Notifications of HIV & STIs reported in Ireland – Week 19, 2020
Health Protection Surveillance Centre, 15 May 2020
Latest weekly report from the HPSC shows that 211 HIV notifications have been reported in Ireland to date in 2020.

HIV Combination prevention: Monitoring implementation of the Dublin Declaration on partnership to fight HIV/AIDS in Europe and Central Asia (2018 progress report)
ECDC, 15 May 2020
This report uses survey data collected from countries who took part in the 2018 round of reporting on implementation of the Dublin Declaration on Partnership to Fight HIV & AIDS in Europe and Central Asia.

What to do if you're HIV positive and are admitted to hospital with COVID-19 – advice from the British HIV Association
BHIVA, 15 May 2020
In response to questions from the HIV community on what to expect, and what to do, if you are an HIV positive person who is admitted to hospital with COVID-19, the British HIV Association answers the main points that have been raised.

Flexibility Is Key to Providing Ongoing Services to an HIV-Positive Population During the COVID-19 Pandemic
AJMC, 14 May 2020
“To provide effective HIV prevention and care to priority populations, HIV service delivery must be flexible, familiar, and paired with needed social interventions.”

When COVID-19 crosses paths with HIV
Fred Hutch, 8 May 2020
To get a better handle on the level of risk for people living with HIV, researchers are looking for clues in the medical records of those who have also been recently infected with COVID-19.

Quarantine Fatigue Is Real
The Atlantic, 11 May 2020
Public-health campaigns that promote the total elimination of risk, such as abstinence-only sex education, are a missed opportunity to support lower-risk behaviours that are more sustainable in the long term.

Is sex on hold in the queer community during COVID-19?
San Francisco AIDS Foundation, 4 May 2020
Felipe Flores, associate director of PrEP and HIV Positive Services at San Francisco AIDS Foundation, explores how people are evaluating risk about having sex during the Covid-19 pandemic, and making decisions that work for their own lives.

Is It Safe To Have Sex During Covid Pandemic?
Health Wire, 12 May 2020
Researchers say that it would be prudent to consider semen as potentially infectious. Antibody tests may play an important role in evaluating COVID-19 sexual risks and safe sex practices as it has with HIV.

Higher rates of serious outcomes in HIV and COVID-19 coinfection in Germany: cautious review
i-base, 14 May 2020
The new study retrospectively analysed anonymous data from 33 people diagnosed with COVID-19 between 11 March and 17 April 2020 in 12 participating German HIV centres.

Covid-19 crisis raises hopes of end to UK transmission of HIV
The Guardian, 14 May 2020
Sexual health experts see in lockdown restrictions a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ chance.

Fewer die from HIV across Europe, except for some regions
European Data Journalism Network, 13 May 2020
HIV has decreased more than any other cause of death in Europe, with deaths dropping by nearly a third between 2011 and 2016. A new report looks closer at HIV-related deaths across Europe region by region.

For Many Gay Men, the Current Pandemic Is Triggering HIV/AIDS Trauma
The Advocate, 11 May 2020
“I realize, in these days of coronavirus, I retain some degree of post-traumatic stress disorder from the first pandemic that I survived. The current one has played out with equal ferocity and emotional tumult, but rather than 25 years, it’s occurred over the past three months.”

Receptive anal sex contributes substantially to heterosexually‐acquired HIV infections among at‐risk women in Twenty US Cities: results from a modelling analysis
Wiley Online Library, 8 May 2020
Results of a study on heterosexual HIV transmission show that receptive anal intercourse is more efficient than receptive vaginal intercourse at transmitting HIV.

People with disabilities often left behind by HIV responses
UNAIDS, 12 May 2020
Worldwide, there are 1 billion people living with a disability. The majority live in low- and middle-income countries and face multiple barriers, leading to inequalities, and they are also often left behind by HIV responses.
 
Multi-month supplies of HIV medications – recommended during lockdowns – are not authorised in many countries
Aidsmap, 12 May 2020
During the coronavirus pandemic, allowing people who are stable on their HIV treatment to collect enough medication to cover three or six months – therefore minimising unnecessary visits to healthcare facilities – is recommended by WHO, UNAIDS, and other organisations. However, a third of countries do not permit prescriptions of three months or longer.

