Why I will continue to fight against HIV … Until There’s A Cure

BY NATALIE CARTAL

Three months ago when I arrived at Until There’s A Cure as an intern, HIV still scared the bananas out of me. It seemed so foreign, like something you only read about in the news or hear about on T.V. At that point, I hadn’t yet seen what the virus can do. Perhaps this was a good sign but it seemed to me an unfortunate lack of experience and understanding. How was I supposed to give my all to an organization that raises funds and awareness for the fight against HIV and AIDS when I had never seen it with my own two eyes?

Thankfully, UNTIL recognized the importance of me creating a personal connection to the cause and offered me the opportunity to work hands on with people personally affected by the virus. They organized a volunteer opportunity where I would be able to learn directly from doctors, nurses, nutritionists, case works, psychologists and even patients themselves, the reality of having HIV and AIDS.

When I arrived at Clinica Esperanza in San Francisco I was nervous. Would the staff be willing to work with someone with little medical background? Would the patients be comfortable with my presence? Would I have anything to offer these people?

My nerves were quickly assuaged when I saw how receptive, open and vibrant everyone was, patients and staff alike. This was a safe place where everyone was welcome and where HIV status was only a factor in specializing care and not one that influenced personal interactions. Clinica Esperanza combines under a single roof, a holistic HIV clinic that encompassing the many factors that affect the health of an HIV positive person.

When most clients walk into the clinic they are all smiles and open hearts. They know that they are in a place free of judgment and surrounded by people who only want what is best for them, both emotional and physical. This is what makes Clinica Esperanza so special. When you are there, you are first and foremost a human being. These are the kinds of places that everyone should have access to no matter what your status may be. With more clinics of the sort, more people would get treatment and far more would stay in treatment.

My time at Clinica Esperanza helped me see how important support, care and services are when you are faced with a life changing virus like HIV. With the help of places like Clinic Esperanza, the world is a better place and we are one step closer to ending the spread of HIV. In my short but enriching time there, I discovered my personal connection to the cause. Thanks to the patients and the staff there I know, no matter how close or how far, I will always feel connected to the fight against HIV/AIDS.

This experience helped me understand what The UNTIL Team works so hard for. There efforts, time and commitment provide places like Clinic Esperanza necessary financial support so that they can do their jobs. With out places like Clinica Esperanza, there would be no hands on support but without UNTIL, similar organizations and the support of people like you, how would they support themselves?

National Gay Men’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Day: September 27

CDC Announcement: National Gay Men’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

From U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Source:
http://www.thebody.com/content/69161/cdc-announcement-national-gay-mens-hivaids-awarene.html?ap=2009

National Gay Men’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Day is observed each year on September 27 to focus on the continuing effects of the human immunodeficiency virus infection (HIV) and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) on gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) in the United States. By the end of 2009, more than 592,000 MSM were living with HIV infection, 52% of persons living with HIV infection in the United States.¹

Although MSM represent approximately 2% of the U.S. population,² in 2009, they accounted for 64% of all new HIV infections (including MSM who also were injection drug users [3% of new infections]). During 2006-2009, the estimated number of new HIV infections among MSM was stable overall, but increased approximately 34% among MSM aged 13-29 years, and approximately 48% in black or African American MSM in that age group. In 2009, approximately 22% of new infections among MSM were among young black or African American MSM, the highest number of new infections among any age or race/ethnicity group of MSM.³

CDC supports a range of efforts to reduce HIV infection among MSM. These include HIV prevention services to reduce the risk for acquiring and transmitting HIV, diagnosis of HIV infection, and linkage of MSM with HIV infection to treatment, including programs designed specifically for young black or African American MSM. Additional information about these efforts is available at www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/msm. Additional information about National Gay Men’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Day is available at www.cdc.gov/features/ngmhaad.

References

1. CDC. Monitoring selected national HIV prevention and care objectives by using HIV surveillance data — United States and 6 U.S. dependent areas — 2010. HIV Surveillance Supplemental Report 2012;17(No. 3, part A).
2. Purcell DW, Johnson C, Lansky A, et al. Calculating HIV and syphilis rates for risk groups: estimating the national population size of MSM. Presented at the 2010 National STD Prevention Conference, Atlanta, GA; March 10, 2010.
3. Prejean J, Song R, Hernandez A, et al. Estimated HIV incidence in the United States, 2006-2009. PLoS ONE 2011; 6(8):1-13.

Olympian Greg Louganis

Greg Louganis is one of the most successful Olympic divers ever to grace the games, with 4 gold medals and countless other titles in international games. In the 1988 Olympics he hit his head on the diving board and suffered from a concussion, yet still qualified with the highest score on his next dive. Greg Louganis demonstrated his greatest level of courage, however, when he came out as gay in 1994 and announced that he was HIV positive to the public. Greg Louganis serves not only as a role model to divers and to all athletes, but to a whole community of people stigmatized for being gay and for being infected with HIV. Thanks to Greg’s courage, we are one step closer to breaking down stereotypes, and inspired to continue the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Please VOTE TODAY to Help our friends at Bicycle Empowerment Centre of Namibia!

