Podcast: A Little PrEP Talk Inspired by New Mapping Pathways Report

This 10-minute podcast (click to listen) was produced by AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC) and is the second in a series of discussions inspired by "Developing Evidence-Based, People-Centred Strategies for the Use of Antiretrovirals as Prevention."

This new Mapping Pathways report was published 19 June 2013 by RAND Europe and AFC.

In this new podcast, AFC staffers and Mapping Pathways team members Jessica Terlikowski and Jim Pickett chat about PrEP - pre-exposure prophylaxis.

Click here for Jessica and Jim's previous podcast - posted June 21, 2013 -  which introduces the report and talks about why it is relevant for multiple audiences.

Keep your eyes and ears open.

Jessica and Jim will be back soon to talk about the other ARV-based prevention strategies that were explored in the report: PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis), TLC+ (testing, linkage to care, plus treatment) and microbicides. And you will find out about it right here.


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PODCAST: Mapping Pathways Team Talks About Our New Report on ARV-based Prevention

Snapshot of the global epidemic, highlighting India, South Africa and the U.S. where Mapping Pathways collected data. From the new report.

This 14-minute podcast (click below to listen) was produced by AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC) and kicks off a series of discussions about "Developing Evidence-Based, People-Centred Strategies for the Use of Antiretrovirals as Prevention" the new Mapping Pathways report published 19 June 2013 by RAND Europe and AFC.

AFC staffers and Mapping Pathways team members Jessica Terlikowski and Jim Pickett introduce the report and talk about why it is both interesting and useful.

Jessica and Jim will be back to talk more in depth about each of the ARV-based prevention strategies that were explored: PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis), PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis), TLC+ (testing, linkage to care, plus treatment) and microbicides. Watch - and listen - to this space!



Mapping Pathways Partners

Mapping Pathways Podcast: Intro by AIDSChicago

[Please look for us on Facebook here www.facebook.com/MappingPathways and you can follow us on Twitter @mappingpathways as well.]

India's Involvement to the Change of HIV/AIDS

via the Hindustan Times, by Sanchita Sharma

A decade ago, New Delhi’s The Ashok turned away a dozen gay men who wanted to book a conference room at the hotel for a think-in on AIDS, which was still labelled a gay man’s disease. It took several phone calls from the senior bureaucracy at the Union Health Ministry’s National AIDS Control
Organisation (NACO) to get them a 12x12 conference room for one day.

“Five years ago, the same group of men who have sex with men (MSMs, the politically correct term for homosexuals) organised a huge convention at The Ashok, with 700 MSM and transgender participants overrunning the hotel for days. Laws may not have changed in the courts or in the books, but the law in the streets has changed, and this amazing turnaround in society’s attitude has happened because of AIDS,” says JVR Prasada Rao, former Union health secretary and National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) chief, who was appointed the UN Special Envoy for AIDS in the Asia Pacific region this week.

Safe and sound, legally

 Change in social attitude is fantastic, no doubt, but it is not enough to keep new infection down. Legal environment around people most at risk — homosexuals, injecting drug users and sex workers — has to change to encourage them to seek HIV-prevention and treatment services that have been proven to cut down new infections dramatically, not just in India but everywhere around the world.

Last year, the HPTN052 study — HIV Prevention Trials Network’s study that was declared the Breakthrough of the Year 2011 by the journal Science — showed that if an HIV-positive person adheres to antiretroviral therapy (ART) used to treat AIDS, the risk of transmitting the virus to their uninfected sexual partner is reduced by 96%.

In March this year, the Africa Centre for Health and Population Studies reconfirmed the HPTN findings by presenting data showing that in areas where ART uptake is high (greater than 30%) people who do not have HIV are 38% less likely to get infected with the virus as compared to areas of low uptake (less than 10%).

With 7.4 million on HIV treatment globally, new HIV infections have fallen in 33 countries since 2001, though mostly in Africa and Asia. UNAIDS credits the halving of India HIV-infected people to 2.39 million to both improved data collection methods and an actual fall in new infections because NACO provides 4.48 lakh people free anti-retroviral therapy (ART), which lowers the HIV load in the body and lowers the risk of infecting partners while helping the infected live healthier and longer.

Read the Rest.


[Content that is linked from other sources is for informational purposes and should not construe a Mapping Pathways position.]

AFC's "Inside Story" fills the void in HIV/AIDS news coverage

via AIDS Foundation of Chicago, by Gregory Trotter

People seeking news and stories about HIV/AIDS have a new place to turn.

The AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC) is proud to announce its new blog, Inside Story.  Be it a breakdown of complicated legislative issues, an explanation of medical breakthroughs or rendering of powerful stories of people living with HIV in Chicago — Inside Story provides a new outlet to help fill the void in mainstream daily news coverage.

“Given the political and fiscal challenges we face in the HIV/AIDS sector, it’s more important than ever that we tell our stories,” said David Ernesto Munar, president/CEO of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago. “Inside Story will help us do just that.”

“The people affected by HIV are not just statistics and dollar amounts. Their stories are diverse, joyful and heartrending,” Munar said. “We have a responsibility to tell those stories.”

