LICENTIA COGITATIONIS

Implications of Antiretroviral Drug Use for HIV Prevention Interventions on Elevated Risk for STIs Part I: Problem Statement PrEP is a biomedical interventional strategy in which healthy people routinely take one or more antiretroviral (ARV) drugs to reduce their risk of getting HIV through sex. Three RCTs have studied the effects of PrEP on the acquisition of HIV infection***. The first landmark study, the Pre-exposure Prophylaxis Initiative (iPrEX) looked at the effect of daily use of tenofovir-emtricitabine in 2499 MSM from six countries (Peru, Ecuador, South Africa, Brazil, Thailand, and the USA) and was published in 2010. The PRe-exposure Option for reducing HIV in the UK, immediate or Deferred (PROUD) trial enrolled 544 MSM in the UK and randomly assigned them to immediate or a 1 year delayed start of daily oral tenofoviremtricitabine. In the Intervention Préventive de l’Exposition aux Risques avec et pour les Gays (Ipergay) trial, ** ** MSM were randomly assigned to ...

Update on HIV/STI Prevention Interventions and Treatment in 2019 2019 marks significant developments in the ways of addressing the HIV and STI syndemics, as new technologies for prophylactic treatment, like Truvada and, as of this month, Descovy, are rolled out; while interventional concepts like U=U were validated on New Year’s Day and accepted in the community as part of a combined strategy to end AIDS. These changes signal tectonic shifts at the intersections of culture, health, and sexuality that should inspire a renewed inquisition of the institutions guiding these interventions and their implications for advancing sexual minority health and the political economy of HIV. Released this week:  According to the annual Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance Report , STDs increased for the fifth consecutive year – with nearly 2.5 million combined cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis. Cases of congenital syphilis – syphilis passed from a mother to her baby d...

2019 Timeline of Reports on New Developments in HIV and STI Health 1.        10 January : Comments on U=U by NIH Director https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/science-clear-hiv-undetectable-equals-untransmittable 2.        9 May Trump Administration secures historic donation of billions of dollars in HIV prevention drugs https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2019/05/09/trump-administration-secures-historic-donation-of-billions-of-dollars-in-hiv-prevention-drugs.html 3.        26 June: Congressional Committee on Oversight and Reform begins investing where Trump administration made a deal with Gilead http://cdn.videos.rollcall.com/author/2019/06/2019-06-26.EEC-AOC-Khanna-Pressley-to-ODay-Gilead-re-PrEP.pdf 4.        26 September: LGBT Life Center reports record high increases in STI and HIV rates https://www.wavy.com/10-on-your-side/lgb...

Sexual Coercion is Associated with Elevated Risks for Illicit Drug Use and Sexually Transmitted Infection in Men who have Sex Men   Clay Porter M.P.H. ;   Cherell Rivers, MPH; Katharine Hawks, MPH; Sophia Wang, M.S., Nicole Holt, Dr. P.H.; Jiangtao Luo, Ph.D. and Hongyun Fu, Ph.D. Introduction •      Gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (MSM) face Syndemic health disparities associated with their sexual identities, including experiences of sexual coercion and victimization, higher rates of illicit drug use and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). •      Syndemic theory (Singer, 1996) is used to explain the concentration of multiple epidemics in certain populations due to harmful social conditions such that they mutually reinforce each other and synergistically amplify the burden of disease. •      Existing literature on the prevalence and correlates of sexual coercion, substance abuse a...

THE tasks of the Commissariat for Public Health have been extraordinarily heavy and full of responsibilities, but, in spite of all, we have succeeded in the main in overcoming the plagues and epidemics which had their cause in the famine, although in the Ukraine and in some of the eastern districts dysentery, typhus, cholera and small-pox are again breaking out. But in every respect the worst consequences of the famine are to be seen in their effect on child life. In the cases of these plagues the organism of children has to put up a much greater power of resistance to enable it to recover than is the case with adults. Russia has always had the sad notoriety of possessing the highest rate of infant mortality in the world. The death-rate in the case of young children is as high as 25 per cent. In consequence of the famine, this rose to 32 per cent. In the course of 1922, thanks to the energetic efforts of the Soviet Government and workers’ and foreign organisations, we were able to...

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Rapid ethnography Clinical ethnography  From: "The Wisdom of Whores" HIV/AIDS, many of our decisions about the virus depend on what people think. She argues quite convincingly that ideology, not scientific evidence, often drives important decisions about everything from local prevention strategies to national and international funding decisions.

I’m sharing this story with you all because I’ve very proud of myself and I’m energized by this accomplishment. As you all know, I hold strong opinions and voice my thoughts on things without restriction. This has gotten me in trouble more than it has helped me, but for once, my radicalism proved its value and my voice was heard above all others. I challenged the Virginia Department of Health and my call for change was accepted at the highest levels. I’m pleased with the outcome of my activism as well as with myself for holding true to my radical approach and not softening my voice for the comfort or convenience of others.  Here’s the story: I saw a billboard for HIV prevention that I found to be extraordinarily offensive.  Check it out:      Created by Dept.’s of Health in Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, and Portsmouth, this ad. is a disease prevention campaign that targets individuals at-risk of HIV infection and encourages them to get tested and u...

Most of what we think about is predetermined.