Dear friends of BEN Namibia,

The Bicycle Empowerment Centre (BEC) model has changed cycling in
Namibia. Each BEC is an independent social enterprise that creates
jobs, provides affordable mobility and ensures ongoing bicycle
maintenance services. Profits support local welfare programmes, many
focussed on children orphaned through the AIDS crisis. More than
23,000 bicycles have been distributed through the network of 28 BECs
in Namibia in the past five years.

The BEC model has been recognised by the SMART MobiPrize, an
initiative supported by the Rockerfeller Foundation, and is
nominated, along with 14 other international entries, to win $5,000
and a trip to the Rio+20 conference to receive the prize. 

In order to win WE NEED YOUR VOTE BEFORE 1 MAY. It’s simple and takes
less than a minute. As a bonus you get to vote for two other
enterprises. We highly recommend our friends at ZAMBikes, the only
other African entry, and viaCycle, an innovative bicycle-share
system.

Follow the link to vote:

http://www.mobiprize.com/people-choice-award-10-options/

Thanks for your support!
Michael

The More You Buy The More You Help

1 for $15

3 for $40

Our Orphan Bracelets are handcrafted by South African women living with HIV/AIDS using (lead free) copper, brass and aluminum wire. All proceeds go towards helping mothers and children in South Africa whose lives have been severely impacted by HIV/AIDS. Your purchase provides employment to the mothers, and nourishment and care to the HIV/AIDS orphans in South Africa

Be Part of the Solution

… Until There’s A Cure

Challenges our High-Schoolers have faced in Fundraising for HIV/AIDS

At UNTIL, there’s always a new project. Whether it’s polishing bracelets that have been sitting in a drawer for who-knows-how-long, or planning fundraisers based at a high school where people have an average budget of two dollars, it’s always challenging.

Fundraisers are an excellent example of this. Austin and I raised over 500 dollars in only a few months with UNTIL at about three events. This is much harder than it sounds- at one of these fundraisers, Austin and I were there for about two hours and made about ten dollars! However, the other two were much more successful.

The main challenge was that in this economy, and especially at a high school, money is scarce and students are so far removed from the reality of HIV/AIDS that it’s difficult to make them care. It was definitely a great experience in marketing, as we had to be very convincing salesmen. People would come up thinking we were just selling food, or that we were fundraising for breast cancer. However, this gave us a great opportunity to spread awareness about an issue that few students knew much about. I believe, that regardless of how much money we made, it’s important that now more people are aware that it is an issue.

It’s not just an issue in third world countries, either. Believe it or not, in the United States there are currently over a million people living with HIV/AIDS. AIDS kills approximately 18,000 Americans every year. I think it’s important everyone is aware of this, including high school students.

Until next time,

Kaylynn

International Day Against Homophobia – May 17th

BY HANA KAJIMURA

Today is the International Day Against Homophobia. Just 21 years ago today, the World Health Organization removed homosexuality from its list of mental illness.

Today reminds parents to tell their children, regardless of their sexual orientation, that they love them. Today, teachers and employers work to create safe and open spaces for students and employees, and media outlets are encouraged to extend their coverage of LGBTQ issues. Today is also a day to remember all the lives destroyed by prejudices and lost to the diseases that fuel them.

In 2007, HIV/AIDS was the fourth leading cause of death for men aged 25-54 years in San Francisco, according to the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.

Is AIDS still a gay disease? No. AIDS affects everyone. HIV/AIDS affects men and women, gay and straight, San Franciscans and Africans, drug users and athletes, adults and children. But HIV/AIDS still disproportionately ravages gay communities, especially in California, especially in the San Francisco Bay Area.

75.7% of all HIV/AIDS cases occur among gay men in California. Nationally, this same statistic is 53%. Nearly three quarters of the 15,836 San Franciscans living with  HIV/AIDS at the end of 2009, were men who have sex with men (MSM).

I recently had a conversation with a Stanford student who is both active in the LGBTQ community and runs the anonymous peer HIV testing service on campus. He said that overlaps in terms of issues and activists between the two communities are rare. This lack of communication further perpetuates the mindset that HIV is something located entirely apart from the “Stanford bubble.” So we further perpetuate the hurtful stigma that swirls around both communities.

Today is a day that reminds us to be respectfully aware of our differences— because those differences do exist no matter what “bubble” we live under. In order to support our peers, we must face their fights as our own. In order to tear down stigma, we must first know the facts. Today, on the Day Against Homophobia, start a conversation to end misinformation.

