TresSugar

HIV Is the Top Killer of Women Worldwide

TresSugar — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:00:00 -0800

According to the World Health Organization, HIV is the number one killer of women age 15-49. Heart disease kills older women, especially in rich countries, but of the 30.8 million HIV-positive adults in 2007, 15.5 million were women.

A staggering 26.1 percent of the population in Swaziland are infected with HIV - and half of women age 25-29 there are HIV positive.

Women are especially vulnerable to HIV, WHO says, because of biology and gender inequality. WHO Director General Dr. Margaret Chan said, "It's time to pay girls and women back, to make sure that they get the care and support they need to enjoy a fundamental human right at every moment of their lives, that is their right to health."

US Lifts HIV/AIDS Travel Ban

TresSugar — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 01:00:00 -0700

For the last 22 years, foreign citizens living with HIV or AIDS have been forbidden to legally enter the US. As of Monday, that ban will be a thing of the past. On Friday, President Obama announced the decision to overturn the policy he called "rooted in fear rather than fact." He said:

"We talk about reducing the stigma of this disease - yet we've treated a visitor living with it as a threat. We lead the world when it comes to helping stem the AIDS pandemic - yet we are one of only a dozen countries that still bar people from HIV from entering our own country. If we want to be the global leader in combating HIV/AIDS, we need to act like it."

Before this decision, the US joined a less-than-impressive list of countries that banned HIV-positive outsiders. The list still includes: Armenia, Colombia, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Sudan, and Yemen. Considering there are already Americans living with HIV/AIDS, it served little purpose to "quarantine" the country. I'm happy to see that our HIV/AIDS prevention strategies will no longer include an ineffective and discriminatory ban.

Rape Victim Denied Healthcare For Taking Anti-AIDS Drug

TresSugar — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:00:00 -0700

I'll admit that I didn't know anything about the anti-AIDS medication given to rape victims until someone I know had to take it. The preventative drug cocktail, which must be started within 72 hours of exposure and taken over 28 days, is given as emergency treatment to people who might have been exposed to the HIV virus, often victims of rape.

Thanks to the debate raging over healthcare reform, it has come out that health insurance companies deny patients health insurance because they took the medication. At least that's what happened to Christina Turner. After being drugged by two strangers, Christina had physical injuries indicating that she had probably been sexually assaulted. Her doctor prescribed her the anti-AIDS medication, but she soon found out that taking it made her uninsurable. When she lost her coverage for an unrelated reason, Christina went out to purchase a new policy. Insurance companies examined her health records and found the anti-AIDS prescription. They told her that it raised too many health questions, and that she might be able to come back for coverage in a few years if she could prove she was AIDS free. They didn't seem to care that Christina had never contracted HIV.

It horrifies me that a woman who has been a victim of sexual assault can have that tragic experience held against her by health insurance companies. And I also can't help but think of what Christina's story means for people who are actually HIV positive. If Christina was penalized for merely taking this medication, it surely must be harder to get coverage if you are already living with the disease. What is your reaction to all of this?

South Africa Weighs Legalizing Prostitution For World Cup

TresSugar — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 11:00:00 -0700

Fans heading to South Africa for the World Cup 2010 are interested in more than soccer. Anticipating that sport tourists will frequent prostitutes while they're in town, health experts are calling on the South African government to legalize prostitution for the tournament. The hope is that testing and registering legal sex workers will reduce HIV infections among visiting fans and South Africans alike.

In South Africa, approximately 50 percent of sex workers are HIV-positive. While this figure might be enough to dissuade cautious would-be customers, experts figure that the party atmosphere, fueled by alcohol, will lead to much promiscuity. In fact, South Africa has been anticipating a surge in prostitution demand for some time now. More than a year ago, police unveiled plans to legalize sex services for the 2010 games, arguing that Germany opened safe and easy "adult entertainment centers" during the 2006 World Cup. These plans have been rejected so far, for reasons including concerns about greater transmission of HIV, but if legalization means screening sex workers for HIV, it could make things safer.

No matter what happens, let's hope South Africa can use the World Cup to raise awareness about HIV testing. If that happens, everybody will walk away from the tournament a winner.

