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Six members of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) resigned in protest of the Trump administration, which they allege "has no strategy to address the on-going HIV/AIDS epidemic." Scott Schoettes, Counsel and HIV Project Director at Lambda Legal, explained in a Newsweek op-ed Friday that he and five colleagues decided to leave their posts on the council for a number of reasons. But their largest expressed gripe was that the Trump administration has not sought input from the council when formulating HIV policy.

More than 9 in 10 new HIV cases among young men and boys ages 13 to 24 in the U.S. occur among homosexuals and bisexuals, according to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The April 25 CDC report, “HIV Among Gay and Bisexual Men,” offers stark evidence of the extreme health risks associated with male homosexual sex, in particular receptive anal sex. Below are some of its findings: — Gay and bisexual men aged 13 to 24 accounted for an estimated 92 percent of new HIV diagnoses among all men in their age group...

The state Senate on Wednesday voted to no longer make it a felony for someone infected with HIV to knowingly expose others to the disease by having unprotected sex without telling his or her partner about the infection.The crime would be downgraded to a misdemeanor, and the bill would also apply to people who donate blood or semen without telling the blood or semen bank that they have acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or AIDS, or have tested positive for human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, the precursor to AIDS.The measure, which next goes to the Assembly for consideration, was introduced by Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco),...

Sources say Bill Clinton is in rough shape. . Sources close to the Clinton family say that Slick Willy, 40th President of the United States and perpetual cheater, will be lucky to make it through the end of the week. The Clinton family, including extended relatives and members of the Rodham clan, have been filing into Little Rock all week where Bill is reportedly bedridden at the residence attached to his presidential library. The fact that they’re booking rooms and sticking around most likely means they’re expecting to have to stay for a funeral. The Clintons have said that they...

An associate editor of the largest newspaper in Sacramento, California has published a bizarre article asking why is it still illegal to “willfully expose others” to AIDS. Erika D. Smith, the associate editor of The Sacramento Bee daily newspaper, wrote “The AIDS crisis is over. Why are people still going to jail over HIV?”

Elton John has cancelled all of his upcoming concerts in Las Vegas after contracting a rare and “potentially deadly” infection while touring in South America. A representative for John said Monday that the 70-year-old “Rocket Man” Grammy-winner would no longer be able to honor the April and May dates of his Las Vegas residency, “The Million Dollar Piano,” due to an extended stay in a hospital recovering from the rare illness. “During a recent, successful tour of South America, Elton contracted a harmful and unusual bacterial infection,” the singer’s representative said in a statement obtained by People magazine. “During his...

The threat to publish the names of suspected homosexuals in Tanzania has been defended by the deputy health minister in a fierce row on Twitter. Homosexual acts are illegal in the East African nation and punishable by up to 30 years in jail. Those who advertised homosexual activities online would also be targeted, the politician warned. Tweeters accused him of homophobia and infringing on the right to freedom of expression online.

Dating apps rarely encourage deep and meaningful communication but they are a minefield for people living with HIV as a series of real messages sent to gay men on Grindr reveals. The hurtful texts have been read out by HIV-positive men to highlight stigma, misunderstanding and ignorance around the virus. The messages, which include 'You're a walking disease, mate' and 'Sluts like you deserve it,' were sent to Grindr users and the Gay Men's Health Charity (GMFA) asked a group of HIV-positive models to read them out and react. ...

The ACLU, Planned Parenthood, and environmentalist group Earthjustice have partnered to put on Facebook Live’s first-ever tel-a-thon as counter-programming to Friday’s presidential inauguration. Dubbed the “Love-a-thon,” the event will be held from 12:30 p.m. ET until 3:30 p.m. ET and will feature a variety of celebrities, including Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jane Fonda, and Judd Apatow. A press release for the Love-a-thon said that the fundraising efforts are necessary as the next four years will bring “significant challenges” to these organizations. “Each of these organizations helps our most marginalized communities and protects our democratic norms and civil liberties every day through their...

IT shouldn’t be a big deal that I gave blood this week, but it is. To do it, I had to give up all forms of sex for a year. The reason: I’m gay. With what we know today about the disease, it’s a stupid reason. In 1985, in the early days of the AIDS crisis, the United States Food and Drug Administration recommended that men who had sex with other men be prohibited from donating blood indefinitely. This policy made sense at the time. In the decades since, the nation has made enormous progress against the virus. What was...

