HIV Ireland
NewsDesk Weekly
13 April 2017

 

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HIV

HPSC - Weekly HIV & STIs Report - Week 13, 2017 (end Q1)
Latest data from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre show a total of 13 new cases for week 13 - 2017, bringing the total to 137 HIV new notifications for 2017 to date.

HIV in Ireland, 2016: Provisional Data (slide set) 
HPSC, 30 March 2017

Scotland first in UK to approve anti-HIV drug
HIV Scotland, 10 April 2017
The Scottish Medicines Consortium has announced that PrEP has been deemed a cost-effective treatment to prevent the transmission of HIV and will be made available on the NHS in Scotland.

Scotland Will Provide The Drug That Prevents HIV To Those At Risk
BuzzFeed, 10 April 2017
PrEP4Scotland, a group of organisations comprising HIV Scotland, Terrence Higgins Trust Scotland, Waverley Care, and the National AIDS Trust, which have been working towards the provision of PrEP in Scotland, welcomed the news in a joint statement.
 
Lillie’s Bordello Donates €835 To HIV Ireland
The Outmost, 31 March 2017
Alan Amsby (aka Mr Pussy) presented HIV Ireland with the €835 donation from Lillie’s Bordello.

HIV Expert Group publish Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Review findings
Public Health Wales, 21 March 2017
The independent HIV Expert Group established by Public Health Wales has completed its review of the available evidence of the effectiveness of PrEP in HIV prevention among high risk individuals.
You can read the report here: ‘Preparing for PrEP?’ A Review of the Current Evidence for Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent HIV infection in Wales

Welsh report says HIV prevention drug 'highly effective'
BBC, 22 March 2017
PrEP is not currently available on the Welsh NHS, but a report by an independent HIV expert group said it was "highly effective" when used with the right groups and in the right doses with appropriate monitoring.

Not just PrEP: other reasons for London's HIV decline
The Lancet, April 2017
Dean Street Clinic experts believe that the causes of the 42% decline in new cases seen at their clinic are likely to be multifactorial, including STIs screen and increase in HIV testing.
See also:
The large fall in HIV diagnoses in London gay men is real and thanks to combination prevention, not just PrEP
Aidsmap, 6 April 2017

GMHS Needs More Funding or HIV Rates Will Never Fall
The Outmost, 5 April 2017
A new report indicates that London’s drop in HIV diagnoses is likely due to a combination of factors, including PrEP, PEP and faster treatment of STIs like chlamydia and gonorrhoea. Editor Aidan Quigley says Ireland should follow suit and increase funding for sexual health clinics like GMHS.

Adam Houlihan talks about PrEP in Ireland
Masc., 20 March 2017
PrEP is currently unavailable in Ireland and prevention advocates are campaigning for the implementation of this drug. Adam Houlihan talks about his decision of going on PrEP and the difficulties of finding this medication in Ireland.

Trialling PrEP: What happened to the NHS PrEP trial?
Boyz, 22 March 2017
When NHS England announced at the start of December 2016 that they’d be funding a new large-scale PrEP trial, many people thought that they’d be able to access PrEP in the spring. Dr Will Nutland from PrEPster.info gives an update about what’s going on with the trial.

Suicides in men with HIV are twice the rate of general population
The Gay UK, 10 April 2017
The data presented at the recent BHIVA conference come from a fifteen-year study of almost 90,000 people diagnosed with HIV in England and Wales, with comparison against the general population.

New HIV cases fall to 13-year low in Scotland
The Herald Scotland, 21 March 2017
Latest statistics from Health Protection Scotland  show that new diagnoses of HIV in Scotland have fallen to their lowest level in more than a decade.

HIV testing should be seen as routine practice, says NICE in new draft quality standard
Wired Gov, 27 March 2017
The new draft quality standard by NICE suggests practical steps to increase the uptake of HIV testing, such as offering HIV tests during routine appointments.
Read the HIV testing draft quality standard

Straight With HIV: An Interview With Joshua Middleton
The Body, 17 March 2017
Joshua Middleton was 22 when he was diagnosed with HIV on June 5, 2012, As a non-injection drug user, non-promiscuous heterosexual, contracting HIV was the least of his worries.

Half of new Norwegian HIV-patients are heterosexual
Science Nordic, 28 March 2017
Half of Norwegian heterosexual men who become infected have had casual sex in Thailand. Women are most likely to become infected by their regular partner.

How Do You Do It? Australian HIV Campaign Puts Emphasis on a Combination of Ways
UNAIDS, April 2017
A new Australian campaign is focusing on HIV prevention based on a combination of various prevention tools including condoms, PrEP, and TasP.

India to ban discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS
CNN, 12 April 2017
The HIV and AIDS Prevention and Control Bill, passed by the country's parliament, will make it illegal to discriminate against people living with HIV.

