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Until now men who have sex with men had to wait three months before donating. From Monday, gay men in sexually active, monogamous relationships can donate for the first time. Anyone who has had anal sex with a new or multiple partners in the past three months will have to wait three months to donate - regardless of their gender. It follows a review by the Fair (For the Assessment of Individualised Risk) steering group, which concluded switching to an individualised, gender-neutral approach was fairer and maintained the safety of the blood supply. The review's recommendations are to be implemented...

Let us be clear: There is nothing deficient about Black and Brown bodies. And yet, those of us who are Black and Brown are more likely to die from medical conditions as different as childbirth and heart disease. There is nothing specific about Black bodies that make us more susceptible to HIV, and yet nearly half the new HIV diagnoses in the United States are among Black people. The problem is neither medical nor biological. It is sociological. The problem is white supremacy.

Officials have accused a doctor of causing the epidemic after repeatedly using a single contaminated syringe. Dr Muzaffar Ghangharo, who officials said is himself living with HIV, has been in police custody since the outbreak began in April but denies the allegations. 'We are working on war footing to examine the suspects as well as those wishing to get themselves tested after a large number of cases were reported from Larkana and other districts,' Dr Memon said. Anger and fear continue to swell in the desperately poor village hit hard by the epidemic, which authorities say could also be linked...

Gilead will be offering free pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in a new partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The pharmaceutical company will be donating 2.4 million bottles of the HIV prevention drug Truvada, which it manufactures, to 200,000 uninsured individuals each year for 11 years. Alex Azar, the secretary of Health and Human Services, discussed the partnership Thursday in a Twitter thread. "The agreement will provide pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to treat individuals who are at risk for HIV and who are uninsured, including in the states and counties identified as priority areas in @POTUS’s plan to #EndHIVEpidemic in...

he teenagers tucked their hands into their sweatshirt pockets as they shuffled to form a circle. Some gazed at the asphalt, trying to avoid the game they had been drafted to play. “It’s like hot potato/musical chairs, but with a penis,” said the girl leading the group. The kids gathered on a spring morning in South Los Angeles were about to get a hands-on lesson in sex education. Many health experts say that public health problems are best tackled outside the doctor’s office — that fixing the culture that perpetuates them is more effective than changing a single patient’s behavior....

What kind of sex educators would tell kids with AIDS they don't have to disclose their health status to a sexual partner? Planned Parenthood, that's who! International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) has an information campaign they've put out for kids with HIV called "Healthy, Happy and Hot" that begins: Young people living with HIV may feel that sex is just not an option, but don’t worry — many young people living with HIV live healthy, fun, happy and sexually fulfilling lives. You can too, if you want to! Things get easier (and sex can get even better) as you become...

As scores lay injured in Florida hospitals after the Orlando shooting, potential donors inundated blood banks, offering what they could. For some, however, the hourslong wait ended in disappointment. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has strict guidelines about who can donate blood; among those restricted are people who have had certain diseases, those who have traveled to certain countries and men who have slept with men, or as the FDA refers to them, MSM, within the past year.

An HIV-positive man who worked at a middle school allegedly sexually assaulted more than 40 children, intentionally trying to transfer the virus to five of his victims, officials said Monday.Carlos Deangelo Bell, a 30-year-old man from Waldorf, Maryland, who worked as a teacher’s aide and track coach, was arrested in July and was believed to have victimized 24 underage children at that point.Bell is now accused of assaulting 42 juveniles, according to a Monday report from the Charles County State’s Attorney’s Office that released new details discovered during a police investigation over the past few months. Altogether, he now faces 206 counts...

Scotland's second largest health board, NHS Lothian, will not be giving further treatment to smokers for non-urgent cases, with referrals from GPs being refused. Dr. Zahid Raza said: "In Edinburgh, we will not see patients at the clinic that are still smoking. Evidence shows that they would not do well with the treatment." He also went onto say: "We try to avoid intervention and, in around 80 percent of cases, a smoker’s condition will improve just simply by stopping smoking and smoking other lifestyle changes."Dr Jean Turner of the Scotland Patients Association said that she was "extremely disappointed", adding: "I'm...