HIV & AIDS

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Pentagon ends long-standing restrictions on service members with HIV

The Defense Department has officially ended a 1980s-era policy that restricted HIV-positive service members from deploying overseas and being promoted into leadership and management positions. The updated guidance officially took effect Monday, according to a memo addressed to military leadership from the office of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. A judge struck down the decades-old policy in early April.  U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema of Eastern Virginia found that the Pentagon’s classification of HIV as a chronic condition did not reflect modern scientific understandings of the virus.  In one of two orders, Brinkema banned the Pentagon from “separating or discharging” asymptomatic HIV-positive service members with undetectable viral […]

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Judge strikes down military’s limits on service members with HIV

In a landmark ruling, a federal court has ordered the Defense Department to end a long-standing Pentagon policy forbidding enlisted military service members from deploying in active duty outside the continental U.S. and being commissioned as officers if they have HIV. Supporters hailed it as overdue legal affirmation that people receiving effective antiretroviral treatment for HIV are essentially healthy and pose no risk to others. The judgment topples one of the country’s last major pillars of HIV-related employment discrimination. Federal law has for decades barred employers from discriminating against people with HIV under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. The […]

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Biden admin calls for program to help provide more gender-affirming care for trans people with HIV

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To mark the 12th anniversary of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) is hosting a weeklong celebration to praise its accomplishments. But in the name of health equity for transgender people, who are adversely affected by HIV/AIDS, HHS is also asking for more. In a letter shared exclusively with LGBTQ Nation, the HIV/AIDS Bureau (HAB) of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is asking the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP) to leverage its existing infrastructure and resources to not only continue providing direct HIV/AIDS care to transgender people, but to provide gender-affirming care as well. Established thirty […]

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FDA approves first condom specifically intended for anal sex

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration this week approved the first condom specifically indicated for anal intercourse.  While the One Male Condom is not markedly different from the hundreds of other condoms on the market, it is the first that will be allowed to use the “safe and effective use” label for reducing sexually transmitted infections during anal sex. It is also approved for use as a contraceptive and as a means to reduce STIs during vaginal intercourse.  “This landmark shift demonstrates that when researchers, advocates, and companies come together, we can create a lasting impact in public health efforts,” Davin Wedel, […]

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Breakthrough HIV reported in injectable PrEP trial; experts say drug still very effective

In a large clinical trial assessing Apretude, ViiV Healthcare’s recently approved injectable drug, as a form of HIV prevention, seven participants contracted the virus despite receiving their injections on schedule. The new findings indicate that, just as with those who take daily pills to prevent HIV, breakthrough infections are possible among people receiving Apretude. Dr. Raphael J. Landovitz, who led the Apretude clinical trial in question, told NBC News that he expects such cases of PrEP failure to remain what he characterized as rare, regardless of which form of preventive antiretroviral medication people at risk of HIV receive.  Apretude is […]

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New highly-infectious and damaging strain of HIV discovered in the Netherlands

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A new highly-infectious and damaging strain of HIV, resulting from a mutation in the virus, has been discovered in the Netherlands. Scientists working on the BEEHIVE project, a study of HIV genomics and virulence across Europe and Uganda, published their findings in the journal Science on Thursday (3 February). According to UNAIDS, 38 million people around the world are currently living with the most prominent strain of the virus, HIV-1, and it has caused, to date, around 33 million deaths. HIV-2 is the other most prominent type of HIV, and is most commonly seen in West Africa. The newly discovered mutation, a subtype of HIV-1, has been named […]

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Many US states still criminalize HIV transmission. NJ is about to break away

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New Jersey is set to decriminalise HIV transmission, ending an historic law that “fuels stigma”. Under current New Jersey law, a person who engages in sexual penetration by any body part without disclosing they are HIV-positive could face up to five years in prison. For other sexually-transmitted infections, the sentence is limited to 18 months. On Monday (10 January), state senators voted 26-11 to pass a bill, S-3707, that would put an end to this. The bill would still criminalise the transmission of non-airborne infectious or communicable diseases, but will no longer target those living with HIV or STIs. “This legislation is […]

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HIV Is Not a Crime: A New Play for Reforming Laws Criminalizing HIV Status

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As the world marks 40 years of the first HIV cases to be diagnosed, an urgent new campaign and storytelling initiative is focusing attention on living with HIV and reforming laws in more than 30 states that treat HIV status as a crime. The Centers for Disease Control says these laws “discourage HIV testing, increase stigma, and exacerbate disparities,” noting they are outdated and do not reflect the significant advances to treat and prevent HIV transmission, such as effective treatments that can suppress the virus to the point of it being undetectable and therefore untransmittable (U=U). President Biden also prioritized reforming the […]

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FDA approves first injectable HIV prevention drug

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The Food and Drug Administration has approved the first long-acting injectable medication for use as pre-exposure prevention, or PrEP, against HIV, the agency announced Monday.  Apretude, the new drug, is an injectable given every two months as an alternative to HIV prevention pills, like Truvada and Descovy, which have been shown to reduce the risk of HIV by 99 percent when taken daily.  Two FDA trials analyzing the safety and efficacy of the novel drug found that Apretude was more likely to reduce HIV than the daily oral medications — by 69 percent for cisgender men and transgender women who have […]

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Black people account for 68 percent of HIV-related arrests in Va.

Since 2001, at least 97 people have been arrested under Virginia laws that criminalize people living with HIV, hepatitis B, and syphilis, according to a new report by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law. HIV-related crimes are disproportionately enforced on the basis of race and sex, with Black men being the most likely to be arrested and convicted. Using data obtained from the Criminal Justice Information Services Division of the Virginia Department of State, researchers found that charges were filed in over 70 percent of HIV-related arrests in Virginia and more than half of them resulted in a […]

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