Legal barriers and stereotypes block care services for same sex couples

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

via Citizen News Service, by Jittima Jantanamalaka

Despite alarming HIV rates amongst the men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender people, many countries, community leaders, media and society at large continue to hold discriminating stereotypes against them. "Punitive laws will drive MSM and transgender populations underground" rightly said Aradhana Johri of Department of AIDS Control, Government of India. In US alone, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report, although Black American MSM people represent only 13 percent of the US population but they account for about 44 percent of the new HIV infections particularly among those aged 13 -19.

Unless we protect the rights of same sex couples to live a life of dignity, and discourage those who are judgemental about their same sex behaviour, not only we will fail to reduce stigma and discrimination associated with HIV and same sex behaviour, but also fuel homophobia and negative perceptions about HIV testing. People will continue to choose to hide their high-risk behaviour and not seek counseling and testing for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

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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Rectal Microbicides Open New Frontier in HIV Fight

 [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 New Service, by  Chief K.Masimba Biriwasha

 Microbicide research has gained momentum in recent years with focus largely on products to prevent HIV during vaginal sex. However, there is a growing momentum to develop rectal microbicides for women, men, and transgender individuals around the world who engage in anal intercourse. Microbicides are products (currently under research) designed to prevent or reduce the sexual transmission of HIV or other sexually transmitted infections when applied inside the vagina or rectum. Most vaginal microbicides are being tested as gels or rings, while rectal microbicides are primarily being tested as gels.

According to the International Rectal Microbicides Advocates (IRMA), rectal microbicides are products – that could take the form of gels or lubricants – being developed and tested to reduce a person’s risk of HIV or other sexually transmitted infections from anal sex. In spite of the public health need for rectal microbicide research, there is serious institutional, socio-cultural and political stigma around the issue.

Click here to 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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Rectal Microbicides Seen As Key in Preventing New HIV transmissions

[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

Unprotected anal sex has long been regarded as a key driver of HIV transmission in many parts of the world, especially among men who have sex with men. In many contexts, the practice is surrounded with stigma and discrimination which is a key barrier to developing protective measures, and largely pushes affected populations to go underground far from the reach of public health services as well as HIV prevention tools.

There is a growing recognition that to turn the AIDS tide and avoid uneccessary deaths, there is a need to develop new HIV prevention tools such as rectal microbicides for women, men, and transgender individuals around the world who engage in anal intercourse.

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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HIV and the Law

via the Commission on HIV and the Law

The end of the global AIDS epidemic is within our reach. This will only be possible if science and action are accompanied by a tangible commitment to respecting human dignity and ending injustice.

Law prohibits or permits specific behaviours, and in so doing, it shapes politics, economics and society. The law can be a human good that makes a material diff erence in people’s lives. It is therefore not surprising that law has the power to bridge the gap between vulnerability and resilience to HIV.

We came together as a group of individuals from diverse backgrounds, experiences and continents to examine the role of the law in effective HIV responses. What we share is our abiding commitment to public health and social justice. We have listened with humility to hundreds of accounts describing the eff ects of law on HIV. In many instances, we have been overwhelmed by how archaic, insensitive laws are violating human rights, challenging rational public health responses and eroding social fabric. At other times, we have been moved by those who demonstrate courage and conviction to protect those most vulnerable in
our societies.

Many would say that the law can be complex and challenging and is best left alone. Our experience during this Commission has shown us a very diff erent perspective. We have been encouraged by how frank and constructive dialogue on controversial issues can sometimes quickly lead to progressive law reform, the eff ective defence of legislation or better enforcement of existing laws. Even in environments where formal legal change is a slow and arduous process, we have witnessed countries taking action to strengthen access to justice and challenge stigma and discrimination.

Click here for the full report.


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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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Kenya's HIV Challenge: Easing Stigma For Gay Men

via NPR, by Jason Beaubien

Health officials in Kenya say reducing the transmission of HIV among gay men is a central part of their national AIDS strategy. But they face serious challenges, including the fact that homosexuality is still a crime in the East African nation.

