Free Republic

Awareness days help educate the general public and specific communities about HIV and AIDS.

President Donald Trump's decision to freeze foreign assistance has sent aid staff in Africa into "panic mode", with even HIV experimental treatment programmes stopped dead in their tracks. Trump last week ordered a suspension of foreign assistance, while his billionaire ally Elon Musk has boasted he is putting the vast US humanitarian agency USAID "through the woodchipper".

It’s amazing how many leftists are ashamed of their bodies but have absolutely zero shame about their minds, their belief systems, or their sexual choices. It’s also amazing how Orwellian Newspeak has conquered the English language. “Gay” used to mean “happy.” Now it means “homosexual.”***Geneticists have yet to find a “gay gene.” Homosexuality (and other peculiarities it spawns) evidently arises not from nature, but from nurture: environmental factors.Drill deeply enough into homosexuals’ memories, and far too often, there’s a history as a child sexual abuse victim. And there’s an entire community — online, at school, in the big city —...

Speaking at the 16th International Aids Conference in 2006, the then UNAids executive director, Peter Piot, remarked: “Since the beginning of the epidemic, stigma, discrimination and gender inequality have been identified as major causes of personal suffering, and as major obstacles to effective responses to HIV.” Now, in the fourth decade of the HIV crisis, this statement remains largely true. Despite the leaps and bounds that have been made in the treatment and prevention of HIV, stigma and discrimination continue to harm the lives of people living with HIV, and hinder efforts to stem the epidemic globally.

More New Yorkers were newly diagnosed with HIV in 2023 compared with 2022, but public officials say that doesn’t necessarily mean new diagnoses are on the rise after years of steady decline, according to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s (DOHMH) 2023 HIV Surveillance Annual Report. In 2023, 1,686 people were newly diagnosed with HIV in New York City, up 7.6% from 2022.

People with HIV who need a kidney or liver transplant will be able to receive an organ from a donor with HIV under a new rule announced Tuesday by U.S. health officials. Previously, such transplants could be done only as part of research studies. The new rule, which takes effect Wednesday, is expected to shorten the wait for organs for all, regardless of HIV status, by increasing the pool of available organs. 'This rule removes unnecessary barriers to kidney and liver transplants, expanding the organ donor pool and improving outcomes for transplant recipients with HIV,' said U.S. Health and Human...

In 2020, a gay Thai man living with HIV sparked controversy with a Facebook post. He was on antiretroviral therapy and had gotten lab tests to check the level of virus in his blood. Since his viral load was undetectable, he wrote, he was going to stop using condoms. The public responded with a mix of contempt and disbelief. How could he? So selfish! So reckless! The resulting debate spilled from social media onto national radio and TV. “There was a huge backlash,” remembered Dr Nittaya Phanuphak, the Executive Director of the Institute of HIV Research and Innovation (IHRI). She...

Gay bathhouses in San Francisco could see a revival under new legislation spearheaded by District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman. Mandelman, whose district includes the Castro neighborhood, is looking to repeal a section of the police code that puts the burden on the police department for permitting new gay bathhouses.

Friday, September 27, marks National Gay Men’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (#NGMHAAD) 2024. The awareness day was founded in 2008 by the now-defunct National Association for People with AIDS as a way to focus attention on the unique challenges of gay and bisexual men affected by HIV. Although the annual rates of new HIV diagnoses among this population are decreasing, gay and bisexual men still account for most new cases, and African-American and Latino men are disproportionately affected.

September 13, 2024: Is HIV stigma finally decreasing in the United States? More Americans believe so, found the 2024 State of HIV Stigma report. “For the first time in five years, [the report] found a statistically significant decline of HIV stigma in the U.S., with 85% of Americans saying they believe HIV stigma exists, down from 89% in 2020,” according to a press release from LGBTQ media advocacy group GLAAD, which spearheaded the annual report in partnership with pharma giant Gilead Sciences’ Gilead COMPASS Initiative. Troublingly, though, is the finding that fewer people believe everyone should get tested for HIV...

The homes of two top officials close to NYC Mayor Eric Adams were raided by the FBI Wednesday, sources have confirmed to FOX 5 NY's Morgan McKay. First reported by THE CITY, FBI agents raided the homes of two top NYC officials – First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright and Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Philip Banks III Benjamin Brafman, an attorney for Phillip Banks, confirmed to FOX 5 NY's Linda Schmidt that a search was conducted at his client's home on Wednesday. "I have been clear that my message throughout my public life is to follow the law and that's...