Canada’s top HIV researchers urge federal, provincial and territorial governments to act now to limit the use of the criminal law in HIV non-disclosure cases
CfE Net, 6 April 2017
Canadian experts have released a statement expressing concern about the ongoing use of the criminal law in HIV non-disclosure cases, irrespective of the possibility of transmission or whether transmission actually occurred.

What I've Learned from 30 Years of AIDS Activism
VICE, 30 March 2017
Activist Peter Staley explains what lessons can be drawn from his time fighting AIDS today.

See the 1980s Posters That Helped Raise Awareness About AIDS
Time, 29 November 2016
The University of Rochester's Rare Books and Special Collections department houses a collection of more than 8,000 AIDS education posters.
AIDS Education Posters
University of Rochester

Three Reasons Why Language is Important in Media Coverage of HIV
HRC Blog, 27 March 2017
Media can play an important role in helping to remove discrimination attached to people living with HIV by using a destigmatizing language and giving correct information.

Numerous Steps Required for At-Risk Gays to Get on PrEP Limit Its Impact
Poz, 21 March 2017
A study of gay and bi men in late 2015 found that two thirds were PrEP candidates but less than 1 in 10 of those men were taking it.

Antenatal screening in Europe: How to avoid mother-to-child transmission of infections
Eureka Alert, 21 March 2017
Transmission of infections with HIV, hepatitis B, syphilis or rubella from mother to child before and during birth as well as in infancy is still widespread across Europe. A new ECDC report outlines how to improve the uptake of antenatal testing among vulnerable groups like migrant women or women at higher risk for infections
Full report: Antenatal screening for HIV, hepatitis B, syphilis and rubella susceptibility in the EU/EEA – addressing the vulnerable populations
ECDC, March 2017

British Mothers With HIV Are Going Hungry To Pay For Formula Milk
Buzzfeed, 3 April 2017
Breastfeeding risks infecting the baby and, according to a new report, mothers living in poverty are sacrificing their health to avoid it.

PrEP should be given to all breastfed babies, researchers say
Aidsmp, 5 April 2017
An international group of researchers say that PrEP should be given to all breastfed babies of HIV-positive mothers in countries where the likelihood of transmission via breastfeeding remains significant.

Should Antiretroviral Therapy Be Offered The Same Day As Diagnosis?
ITPC, 22 March 2017
Discussion on WHO’s proposed recommendation for starting treatment the same day of diagnosis (Same Day Start).

Q&A: The director of the Gates Foundation's HIV program on what's needed to accelerate efforts
Devex, 15 February 2017
Interview to Emilio Emini, director of the HIV program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

WHO: Co-infection of Tuberculosis and HIV in Europe Increases
Prensa Latina, 21 March 2017
A new report by the World Health Organization indicates that tuberculosis and HIV co-infection has increased in Europe by 40 percent.

Finding men with HIV – and keeping them in treatment
Aidsmap, 17 March 2017
HIV testing and retain in care strategies in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Two-thirds of people with HIV/HCV co-infection in Southeast Asia in need of HCV therapy
Aidsmap, 24 March 2017
This is the first regional study of comprehensive assessment of HCV infection and HCV-related liver disease in HIV-HCV-coinfected patients in Asia. The proportion of patients in this cohort having liver disease is concerning, as routine HCV treatment is usually not available or accessible for patients under HIV care in South-East Asia.”

100 HIV/AIDS organizations sign letter urging Congress to oppose American Health Care Act
Healio, 22 March 2017
One hundred HIV/AIDS organisations have signed a letter to Congress strongly urging members to oppose passing the American Health Care Act because millions of Americans would likely lose health insurance coverage, including thousands of patients with HIV.

Behaviour change interventions in HIV prevention: is there still a place for them?
Aidsmap, 12 April 2017
A meta-analysis of studies on how to reduce HIV risk behaviour in HIV-negative gay men has found that brief interventions techniques can have a significant impact especially if face-to-face, and immediately after HIV testing.

Long-acting injectable PrEP study now enrolling
Beta Blog, 20 March 2017
Research sites across various countries are now enrolling MSM and transgender women who have sex with men into an injectable PrEP study. This study will evaluate the safety and efficacy of this new long-acting injectable version, compared with Truvada.

Are serious heart problems inevitable for people with HIV? A conversation with cardiologist Priscilla Hsue
Beta Blog, 15 March 2017
Cardiologist Dr Priscilla Hsue talks about heart health and inflammation, and why cardiovascular conditions are becoming a growing concern for people growing older with HIV.

The Story Behind the First AIDS Drug
Time, 19 March 2017
Story of the AZT drug and the controversies surrounding its trial and FDA approval.

HIV drives evolution of tuberculosis bacterium
Cosmos, 22 March 2017
The bacterium responsible for tuberculosis is evolving in response to HIV infection, with potentially serious implications for vaccine design.
 
HIV 'fingerprint' tool could greatly assist vaccine development
Medical News Today, 29 March 2017
Scientists hope that their new method of "fingerprinting" the shields of sugar molecules that HIV surrounds itself with to evade the immune system will improve and speed up the development of effective vaccines.