HIV rates among gay and bisexual men in Kenya are far higher than the national average.

Mutisiya Leonard, who runs an HIV prevention, treatment and support program for men who have sex with men in northwestern Kenya, says homosexuality is so stigmatized in Africa that many men don't want to refer to themselves as gay. This makes reaching them with safe-sex messages and HIV-prevention campaigns difficult. These men are reluctant to seek medical care for sexually transmitted diseases, he says, and they don't want to get tested for HIV.

Nationwide, roughly 6 percent of adults in Kenya are infected with HIV. But the rate among men who have gay sex is more than three times the national average. Among male prostitutes in the capital, Nairobi, 41 percent are infected.

In order to address HIV in any community, health workers need to be able to get people to talk frankly and honestly about their sex lives. But Leonard says gay men in Kenya face stigma, discrimination, violence and even jail if they come out of the closet. "The fear of the law, the fear of arrest makes it difficult for people to be open about it," he says.

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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Critical to fight stigma and discrimination faced by MSM

via Inside Story, by Gregory Trotter

The dream of the AIDS-free generation will never be realized as long as there remain countries in the world that kill and imprison people for being gay.

Same goes for countries that won’t even acknowledge homosexuality exists within their national boundaries and therefore fail to provide targeted HIV prevention and treatment services. Such are the realities underscored by a new report, “Achieving an AIDS-free Generation for Gay Men and Other MSM,” released by amfAR and Johns Hopkins University on Wednesday.

The report studied the funding and implementation of HIV services targeted for MSM (men who have sex with men) in eight countries where same-sex intercourse is criminalized or heavily stigmatized: China, Vietnam, Ethiopia, Guyana, Mozambique, India, Nigeria and Ukraine. Among other findings, the study concluded that MSM are “deprioritized and marginalized by national HIV programs.”

In the report’s own words: “It will be impossible to achieve an ‘AIDS-Free Generation’ if MSM are left behind.”

(For those who may not know, the phrase “AIDS-free generation” has been a sort of battle cry for people and organizations involved in the ongoing efforts to stop the 30-year-old AIDS epidemic, gaining momentum since Secretary of State Hillary Clinton used it in her historic November 2011 speech.)

The report rings true for Jim Pickett, director of prevention advocacy and gay men’s health for the AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC). Pickett is also chair of the International Rectal Microbicides Advocates, a group that does what its name suggests. His work takes him all over the world to advocate for microbicide research and other HIV prevention strategies.

“Sadly, it’s not new. It’s what we know. But … it’s really important for us to continue to put that message out there. It’s another way to have this discussion, to shine a light on these disparities and to move forward in the right direction,” Pickett said. “(This report) is a really important document.”
Pickett was in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, just last month for a meeting with advocates for the launch of Project ARM (stands for Africa for Rectal Microbicides). Project ARM is an IRMA initiative. The conference coincided with the 2011 International Conference on AIDS and STDs in Africa.

It was wrought with tension from the get-go, as anti-gay religious groups caught wind of an African gay men’s health pre-conference satellite and began mounting a protest. Eventually, they were silenced by the Ethiopian government, Pickett said. But it was an uncomfortable learning experience: IRMA and Project ARM kept their own agendas low-profile and encountered no problems.

At the Project ARM meeting, advocates from Malawi, Uganda and other countries talked about the fear of being discovered gay after receiving threats of bodily harm and death.

“We acknowledge that in our quest for developing these new HIV prevention strategies like rectal microbicides, they are for naught if people aren’t safe, if they can’t be who they are wherever they are,” Pickett said. “If you are so deeply stigmatized or demonized that you have to be hidden, you’re not going to come up and go to the counter and get a rectal microbicide. You’re not going to get any services.”

As an example, Pickett pointed to the arrests of nine gay men in Senegal following the 2008 ICASA. Word quickly rippled through the gay community in Senegal.

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.]

Meet Moses Nsubuga Supercharger: Our New Friendly Rectal Microbicide Advocate!