AIDS: At last, the good news

This article was originally posted on May 12 at http://www.TheEconomist.com by G.C.

TEN years ago, at the inflection point in attitudes to the AIDS epidemic when both drugs and money to deal with it were rapidly becoming available in serious quantities, there was an acrimonious debate between medical experts and activists about what to do with those drugs and that money. Some (mainly the medical experts) wanted to concentrate on breaking the chain of transmission by stopping new infections. Others (mainly infected activists) wanted to concentrate on treating those already harboring HIV. Neither, oddly, considered that the same approach might be used to do both.

But it can. That is the conclusion of a study that has just been stopped, because its results are so decisive that it was considered immoral to keep on denying treatment to those in the control arm, who were acting as a benchmark against which the approach could be judged.

The trial in question, organized by an international body called the HIV Prevention Trials Network, and paid for by America’s National Institutes of Health, asked whether treating an infected individual with drugs that suppress his level of HIV also stops him passing the virus on. It turns out that it does. HPTN 052, as the trial is known, recruited 1,763 established couples (97% heterosexual, 3% male homosexual) in which one partner but not the other was infected. The couples came from 13 places in Africa, Asia and North and South America. The crucial point was that the infected individual in the couple was not ill enough to qualify for treatment under existing guidelines for drug use. Those guidelines are in place partly to avoid inflicting unnecessary side-effects on patients and partly to reduce the risk of drug-resistant strains of the virus developing.

Half of the volunteer couples were treated according to the existing guidelines, with the infected partner being offered drug treatment only if his or her condition (as measured by the level of a particular immune-system cell in the bloodstream) dropped below a critical threshold, or if he or she developed actual symptoms of AIDS. In the other half, the infected partner was put straight onto drugs. All couples were also counseled in transmission-avoidance and were given free condoms and treatment for other sexually transmitted diseases, as well as regular medical check-ups.

The study began in April 2005. Since then, 28 people have transmitted the virus to their partners. Of those, 27 were in the control group and only one in the experimental arm of the trial. Drugs, in other words, do stop transmission as well as saving lives. You can have your cake and eat it.
This is a decisive result, and a triumph both for the study’s organizers, and for Julio Montaner of the University of British Columbia, who pioneered this approach and has been pushing for its implementation for years. AIDS is by no means beaten, but now it may be on the run.

Where do you Stand?

BY HANA KAJIMURA

“Should we only encourage those at risk to get tested, in response to possible infection? Or can people get tested to raise awareness and stand in solidarity with those who are at higher risk? If one in five people who are infected with HIV do not know it yet, should we spend the resources to make sure everyone knows their status?”

The website instructed me to go to the second floor of Vaden Health Center. Nothing else.

I guess the ambiguity is necessary to ensure the “anonymous” part of HIV*PACT’s mission: anonymous HIV testing, counseling and education.

“Just to be clear, you’re here for an HIV test, right?” I felt like I was making a cameo appearance in a Harry Potter movie. As we entered the testing room, I was pulled under Harry’s invisibility cloak, into a space where I ceased to exist. Because I hadn’t given HIV*PACT any identifying information, they would not have to report my test results (A senate bill passed in 2006 requires health care providers to report even confidential HIV test results by patient name). So the moment I stepped in the testing room, I became invisible in the probing eyes of Santa Clara County. As far at the county is concerned, the next half hour never happened.

I had three options: a blood draw, OraSure, and OraQuick rapid antibody tests. The first two tests would take about a week to process, requiring a second appointment to receive my results. With the rapid test, I would know my results, with 99.6% accuracy, in about 20 minutes. All I had to do was swab my gum lines, top and bottom. Done. My counselor left the room to place the test in a lockbox.

“Can I ask you why you wanted to get tested today? Are there any specific instances that you’re worried about?” I write so much about the importance of knowing your HIV status; getting tested is a way to both ensure good health for longer and to lessen the stigma around HIV. Though I have not participated in any of the so-called “risky” behaviors that often point to HIV, I wanted to get tested to be sure, hoping my example would encourage others to do the same.

I watched a stopwatch tick slowly towards the 20-minute mark. Even in the casual, anonymous atmosphere of the HIV*PACT room, even though I had no reason to expect the worst, my stomach fluttered and my chest constricted. Regardless of what I felt my own individual odds were, all I could think about were two possible outcomes—positive and negative. A 50-50 chance. Whether you’re swabbing your own saliva on a comfy couch or having your blood drawn by doctors in pristine lab coats, the decision to get tested is an important one that carries a lot of weight. It can be life changing, and that’s scary.

The timer buzzed. My counselor left to collect the test, collect herself, and then came back to the room. “So the test shows that…” She scribbled something down on a piece of paper before finishing her sentence. I wait. She turns to me. “…you’re negative. Congratulations!” Exhale.

