Women, HIV/AIDS and Art

The HIV/AIDS Resource Center for Women developed by the website The Body is committed to providing resources on the HIV/AIDS epidemic in women. They have created a special report entitled HIV & Me: A Woman’s Guide to Living with HIV, as well as news, roundtables, and information on pregnancy, complications and relationships. The site also promotes a gallery of HIV-Positive Women Making Art, from female artists of Visual AIDS. These powerful works demonstrate the life of these artists and the struggles and courage they have. Using art as a form of communication to express MCH in the New Era of HIV– check it out! http://www.thebody.com/content/art45918.html

Article: Prevention Efforts in HIV Transmission

To follow theme of our recently published Healthy Generations: MCH in the New Era of HIV, we will be posting articles, pictures, organizations, and advocacy efforts addressing HIV issues today. Come back, check-out the blog, and keep updated on the posts!

The New York Times has published an article addressing current research in HIV prevention, especially in the GLBT community. Truvada, a daily antiretroviral medication, has been shown to be effective in reducing HIV transmission in men who have sex with men up to 90%. Where no developed vaccination exists, a drug that can prevent transmission between infected and non-infected individuals excites the HIV research community.

Ethical considerations have framed the debate of the drug: Is it fair to give medication to people who are HIV negative when so many positive tested individuals do not have access to care? If a participant knows they are on Truvada, are they more likely to engage in risky behaviors; Truvada’s effectiveness, as well as research results, depend on adherence of the individual. Despite controversy, clinical trials are underway in the U.S. and have been studied on heterosexual and sexually active young adults in Africa. This new discovery may help prevent up to 50,000 new HIV infections annually in the United States.

To view the original article and the drug’s ethical debates in research and distribution, see: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/11/health/11hiv.html?pagewanted=1

New Issue of Healthy Generations: MCH in the New Era of HIV

Hot off the presses!

The Center for Leadership Education in Maternal and Child Public Health at the University of Minnesota is very pleased to announce the release of the Fall 2011 issue of Healthy Generations on MCH in the New Era of HIV. Print copies will arrive in your mailbox in the next couple of weeks. If you are not on our mailing list, or would like to request additional (free) copies for yourself or your organization, please send an email to Jan Pearson at pears014@umn.edu. Requests for additional copies will be distributed in November. If you are not on our mailing list, and would like to be added, please send a request to mch@umn.edu.

Letter from the editor: There is perhaps no more compelling a public health story than that of the HIV/AIDS epidemic spanning the past thirty years. While we have seen significant advances in the surveillance, treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS, the story is far from over. Public health, clinical care and social service professionals, advocates, people living with HIV/AIDS and their allies have fought for treatment (and prevention) equity, to end stigma and discrimination, to ensure more inclusive (and just) approaches in the development and implementation of policies, programs and research. Yet more than 70 countries still criminalize homosexuality and there remains an organized campaign against providing comprehensive sexuality education to our nations school children and young adults. How far have we come as a nation that we continue to make our most vulnerable populations fight for the right to be seen, heard, and treated?

We present this issue with gratitude to the contributing authors and to the many public health, MCH and allied professionals charged with providing ongoing leadership in service to the public’s health. This collection of articles offers an exploration of some of the issues that persist for MCH populations in this new era of HIV. It is our hope that MCH professionals across the service spectrum will find something of interest to them in this volume. The articles presented here reflect only a small piece of the story, and the collection is admittedly far from complete. Over the next few weeks we will continue the discussion here on our blog, where we invite your ongoing feedback, contributions and comments.

Visit us at www.epi.umn.edu/mch

Videos: Promoting Healthy Generations

Two different videos representing one collaborative viewpoint: looking at the life course can help promote the health of future generations, both at the national and global level.

 

World AIDS Day 2010

Today is World AIDS Day 2010 and the U.S. is joining more than 200 countries around the globe to call attention to the worldwide epidemic.

Roughly 33 million people are estimated to be living with HIV or AIDS around the globe. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 56,300 new HIV cases occur each year in the U.S. and that 1.1 million Americans are currently living with HIV. Since 1982, 9,163 people in Minnesota have been diagnosed with HIV infection, and 6,552 people are reported to be living with HIV/AIDS in the state.

This year’s theme is ‘Universal Access and Human Rights’. “Global leaders have pledged to work towards universal access to HIV and AIDS treatment, prevention and care, recognising these as fundamental human rights. Valuable progress has been made in increasing access to HIV and AIDS services, yet greater commitment is needed around the world if the goal of universal access is to be achieved. Millions of people continue to be infected with HIV every year. In low- and middle-income countries, less than half of those in need of antiretroviral therapy are receiving it, and too many do not have access to adequate care services.” http://www.who.int/hiv/pub/2010progressreport/en/index.html

The White House has released a presidential proclamation: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2010/11/30/presidential-proclamation-world-aids-day

The Global AIDS Alliance gave President Obama a less-than-stellar “C” this year (an improvement over last year’s D+).  Summing up the administration’s “strong policies with inadequate funding,” Zeitz acknowledges the innovative National HIV/AIDS Strategy, but also noted the funding shortfall for AIDS Drug Assistance Programs. (To learn more about ADAP and waiting lists, this NYT article is a good primer: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/01/us/01aidsdrugs.html)

To find out about local events and resources, visit the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) web site at: http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/idepc/diseases/hiv/worldaidsday/index.html

For an overview of HIV/AIDS around the world, read a progress report, “Towards universal access: Scaling up priority HIV/AIDS interventions in the health sector” (compiled by WHO, UNICEF, and UNAIDS), available here: http://www.who.int/hiv/pub/2010progressreport/en/index.html

For additional World AIDS Day resources visit these links:
http://www.cdc.gov/Features/worldaidsday/
http://www.worldaidscampaign.info/
http://www.hhs.gov/aidsawarenessdays/days/world/index.html

Over the past thirty years we have made important progress in addressing this global epidemic – but there is so much more to do. The upcoming issue of Healthy Generations, published by Center for Leadership Education in Maternal and Child Public Health, will focus on HIV and the unique concerns for maternal and child public health.  Look for it in early 2011!

If you are not on our mailing list, and would like to be added, please send a request to mch@umn.edu.