“The task is hard but with determination we shall win together. Continue to keep the fire burning and remember it can even burn deep in the ocean.”

Moses is an IRMA advocate from Kampala, Uganda. He has been living with HIV since 1994 and is quite the superstar. He is a musician, radio host, TV presenter, actor, and activist who has a passion to fight HIV for people all over the world.

In 2000 he formed The Stigmaless Band - a music and drama group of adolescents living with HIV. Their objectives include encouraging early treatment, treatment adherence, and fighting stigma. The success of the band allowed Moses to collaborate with other community based organizations throughout Uganda and to eventually form a larger group called Joint Adherent Brothers and Sisters Against AIDS (JABASA). JABASA’s mission is to attain equal rights for minority and at-risk groups; to encourage early treatment for adults; and to help HIV positive Ugandans become financially self-sufficient by providing them with small loans to begin small income generating projects.

In 2009 he was contracted by USAID and The AIDS Support Organization (TASO) to host an HIV quiz game on television called “Everybody Wins When We Know the Facts about HIV.” As the show gained popularity and was being broadcast in more and more districts throughout Uganda, he was suspended from this work for opposing a law that he believed would criminalize and oppress minority groups if passed.

This did not slow Moses down! Since then he has become the manager of Searchland Shows, where he organizes music shows to advocate for treatment, condoms, and microbicides as prevention. He has also started an orphanage to look after the children of musicians who have died of AIDS. Currently he supports 34 children.

He believes microbicides have the potential to be one of the best prevention options available. He is very active on the IRMA listserv and always challenging opinions, asking questions, and striving to learn more.

Read more bios on the IRMA website.



[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.]

Media campaign on disclosure and stigma changes gay men’s attitudes

via aidsmap, by Roger Pebody

A Canadian campaign which asked gay men “If you were rejected every time you disclosed, would you?” appears to have raised men’s understanding of the dilemmas which men with HIV face. The campaign also succeeded in reducing the number of men who try to avoid infection by relying on men with HIV disclosing their status, researchers report in the October issue of Health Education Research.

The campaign was not intended to broadcast a ‘message’ or give instructions, but to stimulate dialogue within local communities. Moreover the authors suggest that the extensive community consultation which went into its development contributed to the campaign’s success.

Staff from frontline HIV prevention work, public health, government and academia participated in the consultation which identified HIV-related stigma as a priority issue. Moreover they focused on stigma within gay communities as it is manifested in the attitudes of some HIV-negative men towards potential sexual partners who have HIV. The campaign developers believe that there are links between the problems of stigma, disclosure, conflicting assumptions and risk taking.

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.]

‘Confront legal and policy barriers to HIV’: Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Dialogue on HIV and the Law

Via UNAIDS.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, the region most heavily affected by HIV, legal, policy and social barriers, including stigma, discrimination, gender inequality and the criminalization of key populations at higher risk of HIV infection, continue to make people vulnerable to HIV and hamper the ability of individuals, communities and states to respond to the epidemic. This was the conclusion of the Regional Dialogue for sub-Saharan Africa, part of the Global Commission on HIV and the Law, held at the beginning of August in Pretoria, South Africa.

No taboo should be left unchallenged

A significant breakthrough came from the pledge of participants to highlight and discuss all aspects of the legal environment relating to HIV, including laws and practices related to stigma and discrimination, access to affordable treatment, children and adolescents, women’s rights and gender-based violence.

“This regional dialogue is a great opportunity for us, as Africans, to confront the difficult issues including discriminatory and punitive laws that target sex workers and men who have sex with men, and other populations vulnerable to HIV,” said Bience Gawanas, African Union Commissioner for Social Affairs.

The criminalization of drug use, sex work and same-sex sexual relations was also confronted by the participants in a bid to challenge all taboos. This is remarkable as recent punitive legal and policy developments in a number of countries in sub-Saharan Africa relating to the situation of members of key populations has raised concerns about the readiness of stakeholders in the region to confront this issue. Some 31 countries in the region criminalize sex work, and same-sex sexual relations constitute a criminal offence in at least 30 countries.