I tell you my story not to be dramatic. The last thing I want to do is scare people from getting tested. When I admit to my nerves, I hope to communicate the seriousness of this disease. By going to get tested, you are saying to yourself that for better or worse, you are going to see this through. You are saying that you care about your community, that you value your relationships, and that you value yourself.

Groups like HIV*PACT are making testing easy and available for college students, filling about 60-70% of their appointments. However, my counselor said that HIV*PACT does not do much to encourage Stanford students to get tested. Since there are very few positives on campus, she said most of us aren’t at risk. They would rather cement safe sex practices than create a culture where everyone wants to get tested for the sake of getting tested.

This introduces some hard questions. Should we only encourage those at risk to get tested, in response to possible infection? Or can people get tested to raise awareness and stand in solidarity with those who are at higher risk? If one in five people who are infected with HIV do not know it yet, should we spend the resources to make sure everyone knows their status?

I think these are conversations we need to have, and a front we must stand united on. We cannot further cloud a stigmatized and underrepresented disease that affects so much of our globe. So let’s start the discussion here: Where do you stand?

Click here to find a testing site near you.

With Osama Bin Laden Gone, Can AIDS Be Public Enemy #1?

By Regan Hofmann

Editor-In-Chief, POZ

Osama Bin Laden is reported dead. His body buried at sea. Al Qaeda has been dealt a walloping blow.

A world without Bin Laden is better than a world with him here. But still, we should not gloat over any death, no matter how arguably necessary.

And let us not delude ourselves that Bin Laden’s death makes us any safer. We have kicked a giant hornet nest and may need to face the aftermath of swarming, stinging creatures. What we don’t know (and what I deeply hope our government’s intelligence community does know), is the extent to which Bin Laden’s network of terror is capable of functioning without him.

As we approach the 10th anniversary of 9/11, we are bound to see what Al Qaeda plans for Act II. Are they more or less likely to act? More or less capable of doing so? If they plan to attack again on American soil in this anniversary year, when will it happen? Can it be prevented?

I, for one, started my day in Manhattan calling my mom and giving her some key information that she’ll need if I’m dead. I did this after walking by my local police precinct in Manhattan and noticing that ALL of the squad cars (usually lining the street along half  E-W city block) were gone…out on patrol. I asked an officer standing on the steps if I should be worried. Yes, he said. We should all be worried.

While I feel a great deal of pride in the American military, and am allowing myself the irrational, non-specific feeling that somehow, things just got a whole lot better, I also know intuitively that this is a moment to up the ante of a guard, not drop it.

It’s often when we feel safest that the worst stuff happens to us.

I contracted HIV in a moment like that. I was so sure I didn’t need to worry any more about getting AIDS. And that’s when the virus surprise attacked me.

Vigilance is the way to steel against future problems.

And so, while we celebrate a moment that clearly is a step forward in the United States’ effort to fight terror around the world, we should also not relax into a false state of security.

That said, hopefully, we will now be able to breathe a little easier and redirect some resources to the front lines of others battles.

It is my job to advocate for the fight against HIV/AIDS. And so with that in mind, I offer this suggestion: Why not make AIDS public enemy #1 now that Osama Bin Laden’s death has freed up that slot?

President Obama has just orchestrated the death of one of the world’s most deadly terrorists.  Perhaps his next move should be to orchestrate the death of one of the world’s most deadly viruses.

AIDS qualifies on every level as an adequate replacement for Bin Laden. And, as we head towards the 30th anniversary of the first reported cases of what we now know to be AIDS (June 5, 2011), it is high time we put AIDS back in the spotlight so we can wipe it off the planet.

Bin Laden was a dangerous man, responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent people, many of whom were American.

HIV has killed 25 million and currently resides within the bodies of 33.3 million more. Only six million of the 33.3 million people can get their hands on lifesaving medical care. Which means the lives of 27.3 million people (and counting as new infections occur daily) are at risk. Without antiretroviral medication, most of the 27.3 million will die.

HIV is a helluva terrorist.

Bin Laden’s death proves that when the United States of America puts their best minds, strongest people and biggest resources behind a problem, we get it done.

Let’s set our sites on AIDS next.

Can you imagine if Obama started his next presidential campaign being able to claim he eliminated the most dangerous terrorist on earth–and funded the discovery for the cure for AIDS?

And talk about a way to reduce the budget. AIDS cured would save America at least $19 billion dollars a year. I think even the GOP could get behind that.

Today, the National Institutes of Health announced a new $10 million dollar grant for cure research. Here’s hoping that’s the beginning of a much larger and ongoing commitment to hunting down a killer as effective as HIV.

This article was originally posted on http://www.poz.com on May 2, 2011.