New stats show alarming rise in drug abuse, HIV/AIDS infections ATLANTA — Fulton County’s rate of opioid overdose deaths was more than double the national average in 2014, newly released figures show. And the county — which contains most of the city of Atlanta as well as some of Georgia’s most affluent suburbs — had a higher rate of HIV diagnoses than all but one of 28 large cities studied, according to statistics released last week by the Big Cities Health Coalition project. Fulton’s data were used because the county, not the city, collects the area’s health information, which is...

...since the election, Clinton’s weight appears to have taken another dip, and those close to the former prez are allegedly concerned that something else might be going on. Back when Bill Clinton was in the White House, Clinton was said to promote a wild atmosphere, with trips to McDonalds while he was out with the Secret Service dressed to jog. And earlier this year, a former Secret Service agent wrote a book telling tales from the Clinton White House, says the Inquisitr. The book alleges that Clinton carried on affairs with several women, including Eleanor Mondale, daughter of the former...

Washington spent more than $1 billion telling people in 14 African countries not to have sex before they get married. It didn’t work Over the past 15 years the U.S. has spent $1.4 billion promoting abstinence before marriage as a way of preventing HIV in 14 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Unfortunately, according to the most comprehensive, independent study conducted to date of the effort, the money was pretty much wasted. A rigorous comparison of national data from countries that received abstinence funding under the 2003 U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) with those that had not showed no...

Palestinians will soon get a chance to glimpse the small bedroom where their longtime leader Yasser Arafat spent his final years. The 5-square meter (54-square-foot) room is the centerpiece of the new Arafat Museum, which opens to the public on Thursday to coincide with the 12th anniversary of Arafat’s death. […] Arafat spent most of the last three years of his life in this bedroom on the ground floor of his Ramallah headquarters, known as the Muqata. Israel confined him to the building on Dec. 8, 2001, accusing him of masterminding a violent uprising at the time. He remained holed...

The alleged “Patient Zero” of the American AIDS epidemic — a French Canadian flight attendant named Gaétan Dugas, who died of AIDS in 1984 — was exonerated last week. Genetic sequencing of blood samples stored since the 1970s showed that the strain infecting him had circulated among gay men in New York for several years before he arrived here in 1974. Therefore, although he had hundreds of sexual partners in several cities, he did not introduce the virus to North America; he was a victim before he was a vector. The revelation, some AIDS experts said, proved that the epidemic’s...

In an effort to begin the process of rectifying health-related issues that disproportionately affect the LGBTQ community, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced on Thursday they will formally designate "sexual and gender minorities (SGMs) as a health disparity population for NIH research." "Mounting evidence indicates that SGM populations have less access to health care and higher burdens of certain diseases, such as depression, cancer, and HIV/AIDS. But the extent and causes of health disparities are not fully understood, and research on how to close these gaps is lacking," Eliseo Pérez-Stable M.D., director of the National Institute on Minority Health...

Robert Sepúlveda Jr embraced one of his suitors on Wednesday's episode of Finding Prince Charming after he confessed to being HIV-positive. The all-gay dating show featured the six remaining contestants hosting a masquerade party where they were asked to reveal a secret. Eric Leonardos, a 35-year-old celebrity hairstylist based in Los Angeles, was last to remove his mask, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes before making his confession.

It had all the trappings of a typical beauty contest: Contestants in evening gowns strutting before the judges, a talent portion, and of course, a sparkly tiara for the winning lady. But the third annual Y+ Beauty pageant held in Kampala, Uganda, this past weekend also had some unusual features. All of the more than 150 competitors were HIV positive — the Y+ stands for "young person living with HIV/AIDS."

Hillary Clinton is HIV positive, according to a shock claim by a Washington D.C. call-girl who says she was diagnosed with the virus after a pay for play fling with former President Bill Clinton in April of last year. “Bill Clinton visited me one night when he was in town, and he left me with more than a cash payment,” said Mandy Cloud, the pseudonym the former D.C. call-girl chose for her book set to be published next month. Cloud says she worked as a high-end call-girl in the world’s most powerful city for 14 years, and claims she went...

Police stumbled upon a bomb-making factory Sunday in the home of a Columbia professor who specializes in the spread of infectious disease - and are investigating whether he and his roommate have terror ties. Cops evacuated the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood around the Remsen St. home of Michael Clatts, a medical anthropologist, after finding seven pipe bombs fitted with fuses in his flat, police sources said. The frightening cache was discovered almost by accident - Ivaylo Ivanov, the man living with Clatts, accidentally shot off the tip of his left index finger and sought police help in the street about 1:15...