Read the rest 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.]

The Lagos HIV Stigma

Via Next, by Gbenro Adeoye.

The first case of HIV/AIDS in Lagos was reported in 1986, unlike the global stage, where it was first reported 30 years ago by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States among gay men. Since the discovery in Lagos which was also the first in Nigeria, HIV has steadily grown to a status of silent foreboding among the general public. According to the Lagos State AIDS Control Agency (LSACA), the current HIV prevalence rate in the state is 5.1 percent, ahead of the country's 4.1 percent prevalence rate recently announced by the Health Minister, Onyebuchi Chukwu.

But in the 25 year period, the state has seen significant progress in the level of public awareness, testing, treatment and care for persons living with HIV. In his assessment, the Head of Lagos office, United Nations Population Fund, Omolaso Omosehin, described the achievements made so far in the state as remarkable, highlighting improvements in the prevention and treatment of the disease. He said, "The situation is better than what it used to be; many people are now aware of how to prevent HIV/AIDS and there is hardly any health centre where you are not required to the test. Many more people are able to access antiretroviral (ARV) drugs which were not so available some years ago."

Yetunde Ababi, a health educator, who tested positive for HIV in 1991, also acknowledged the improvements made in the treatment and care for persons living with HIV. Mrs. Ababi said "the epidemic was so much in the 90s and the drugs were so expensive that people were being screened into the mortuary. Then, we were spending about N90, 000 monthly on ARVs, but the drugs and treatment are now free in government hospitals in Lagos."

Unfortunately, the stigma associated with HIV still denies infected persons job appointments and prevents many others from openly declaring their status. Patrick Akpan, the deputy coordinator of Plan Foundation for Health and Development, formerly called Positive Living Organisation of Nigeria (PLON), a nongovernmental organisation aimed at supporting persons living with HIV/aids, said the stigma against persons living with HIV in Lagos has been ‘modernised.' According to him, people have invented new ways of discriminating against persons living with HIV. He said, "People won't tell you that they are not relating with you because of your HIV status; they will rather find another excuse for avoiding you. They would rather say ‘you are not qualified for the job', rather than say it's because you are HIV positive."

Read the rest 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.]

Survey reveals gaps in HIV programming for MSM

Via PlusNews.

A new global survey of more than 5,000 men who have sex with men (MSM) reveals a marginalized group of people with little access to basic HIV prevention tools such as condoms and few means to learn about HIV.

Conducted by the Global Forum on MSM & HIV between 24 June and 17 August 2010, the survey sought to highlight key gaps in global efforts to provide MSM with evidence-informed HIV prevention services. More than 1,000 of the study participants - drawn from all over the world - were health workers; 22 percent reported being HIV-positive.

The authors recommend expanding access to HIV prevention services for MSM across the globe, more focus on promoting awareness of emerging HIV prevention interventions and more robust and sustained stigma-reduction efforts. Some of the major findings of the survey include:

Access to health services - Fifty-three percent of participants said they could easily access testing for sexually transmitted infections, while 51 percent said they had easy access to HIV counseling; 47 percent found STI treatment easily accessible.

Just 36 percent of MSM surveyed reported having easy access to HIV treatment, while 27 percent said it was available but difficult to access, was not available or had never heard of HIV treatment.

Access to HIV prevention - Free condoms were easily accessible only to 44 percent of participants, while just 29 percent could obtain lubricant.

Just 30 percent of participants reported easy access to each of the basic HIV prevention services, including behavioural HIV/AIDS interventions, HIV education materials, mental health services, free or low-cost medical care, media campaigns focused on reducing HIV, and laws/policies to ensure access to HIV prevention.

Just 25 percent said they had access to sex education.

Stigma - Africa reported the highest levels of stigma and external homophobia, followed by the Middle East, Asia-Pacific, Central/South America and the Caribbean, which all reported similar levels of stigma. Australia and New Zealand reported the lowest levels of stigma and external homophobia.

