FDA Approves Expanded Use of Isentress
Stories Needed to Advocate for Federal Health Care Reform
Proposal to Remove Ban on HIV-Positive Foreigners' Entry
Wilson Discusses HIV/AIDS at Newspaper Conference
Social Networks Help Encourage HIV Testing
FDA Approves Expanded Use of Isentress
In the July 10 Kaiser Family Foundation HIV/AIDS Report, Reuters reported that, on Thursday, Merck announced that the FDA has approved expanded use of its anti-HIV drug, Isentress. FDA-approved since 2007, Isentress has been limited "to use in patients who had drug-resistant strains or were failing on other therapies, also in combination with other HIV drugs. Now it can be used in all adult patients," the AP/CNBC.com reports. According to AP/CNBC.com, "Isentress is an integrase inhibitor, meaning it works by blocking the enzyme integrase, one of three types of enzymes the AIDS virus uses to reproduce and infect cells."
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Stories Needed to Advocate for Federal Health Care Reform
The AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC) is working in collaboration with AIDS organizations across the country to collect individual health care stories from people living with HIV/AIDS. Personal anecdotes will help advocate with Congress and President Obama for the strongest health care provisions possible. Featuring such stories in the media can also help influence public opinion and strengthen demand for an affordable, high-quality, insurance options, including a much-needed public plan. Your story can make the difference. Go to the link below to tell it today!
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=g6dUIvPpvrPvzqByiepx6g_3d_3d
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Proposal to Remove Ban on HIV-Positive Foreigners' Entry
According to a report by Sumathi Reddy in Long Island Newsday on June 29, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will issue proposed regulations that would remove HIV from the list of "communicable diseases of public health significance" that prevent foreign nationals from entering the country. Until the ban is lifted, the only way to get around it is to apply for a waiver. "It's almost impossible now for people to be able to get a waiver," said Karen Ross of the Long Island Association for AIDS Care. "People coming here for business trips are forced to disclose their status."
"This is the penultimate step," said Rachel B. Tiven, executive director of Immigration Equality in Washington, D.C. "These regulations are a long time coming. There hasn't been a major HIV scientific conference in the U.S. in decades because of this ban."
AIDS activists and organizations are applauding the move. In a press release on July 1, Scott Schoettes, HIV Project Staff Attorney at Lambda Legal said, “We are thrilled to hear that these proposed rules will be published. Adoption of these rules after the public comment period will ensure that people living with HIV will no longer face this type of stigma and discrimination from our government.”
There will be a 45-day “comment period” before the new regulations can be implemented.
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Wilson Discusses HIV/AIDS at Newspaper Conference
In the July 2 Kaiser Foundation HIV/AIDS report, it was noted that the NNPA/Seattle Medium reported that Phill Wilson, CEO of the Los Angeles-based Black AIDS Institute (BAI), addressed the annual convention of the National Newspapers Publishers Association (NNPA). He discussed the reasons blacks "were so slow to grasp the severity of the threat" of HIV, the NNPA/Seattle Medium reports. According to Wilson, many blacks believed that HIV/AIDS was not directly affecting their communities in the early years of the epidemic. In addition, he said, when AIDS reached its peak between 1980 and 1982, for blacks who were dealing with unemployment, poverty, and welfare reform, addressing HIV/AIDS was not a priority. He also noted the reluctance by blacks to deal with the stigma associated with the virus. Wilson said, however, "I'm more optimistic now around mobilizing black folks around HIV than [ever] before. I think we've made tremendous stride[s] and our institutions across the board are at a different place than they were."
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Social Networks Help Encourage HIV Testing
The success of a new strategy, implemented by the CDC, in which HIV-positive people used social networking to encourage friends and others to get tested, was reported by Roger Pebody, of NAM, in the July 3 HIV Atlas e-update. According to the June issue of the American Journal of Public Health, the new approach worked better than more conventional partner notification methods and over 5% of the people getting tested have turned out to be positive.
The CDC is managing the project, with the help of nine community-based organizations (CBOs) in San Francisco, Washington, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Orlando, and Lafayette. In each city, focus was turned to specific populations with high rates of undiagnosed infection (African Americans, Hispanics, the homeless, men who have sex with men, transgender people, injecting drug users, and heterosexuals at high risk). The CBOs invited HIV-positive people who were receiving services and treatment to become recruiters.
Across the nine projects, 422 people became recruiters and 3,172 people were tested. Among those testing, 177 people, or 5.6%, were found to be HIV-positive. This is considerably higher than at other CDC-supported testing sites (2.4% in community health centers, 2.2% in hospitals, 1.8% at outreach settings). Sixty-three percent of the newly diagnosed people (111 of 177) followed up on referrals and got medical care and/or support services. Those who came forward for testing were also encouraged to use their own networks to spread the word about getting tested.
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