or not reported partners during the period when they acquired infection because the authors collected data on the three most recent partners only.

Other characteristics of partners can also serve as markers of HIV risk in MSM such as race and injection drug use. The social contexts in which MSM form sexual partnerships may be even better indicators of HIV risk. Although local data on risk markers might inform ancillary prevention messages, the educational focus in MSM should remain on avoiding the most direct risk factors-anal (especially receptive) intercourse without a condom and sex between serodiscordant men-as their own data clearly show.


[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]