Notifications of HIV & STIs reported in Ireland – Week 9, 2020
Health Protection Surveillance Centre, 28 February 2020
Latest weekly report from the HPSC shows that 123 HIV notifications have been reported in Ireland to date in 2020.
Here's What You Need To Know About Coronavirus If You're HIV-Positive
Buzzfeed, 4 March 2020
Leading sexual health specialists have issued specific advice for people living with HIV about the risks posed by the coronavirus — with some urging extra precaution for patients who are not virally suppressed.
Comment on COVID-19 from the British HIV Association (BHIVA)
BHIVA, 27 February 2020
There is no evidence so far to determine whether people with HIV are at greater risk of COVID-19 acquisition or severe disease. PHE advises that clinicians should be alert to the possibility of atypical presentations in patients who are immunocompromised.
What the AIDS Response Shows | The Novel Outbreak
The China Current, 4 March 2020
Podcast: Professor Kamarulzaman, President-elect of the International AIDS Society and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Malaya, says some of the experiences from AIDS applies to this new viral outbreak.
Women, adolescent girls and the HIV response
UNAIDS, 5 March 2020
Press release: Forty years into the HIV epidemic, AIDS remains the leading cause of death of women of reproductive age—UNAIDS calls for bold action.
Swedish Parliament Urges to Exempt HIV-Positive From Duty to Inform Partners
Sputnik, 5 March 2020
According to the Swedish Parliament, the current legislation which obligates HIV-positive people to disclose their status to their sexual partner is “relatively ineffective from the medical viewpoint” and “a poor ideological marker”. Hence, it should be completely abolished.
Washington Legislature ease penalties for HIV exposure
Daily Mail, 4 March 2020
The Washington Legislature has approved a bill that reduces the crime of intentionally exposing a sexual partner to HIV from a felony to a misdemeanor.
NHS is 'failing' patients living with HIV
BBC News, 5 March 2020
The failure to address the mental-health needs of people with HIV could lead to an increase in infections, a cross-party group of MPs suggests. The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on HIV and AIDS met with patients living with HIV at a range of hospital trusts throughout England, as well as numerous healthcare professionals.
A second HIV patient has gone into remission after a stem cell transplant
Science News, 5 March 2020
The stem cells came from a donor unable to make a protein needed by the virus.
Pressure to keep up: status imbalance a major factor in stress in gay men
The Guardian, 29 February 2020
Striking findings contained in new study may broaden appreciation of unique stressors faced by gay and bisexual men.
AIDS Inside and Out: HIV/AIDS and Penal Policy in Ireland and England & Wales in the 1980s and 1990s
PubMed Central, February 2020
As HIV/AIDS emerged in the 1980s as a new and seemingly overwhelming public health challenge, prisons were highlighted as an important location for the control of the epidemic. Yet, they often seemed unwilling or unable to adopt national guidelines.
Same-day viral load testing linked to significant improvements in HIV treatment
Avert, 28 February 2020
South African trial finds 90% of people receiving rapid viral load testing were virally suppressed and in care after 12 months, compared to 76% who waited for tests.
Life Growing Up
CHIVA Projects, 30 November 2018
A 'must watch' short film by Chiva Projects created with young people who having grown up living with HIV. This film is part of the Charity Film Awards, an established annual event that attracts entries from charities, public views and votes, donations and reactions through social media.
Airmen who have HIV can continue to serve, appeals court rules
ABA Journal, 13 January 2020
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Richmond, Virginia, has declared that the government’s justifications for the discharge “fail to account for current medical literature and expert opinion about current HIV treatment and transmission risks.”
Alcohol Consumption Weakens Bones of People Living with HIV
News Medical, 3 March 2020
According to a new study, for people living with HIV, any level of alcohol consumption is associated with lower levels of a protein involved in bone formation, raising the risk of osteoporosis.
A more convenient, monthly treatment for HIV cleared a key hurdle
Science News, 4 March 2020
People living with HIV are one step closer to having a once-a-month treatment alternative to downing two or more pills a day.
PrEP
PrEP access initiative introduced in sex-on-premises venue in world first
GCN, 28 February 2020
UK sexual health clinic, 56 Dean Street, will partner with SweatBox in Soho for outreach programme - PrEPBOX.
First African study offering PrEP to the general population finds that about a quarter of people at high HIV risk start it
Aidsmap, 6 March 2020
By far the biggest predictor of PrEP use and high adherence is self-perceived risk.
Misleading ads turn people away from HIV-prevention meds
Reuters, 2 March 2020
The ads, sponsored by law firms, call for participation in class action lawsuits against Gilead Sciences, California-based drugmaker that sells the only two U.S.-approved regimens of PrEP.
Drugs
HIV charity worker loses job over plan to set up drugs consumption van
Glasgow Live, 5 March 2020
Peter Krykant is trying to raise cash to get the illegal facility on the road insisting that people are crying out for the help it can offer.
Mobile drug consumption room set for Glasgow - without Government approval
Glasgow Times, 3 March 2020
A plan to open a mobile drug consumption room in Glasgow without Government approval has won backing of politicians and campaigners.
'It sucks the soul out of you, it's worse than heroin': One woman's story of G addiction
The Journal, 1 March 2020
Olivia took her first drug when she was 12. She didn’t know it at the time but drugs would feature in her life, in some shape or form, for the next three decades.
LGBT
Former garda sacked in 1982 for being gay now suing State
The Irish Times, 4 March 2020
The former garda, who went public in The Irish Times last year using the pseudonym “Liam”, is suing the State on several grounds including the manner of his treatment, the distress caused by it and the impact of that on his life.
Conferences and Events
The Diceman Exhibition,
The Little Museum of Dublin, 21
st February to May 2020.
Queer-in-Progress. Timeline, Project Arts Centre, 6
th to 21
st March 2020.
SSSTDI Spring Meeting, Belmont House Hotel, Banbridge, Co. Down, 28th March 2020.
Film Screening: 120 BPM, RCSI, Dublin, 6
th April.
Access to Medicines Ireland – 4th Annual Conference: Toward an Alternative Future for Medicines, Royal College of Surgeons, Dublin, 7
th April 2020.
26th Annual BHIVA Conference, Manchester, 26
th to 29
th April 2020.