MSM from Africa and the Asia-Pacific region reported the highest levels of internalized homophobia.

Read the rest 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.]

HIV Risk of Anal Sex Misunderstood Among Heterosexuals

This news article features our very own Zoe Duby, an IRMA advocate and valued member of our community! Congratulations to Zoe, and thank you for working so hard as an advocate for rectal microbicides and HIV prevention in South Africa and worldwide.

Via PlusNews.

Vaginal sex, thigh sex, even armpit sex - people have sex in lots of ways, but in heterosexual anal sex, HIV prevention programming is silent about the high risk of infection that goes with it, and people may have mistaken this silence for safety.

The risk of contracting HIV through unprotected receptive anal sex is almost 20 times greater than the HIV risk associated with vaginal intercourse.

While this fact is often a focus in HIV prevention programming aimed at men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM), it has been largely left out of programmes for heterosexuals, according to Zoe Duby of the University of Cape Town, South Africa, and the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation.

Duby presented the findings of her study, which interviewed almost 400 people in Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya, at the 1st HIV Social Sciences and Humanities Conference held recently in Durban, South Africa.

“Safer sex programming has, in my opinion, failed to take into account varying definitions of sex. The omission of anal sex in safe sex messaging has been interpreted as meaning that anal sex is safe,” she told IRIN/PlusNews.

“What people preach out there, it’s just vaginal sex - not information on anal [sex],” said a young woman from Salgaa, Kenya, who was quoted in the research. “So somebody thinks, ‘if I do [sex] this other way, then I will not get HIV.’”

Even more worrying was that research showed healthcare workers often held similar views, and some incorrectly believed HIV was only present in vaginal fluid. The virus is, in fact, also present in male sperm and blood.

“Me, I do not want to practice vaginal sex because that is the highest [risk] sex that transmits HIV, so it is a belief… that non-vaginal sex does not transmit HIV,” one Kenyan healthcare worker reported.

A nurse in Malaba, Uganda, said: “As you go and have sex vaginally you can get HIV, but these other methods, they do not expose you [to HIV].”

Read the rest 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.]

SOUTH AFRICA: MSM still sidelined in HIV programming

"Biomedical strategies can only have a limited impact if MSM live in fear, live hidden or have limited access to safe and effective clinical care." 

via PlusNews

South African men who have sex with men are twice as likely to be HIV-positive as heterosexual men, but spending on research, prevention and treatment for this group remains low, delegates at a conference on MSM and HIV in Cape Town heard.

"We see HIV incidence rates for MSM continue to increase in all studied countries; we must advocate for more research," Linda-Gail Bekker, deputy director of the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre, said in a statement.

Bekker called for the introduction of specific HIV packages tailored to the needs of particular groups, including one for MSM.

Studies show that the risk of contracting HIV during anal sex is 18 times higher than during penile-vaginal sex.

According to research whose results were revealed at the conference, held on 23-25 May, more than one in 20 men taking part in the survey reported consensual participation in a sexual act with another man and MSM were twice as likely to be HIV-positive as their heterosexual peers.

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.]

Vietnam: Gay rights group tackles insensitive medical care

Doctors believed, for example, that becoming a homosexual was a fashion statement. They teased gay patients, and criticised anal sex despite training on gay issues, the survey revealed.

via VietNamNet

Nguyen Thanh Trung (not his real name), a gay man who lives in Ha Noi, was very upset by the way doctors discriminated against him when he was undergoing an anal health test in one of the city's many health clinics.

"The doctor told me to my face that having sex with men is not a natural act and asked me why I did it," Trung recalled.

"I was so upset that I left the clinic and will never return," he said.


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.]

Bringing Up The Rear

Via salon.com, by Tracy Clark-Flory

It's no secret that more Americans are having anal sex than ever before: A study published last year in the Journal of Sexual Medicine found that more than 45 percent of women in their late 20s had tried anal sex.