Spanish Supreme Court sets important HIV criminalisation precedent
HIV Justice Network, 8 May 2020
The Spanish Supreme Court has set an important precedent for HIV criminalisation cases, stating that it is not solely up to the defendant to prove that they disclosed their HIV-positive status, as other factors can inform a court’s judgement about whether or not a complainant knew the accused was HIV-positive.

People with herpes three times more likely to get infected with HIV as WHO issues plea for vaccine
Standard Digital, 11 May 2020
People with herpes are three times more likely to get infected with HIV, according to a new study by the World Health Organisation.

CDC: HIV Transmission Rates Held Essentially Stable From 2014 to 2018
POZ, 12 May 2020
The CDC has estimated that the annual rate of new HIV transmissions held essentially steady in the United States between 2014 and 2018. An estimated 1.2 million people 13 years old or older were living with HIV at the end of 2018, including 14% who remained undiagnosed.

Critical window for re-infection with HIV after stem cell transplantation
EurekAlert!, 14 May 2020
When some people with HIV need to undergo an allogeneic stem cell transplantation in order to treat different types of blood cancer. These allogeneic stem cells may not completely remove the virus from the body, despite a drastic reduction in the number of infected cells.

Women are more likely to be on HIV treatment
UNAIDS, 28 April 2020
Globally, among people living with HIV aged 15 years and older, coverage of antiretroviral therapy in 2018 was higher for women than for men. Numerous studies have shown that men are less likely than women to take an HIV test and to initiate and adhere to HIV treatment, which results in poorer clinical outcomes and a greater likelihood that they will die of AIDS-related causes.

The cost of inaction: COVID-19-related service disruptions could cause hundreds of thousands of extra deaths from HIV
UNAIDS, 11 May 2020
Gains made in preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa could be reversed, with new HIV infections among children up by as much as 104%.

What are the blood donation rules globally for gay and bisexual men?
Reuters, 11 May 2020
Countries around the world are reviewing restrictions on blood donations by gay and bisexual men imposed during the 1980s HIV/AIDS crisis, with some removing blanket bans and others reducing waiting periods after gay sex.

Brazilian court lifts restrictions on gay and bisexual men giving blood
The Guardian, 9 May 2020
Brazil’s supreme court has overturned rules that limit gay and bisexual men from donating blood.

The health workers braving COVID-19 lockdown to deliver medicines to HIV-positive moms
The New Indian Express, 12 May 2020
Plan India’s project Ahana is a national programme working in tandem with NACO to prevent parent-to-child transmission among women in most marginalized community.


PrEP

PrEP can prevent HIV infection in teens—so why aren’t they using it?
Popular Science, 12 May 2020
Access to PrEP and the stigma that surrounds it has created significant barriers for nearly every group that needs the drug, including teenagers.
 
HIV preexposure prophylaxis underused by U.S. adolescents
Reuters, 11 May 2020
Adolescents and young adults accounted for 21% of new HIV diagnoses made in 2018 and, therefore, remain a high-priority population in need of HIV prevention.


Hepatitis

What people living with hepatitis C need to know about COVID-19
Medical Xpress, 22 April 2020
Hepatitis C infections tripled in the United States from 2009-18. This increase is especially concerning, since people who have existing chronic medical issues may be at higher risk of serious illness from COVID-19.


Drugs

“Challenges Drive Us Forward”—Harm Reduction in St. Petersburg, Russia
Filter, 11 May 2020
Russian activists and NGOs are trying to expand life-saving harm reduction services, preventing HIV and helping people solve their wider medical and social problems.


LGBT

'We had bottles thrown at us, a woman spit on us': Six in 10 LGBT people avoid holding hands in public
The Journal, 14 May 2020
Over 2,300 people in Ireland were among 140,000 people across Europe who took part in the largest international LGBTI survey of its kind, carried out by the EU Fundamental Rights Agency.


Sex Work

Sex Work, Ending Demand, and ‘We Told You So’ in the Time of COVID
Discs, 8 May 2020
Sex Workers Alliance Ireland: Sex workers, like all workers, have been hit hard by the current crisis. But the reality is that the coronavirus has only exacerbated the existing difficulties faced by sex workers working in Ireland.