HIV & AIDS

/ / /

Why affirming faith communities belong in the fight to end HIV

Strategy work usually gets described in terms of what an organization needs to build: new systems, new partnerships, new infrastructure. But HIV strategy should begin with another question: What networks of relationships and influence already exist, and why have we not adequately invested in them as pathways to prevention and care? August 30 is National Faith HIV & AIDS Awareness Day. The observance points to an important strategic opportunity. Faith and spiritual communities are among the few institutions in this country that hold relationships that span generations. Their leaders are often present for some of the most intimate moments in people’s […]

/ /

‘HIV Is Too Woke’: Why This Gay Doctor Resigned From Trump’s CDC

, , ,

Dr. Demetre Daskalakis is one of the foremost LGBTQ health professionals in the U.S. In November 2020, the waning months of Trump’s first term, he was appointed director of the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Through part of his tenure with the Biden administration, he also served as the deputy response coordinator for mpox at the White House as well as the director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. While he continued a lot of this work after Biden left office, he didn’t last long under Trump 2.0. In August 2025, Daskalakis resigned from the […]

/ /

GLAAD’s 2026 State of HIV Stigma Report Shows Alarming Gap Between Scientific Progress and Public Understanding of HIV

GLAAD released the findings of its sixth annual State of HIV Stigma Report, created in partnership with Gilead Sciences. The study reveals a widening gap between game-changing scientific advancements in HIV prevention and treatment and awareness of these advances that can save lives and prevent new diagnoses. According to HIV.gov, approximately 1.2 million people in the U.S. are living with HIV. 13% of them do not know it, reinforcing the continued need for HIV testing as well as the necessity of ending stigma around HIV. The 2026 report combines a survey of 2,500 U.S. adults, qualitative focus groups conducted in partnership […]

/ /

NHS to roll out ‘life-saving’ meds to combat drug-resistant HIV

,

The NHS is going to prescribe a new medication to treat the minority of patients living with a drug-resistant strain of HIV, in a landmark move. Around 100,000 people have HIV in England. There is currently no cure, though the vast majority can manage the virus with medication which hugely reduces the viral load to an undetectable level, which means they cannot pass it on. For a minority, though, the virus has mutated and become resistant to medication readily offered. Now, the drug Lenacapavir will be offered to those at risk in the coming weeks – reportedly 92 eligible patients. That number is […]

/ /

Canada Has Everything It Needs to End HIV. So Why Are Rates Rising Among Young Gay Men?

,

In 2019, when Marcus was 22 years old, he asked his family doctor for PrEP—a medication that prevents HIV from transmitting through sex. “My friends and I heard about PrEP during Pride, and all the ads said ‘talk to your family doctor,’” Marcus told Uncloseted Media. “So that’s what I did.” PrEP has been approved for HIV prevention in Canada since 2016—and America’s Food and Drug Administration did so in 2012. However, Marcus says his doctor had never heard of the medication. “He basically told me to be patient while he did some research and said I should use condoms,” he says. Just months […]

/ /

State Dept To End PEPFAR Funding For South Africa

Semafor reports: US President Donald Trump’s administration plans to permanently end funding for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, in South Africa, according to a State Department official and two congressional aides briefed on the decision. “The United States has decided to initiate a phased drawdown of PEPFAR programming in South Africa following South Africa’s failure to make demonstrable progress on policy requests by the administration,” the State Department official told Semafor. US Ambassador Leo Brent Bozell III [photo] is expected to meet with officials from South Africa’s Ministry of Health as soon as next week to deliver the […]

/ /

Can a single infusion of immune cells suppress HIV for years?

,

A new treatment regimen helping patients with blood cancer could be effective in suppressing HIV. Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco told The New York Times that two individuals in a trial saw HIV presence lower to undetectable levels following an experimental infusion of engineered immune cells. Detailed data on findings will soon be presented in full to the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy in Boston. Stay up to date with the latest in LGBTQ+ news with The Advocate’s email newsletter, in your inbox five days a week. While the one-infusion treatment may not become widely available for years, the […]

/ /

‘Take the Test, Risk Arrest’: Why Some HIV-Positive Americans Are Still Forced to Register as Sex Offenders

,

For nearly 17 years, Lashanda Salinas-Hicks remained shackled to the reality of life on the sex registry: She was legally required to stay 300 feet away from schools, parks and playgrounds, and she was forced to report to the sheriff’s office four times a year or risk a felony charge. That’s because in 2006, Salinas-Hicks’ partner pressed charges against her after a break up, accusing her of having sex without disclosing that she was HIV-positive. Although she says her partner knew of her status before engaging in intercourse with her, that didn’t stop her from being jailed for about two […]

/ /

Gay men couldn’t donate blood during the AIDS crisis. These lesbians stepped up & made history.

Barbara Vick had long been a regular donor at the San Diego Blood Bank, but during a routine visit one day in 1983, she noticed something different. As she thumbed through the standard paperwork, Vick paused on a new memo informing donors that “men who have sex with men” were now banned from giving blood. A lesbian and member of the Women’s Caucus within the LGBTQ+ group, the San Diego Democratic Club, Vick was no stranger to the era’s escalating AIDS epidemic. The private nature of the San Diego Blood Bank allowed individuals and organizations to create blood funds that […]

/ /

17 states consider cutting assistance for HIV meds as prices increase

,

States across the U.S. have either implemented or are considering measures that limit access to life-saving medications for tens of thousands of low-income people living with HIV. The moves, experts warn, are likely to lead to economic and public health crises. According to new data published this week by the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD), 17 states and D.C. have already taken steps to cut costs for their AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAP), while five others are considering similar measures. Since 1996, federally funded ADAPs have helped low-income, uninsured, and underinsured people afford HIV and AIDS medication, primarily […]

1 2 3 4›»