Front Page: AIDS Vaccine Shows Promise

TresSugar — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 08:00:42 -0700

A new HIV/AIDS vaccine shows unprecedented promise, as it became the first to successfully cut the the risk of contracting HIV in a clinical study. - Bloomberg
Apple will allow porn star apps in its online store, but the apps will not be allowed to include full nudity. - CNET
Michelle Obama will entertain the spouses of the G20 leaders in Pittsburgh this week by treating them to the Andy Warhol Museum and a performance by Yo-Yo Ma. - AP
The UN unanimously approved a US-drafted resolution aiming to rid the world of nuclear weapons. - New York Times

German Ad: AIDS Is the New Hitler

TresSugar — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 14:00:00 -0700

Did you just lose your lunch looking at this ad? I almost did when I first saw it. The creators of the nightmarish German AIDS awareness ad say that they "knew the face we gave to the illness could not be a pretty one" - and what's uglier than having sex with Adolf Hitler?

The video version, which will soon be played in cinemas and on television, shows a couple having sex. At the end, the man's face turns into Hitler's and the screen reads "AIDS is mass murderer." As you can expect, many people are outraged. Some say the campaign further stigmatizes people living with AIDS, while others argue that the sensationalized message fails to offer any preventative advice.

Do you think using Hitler in this ad is a necessary evil that will wake people up to the risk of AIDS, or is this ad unnecessarily offensive?

AIDS Group Asks Government to Force Condom Use in Porn

TresSugar — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 13:00:00 -0700

It's hard to believe that a porn star would sleep with other porn stars without protection, but in an industry created to turn people on, some directors think it's sexier for the viewer. Upset with the dangers, an AIDS advocacy group filed complaints against 16 production companies with the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, alleging that the practice amounts to unsafe behavior in a workplace.

US law already requires porn stars to prove that they have tested negative for HIV and other STDs within 30 days of filming, but the AIDS Healthcare Foundation wants to see a policy that requires condoms.

Some in the business say that the porn industry would probably leave California if condoms became the law, and Hustler publisher Larry Flynt thinks the AIDS group doesn't understand porn. He says, "people who enjoy viewing adult films do not want to see people using condoms." Do you agree?

Obama Still Bans Needle Exchange Funding

TresSugar — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:00:00 -0700

Why were 26 anti-AIDS activists arrested yesterday at the Capitol Rotunda in Washington DC? Because the protesters chained themselves together at the landmark in protest of President Obama's ban on funding needle exchange programs as a part of federal HIV/AIDS prevention.

Despite promises made on the campaign trail that AIDS prevention funds should go to needle-exchange programs that help reduce infection among drug users (and the people who have sex with them), the Obama administration kept a previous ban on such programs in this year's budget. A spokesperson explained that the White House did not want a debate about the controversial program to slow down the budget process, so they left a ban in. In the meantime, support of needle exchange programs has been removed from the White House website.

Do you find needle exchange programs controversial?

Source: Flickr User Todd Huffman

Progress Made Against South Africa's Still Dire HIV Crisis

TresSugar — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 08:30:00 -0700

I could hardly believe it when I read that 33 percent of women between the ages of 20 and 34 are infected with HIV in South Africa. Thankfully, in the country with a total of 5.5 million people living with HIV, some progress is being made.

According to a new report, the overall infection rate has leveled off to 10.9 percent for those aged two or older, in part thanks to increased condom use. In 2002, only 57 percent of men aged 15-24 used condoms, compared to 87 percent today.

After the country's previous president, Thabo Mbeki, long denied the link between HIV and AIDS (instead blaming deaths on malnutrition), it's reassuring to see prevention and education saving lives.

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Should Young Kids Be Taught About the Risk of HIV/AIDS?

TresSugar — Wed, 20 May 2009 11:00:00 -0700

Elton John's AIDS Foundation spreads the message of AIDS prevention with the hope of stopping the spread of the disease. In a new interview with CNN, Elton says that the US has something to learn from Africa when it comes to preventative education. If schools systematically taught American kids about the risk of HIV at a young age, a majority of citizens would know how to protect themselves by the time they became sexually active. Elton explains:

"We find that if we could get into the schools at a grass-roots levels, which we do in places like Africa where we get to kids at a young age and we tell them about preventive measures for not getting HIV, we find the success rate is tremendous."

Not everyone supports AIDS education in schools, however. Some believe it should be up to parents to teach children about sex or that the subject matter is inappropriate for innocent youth. What do you think?

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