Inside Story will first and foremost tell the stories of the people who comprise the AFC family: employees and board members, community partners, and the thousands of people served by the vast network of HIV medical and support services, case management and housing assistance in Chicago.
These stories will strive to break down stigma while shedding light on underreported topics in Chicago.

Take for example, the story of Will Wilson, an HIV-positive man and longtime HIV advocate, who suddenly found himself struggling to meet the new filing requirements of the Illinois AIDS Drug Assistance Program.

“It’s like looking through a plate glass window and knowing you can’t reach what’s on the other side,” said Wilson, on nearly being bumped from ADAP. “It’s just really, really, really scary.”

But Inside Story will also provide perspective on national and international issues, such as the recent reinstatement of the ban on federal funding for syringe exchanges or the emergence of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) as a useful tool for HIV prevention.

AFC staff writer Gregory Trotter provides most of the content for Inside Story.

Trotter received his M.S.J. from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism in 2008. Prior to coming to AFC, he worked as a newspaper reporter in Missouri and New Hampshire, winning awards for business and features reporting. His stories have appeared in the Washington Post, USA Today, Dallas Morning News, and on Politifact, among other news outlets throughout the country.

You can subscribe to Inside Story’s RSS feed to get the latest blog posts. Please spread the word: Inside Story will take you inside the stories of the people committed to stopping the epidemic in Chicago and beyond.

Read Inside Story here.


[Content that is linked from other sources is for informational purposes and should not construe a Mapping Pathways position.]

Deadline Extended to December 19 for Nominations for the 2012 Omololu Falobi Award!

Has an advocate for HIV prevention really inspired you to work harder, achieve more, and be less afraid to challenge change in your country?

Outstanding work deserves recognition!

Nominate someone today!

The Omololu Falobi Award for Excellence in HIV Prevention Research Community Advocacy was established by the African Microbicides Advocacy Group (AMAG) and partners in 2008 in honor of Omololu Falobi’s memory and commitment to the field. The Award is presented to a community advocate in recognition of his/her contribution to the HIV prevention research field through community advocacy. The deadline for nominations is December 19!

Contact: omololufalobiaward@yahoo.com
Nomnation forms available at: www.avac.org/omololufalobi

[Content that is linked from other sources is for informational purposes and should not construe a Mapping Pathways position.]

Open Letter Urges That PrEP Debate Should be Based on “Facts not Misinformation”

“Ad campaigns that misinform communities at risk for HIV will not help end this epidemic.  We call on everyone to get the facts about PrEP, seek information, and express opinions, but to do so based on real information…”

Earlier this month, a number of US newspapers ran coverage of an open letter, signed by more than 100 “openly HIV-positive gay and bisexual men from across the United States”, calling for an open discussion of the challenges and opportunities presented by pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention.

The letter was written partly in response to an ongoing paid ad campaign by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) that many advocates feel “misrepresents” facts about important PrEP research. Among other things, the campaign expresses concern that PrEP could possibly lead to decreased condom use and an increased risk among gay men because it gives a “false sense of protection”. As a note supporting the open letter posted on IRMA (International Rectal Microbicide Advocates) puts it, “We reject those false assertions and want a full and factual discussion of the pros and cons of PrEP in our community...and make clear our belief that we are entitled to respect, accurate information and new HIV prevention tools.”

“Giving gay men more information about their health only empowers them to make informed decisions. The fear that gay men will take PrEP, forego condoms and become out of control disease spreaders, harkens to the days when men feared women would become crazed nymphomaniacs thanks to the new birth control pill,” says an article about AHF's campaign on FrontiersLA.com, a “breaking gay news” site. You can read more about the AHF campaign on the Mapping Pathways blog post: To PrEP or not to PrEP?

In response to the campaign by the AHF, the open letter states: “PrEP raises many important questions that should be discussed and debated. We are disappointed, however, that an organization that runs HIV clinics, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), has chosen to spend tens of thousands of dollars on ads that use simplistic and often misleading arguments to condemn PrEP before the FDA and the HIV community have had a chance to fully review and debate the study data.”

The letter then goes on to urge the AHF to put a stop to its campaign: “Ad campaigns that misinform communities at risk for HIV will not help end this epidemic.  We call on everyone to get the facts about PrEP, seek information, and express opinions, but to do so based on real information, not fear of the scientific process or prejudice against gay/bi men. To that end, we call on AHF to end their expensive and misleading ad campaign, and to work together with us to promote an informed public discussion of HIV prevention that can help reduce HIV risk and save lives.”

One signee who was quoted in an article published in the Sacramento Bee explained his reasons for signing the letter, “As an HIV positive gay man I signed this letter because I learned from experience we need all credible options to stop this epidemic. I owe my life to the fact that advocates and activists have pushed hard for decades to make effective AIDS drugs available to HIV-positive people," said Kali Lindsey.  "Now we know that AIDS drugs can also play an important role in the health and well-being of HIV-negative gay men, how could we not move forward to reap the benefits of this research. It is not an option to ignore these findings."


[Content that is linked from other sources is for informational purposes and should not construe a Mapping Pathways position.]