On the flip side, women rarely get the opportunity to be penetrators. Virginia Vitzthum exquisitely described the appeal of taking on the male role in a piece for Salon back in 1999 -- before we even called it "pegging"

"In a way I'd never understood those words before, he was mine. The knowledge I could really hurt this person by being less than careful made me feel responsible, protective. The vulnerability appalled me at the same time; it was vaguely disgusting that he would let someone do this to him. Mixed in with the disgust was possessiveness. The thought of anyone else penetrating him seemed revolting. These observations clicked into place in quick succession; I felt like a projector being loaded with slides of maleness, of male seeing."

But, taboos change, and so do the cultural meanings of particular sexual acts. Just as the gay community has long debated the politics of being a top or a bottom, the hetero world is slowly catching up -or, um, bringing up the rear. As Pulley puts it, "We only have so many orifices. You'd think we'd all be itching to take advantage of them all, right?"

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.]

Is being an HIV Gay a punishment from God?

Via bulawayo24.com, by Yngve Sjolund

In 2000, an ex-partner accused Adam of infecting him with HIV. He went to Adam’s employers and told them that he had infected him with HIV. Adam was forced to go for an HIV test by his employers which came back showing that he was HIV positive.

Adam remembers: “I felt kind of betrayed that my employers were falling for the blackmail. I had broken up with this person – and so he said I infected him with HIV because he wanted me to give him money and food, because I had a job. He wanted support from me.”

Today Adam (38), living in Soweto, considers himself as a self-identified black gay man and explains: “I always believed that when a person is born they are born for a reason, and they are born with different sexual orientations. There are straight people and there are gay people. Especially amongst the gay population in the black community people will say it is a foreign thing to be gay. They will say it is a white man’s disease, and as our Zimbabwean President will say, they are ‘worse than pigs and dogs’.

Adam is determined to make a change and sees a way forward for his peers: “I think people should embrace who they are. I personally feel that their conscience should guide them. If we look at culture, culture has its own imbalances, and as a gay and a Christian man I believe God created everybody differently, for a purpose. God did not make a mistake creating me as a gay person. And I don’t believe it is the work of the devil that somebody sleeps with the same sex. God created it that way. And he made me that – he is the one that created me as a man and gave me the feelings to be gay and have feelings for other men.”

Many people today still believe that being gay and contracting HIV is a “punishment from God”, but Adam explains that it is actually more a case of being lucky or unlucky. “I personally believe HIV has exposed me to so many things – I was lucky to get HIV. And because I have had bad publicity about me which I would not like to discuss. You get HIV for a variety of reasons. It is not a punishment.

It is just like another disease, like you can get cancer. Some people don’t even go around saying ‘I want cancer’ or ‘I want sugar diabetes.’ It is unfortunate that HIV is stigmatised to sex and people will think that a person has to be a pervert to have sex to get HIV. But it is just unfortunate.”

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.]

Kenya: Testing the Integration of HIV and public healthcare

Via PlusNews

HIV could lose its "special status" in Kenya's health system if a new pilot programme integrating HIV care and public healthcare proves successful.

Traditionally, public hospitals in Kenya have a "comprehensive care clinic" (CCC) dedicated to people living with HIV; under the new system, these would no longer exist.

For more than six months, the Ministry of Health and its partners have been piloting the move in Western Province; senior government officials say it will not reduce the focus on HIV, but will ease pressure on an already overburdened and understaffed health system.

"Integrating HIV treatment with other outpatient services doesn't mean it has become less important; it only means maximizing on space and reducing the burden on healthcare personnel and to help increase focus on other equally important diseases like malaria," said Ibrahim Mohamed, head of the National AIDS and Sexually transmitted infections Control Programme, NASCOP.

Joshua Omoro likes the new system, stating, "I have come today to pick my [antiretroviral] medicine but nobody can know; people are just guessing what I might be suffering from just like I am also just guessing for other people," he said. "It puts you at ease... before when you went to a specific room, people just knew you had HIV."