An Italian man has simultaneously tested positive for monkeypox, HIV and COVID-19 after returning home from a holiday, according to a paper published in the Journal of Infection. The 36-year-old reported having intercourse with men without a condom during a five-day Spanish holiday from June 16 to 20. Nine days after his trip, he developed a fever, sore throat, fatigue and headache before testing positive for COVID-19 on July 2.

To combat HIV transmission and improve access to care in Georgia, telemedicine provider MISTR has partnered with Walmart to offer free at-home HIV testing kits in seven Walmart stores, according to a MISTR news release. In 2022, the South accounted for 49% of new HIV cases in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Georgia has some of the worst HIV rates in the nation. By the end of 2022, there were 63,984 people living with HIV in Georgia, with 2,575 new diagnoses. In 2021, the Atlanta metro area had the third highest rate...

Gay men get HIV at higher rates than any other group in the United States, and there are many reasons for this. Biological factors dramatically increase a gay man's vulnerability to infection. Social, cultural, and economic factors—such as stigma, racism, homophobia, and high rates of poverty—further compound the risk. Regardless of the causes, securing access to testing, prevention, and PrEP to lower HIV transmission in this high-risk group remains a pressing issue. There are numerous free or low-cost confidential testing and treatment sites offered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services via their online testing locator.

VIDEOEvil Dr. Anthony Fauci was the villain of "Dallas Buyers Club" yet for some bizarre reason the star of that movie, Matthew McConaughey, years later sucked up to Fauci with an incredibly softball interview about COVID in August, 2020. McConaughey likes to portray himself as a politically independent thinker yet he carefully followed the liberal narrative while questioning Fauci. Keep in mind that it was Fauci's drug policies that McConaughey's screen character was angry about. Oh, and please don't tell me that the villain of the "Dallas Buyers Club" was not Fauci because the McConaughey character was railing against the...

With more and more people below the age of 50 being diagnosed with the illness, the medical community is urgently trying to determine a cause.The recent revelation by Kate Middleton, Princess of Wales, that she was battling cancer was a shock to many around the world. Middleton, who is only 42, has always appeared to be in the best of shape and in good health. Her diagnosis, however, only highlights the disturbing rise in the number of young people diagnosed with various forms of cancer, especially colon or colorectal cancer. Middleton is rumored to have been diagnosed with colorectal cancer,...

As government schools continue to show their commitment to promoting sex and gender ideology to children, Austin Independent School District is preparing to host its annual “Pride Week” pushing teachers and kids to “celebrate LGBTQIA+ students, staff and families.” Austin ISD said the event, set for March 18-23, will “highlight the district’s commitment to creating a safe, supportive, and inclusive environment.” According to the district’s website, each campus will receive a guide of suggested resources and activities staff can put on for students. Staff are advised to reach out to coordinators of their campus Genders and Sexualities Alliances (formerly known...

— Unsanitary conditions resulted in infections in three people; investigation still ongoingFive cases of HIV infection associated with cosmetic platelet-rich plasma (PRP) microneedling, known as a "vampire facial," were linked to one spa in New Mexico, according to a report from CDC investigators. From 2018 to 2023, four former clients of the spa and one sexual partner of a client were diagnosed with HIV, reported Anna Behar, PhD, MPH, of the CDC, at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infectionsopens in a new tab or window. Although few in number, the cases are important because HIV transmission through cosmetic injection...

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is spending millions on encouraging “racially diverse trans women” in New Orleans to take PrEP, a HIV prevention medication. HHS pledged approximately $2 million to Public Health Foundation Enterprises, a public health nonprofit based in California now known as Heluna Health, to “develop, implement and measure the impact” of a social media campaign aimed at increasing the awareness of HIV-prevention medications among “trans women” in New Orleans, according to a federal grant listing. The goal of the program, which will include a year-long test run serving 200 “trans women,”, is to “adapt...

The Justice Department filed a lawsuit today against the State of Tennessee and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The department previously notified Tennessee and the TBI that they violated the ADA by enforcing the state’s aggravated prostitution statute against people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). That letter of findings detailed the minimum remedial measures necessary to address the discrimination. The department’s investigation found that the state and TBI subject people living with HIV to harsher criminal penalties solely because of their HIV status, violating Title II of the ADA. Tennessee’s...