"It is not only reducing stigma but is also easing the staff shortages that had been experienced earlier when too much focus was placed on HIV/AIDS," said Beatrice Misoga, HIV/AIDS integration officer for US government-supported AIDS, Population and Health Integrated Assistance II (APHIA II) in Western Kenya.

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.]

KENYA: Stigma keeps Asian population from accessing HIV services

via PlusNews

When 20-year-old Jenna,* a Kenyan of Asian descent, told her family two years ago she had tested positive for HIV, they forced her to terminate her pregnancy, forbad her to seek treatment and kept her locked in the house because of the shame she had brought on the family.

She did, however, go against their will and obtained life-prolonging antiretroviral medication at hospital. She now lives with another family who have taken her in and accepted her status.

"When I insisted on seeking treatment, my family chased me away," Jenna told IRIN/PlusNews. "For them it was good if I died slowly rather than shame them by seeking treatment and giving people an opportunity to know my status."

The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics estimates there are about 120,000 Kenyans of Asian - largely South Asian – origin, mainly living in the three major cities of Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu.

According to Anwar Ali Sharif, 36, the only Asian member of the National Empowerment of People Living with HIV/AIDS of Kenya (NEPHAK), stigma is the biggest impediment to Kenyan Asians accessing HIV/AIDS services.

"There is a lot of stigma among Kenyans of Asian origin. Many people who are HIV-positive are locked in the house because it is feared they will shame the family if it is known they are HIV-positive," he said.

He noted that while wealthy Asians could afford to visit private health facilities where no one need know their status, the stigma of visiting the clearly marked comprehensive HIV care clinics in public hospitals kept poorer Asians away from treatment.

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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.]
 

High HIV risk behavior among men who have sex with men in Kigali, Rwanda: making the case for supportive prevention policy

AIDS Care. 2011 Apr;23(4):449-55.

Chapman J, Koleros A, Delmont Y, Pegurri E, Gahire R, Binagwaho A.

Futures Group International, Washington, DC, USA.

Abstract

Rwanda has responded strongly to HIV/AIDS, but prevention among men who have sex with men (MSM) has not yet been addressed due to a strong cultural resistance to homosexuality, and a lack of data showing the public health value of attending to the sexual health needs of this group. We conducted an exploratory study on HIV risk among MSM in Kigali using snowball sampling involving peer leaders. The 99 respondents were demographically, socially, and sexually diverse. Respondents reported relatively high numbers of male and female partners, and considerable HIV risk behaviors including commercial sex with men and women, low condom use during anal and vaginal sex, and high mobility. Many respondents reported verbal and/or physical abuse due to their sexuality. This first study of MSM in Rwanda has brought attention to a previously neglected HIV risk group and their potential driving role in the Rwandan epidemic, demonstrating the need for sensitive and targeted interventions.

[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.]

Human Rights Watch: US: Mississippi Policies Fuel HIV Epidemic

State’s Approaches Impede Access to Information, Prevention, Treatment

via Human Right Watch

Thousands of Mississippians are at risk for HIV, and many who are infected are denied lifesaving measures and treatment because of counterproductive state laws and policies, Human Rights Watch said in a report released March 9. Mississippi has resisted effective approaches to HIV prevention and treatment and instead supported policies that promote stigma and discrimination, fueling one of the nation's highest AIDS rates, Human Rights Watch said.

The 59-page report, "Rights at Risk: State Response to HIV in Mississippi," documents the harmful impact of Mississippi's policies on state residents, including people living with HIV and those at high risk of contracting it. Mississippi refuses to provide complete, accurate information about HIV prevention to students and threatens criminal penalties for failing to disclose one's HIV status to sexual partners. At the same time, Mississippi provides little or no funding for HIV prevention, housing, transportation, or prescription drug programs for people living with HIV, and the state fails to take full advantage of federal subsidies to bolster these programs. In Mississippi, half of people testing positive for the virus are not receiving treatment, a rate comparable to that in Botswana, Ethiopia, and Rwanda.

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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.]