LICENTIA COGITATIONIS

Problematizing PrEP medicalization reluctancy in perscribing  lack of knowledge? or, lack of critical thinking    LGBTQ-friendly, affirming health care      primary care     mental health      trans health     case management  Stigma-Shame-Self-Denial in the Covid Pandemic  Observations in cultural experiences of disease and illness narrative among those affected by COVID-19;  Opportunities in intersubjectivity and shared knowledge  Kuhn, and The Structures of Scientific Revolution Paradigmatic damming Incommensurability in the Tribal Mentality  HIV decriminalization and the power of governmentality and the social fact: What do Durkheim and Focult consider in their analyses of structure, self, and society that is fundamental to how we understand knowledge systems, meanings and methods, and scientific theorization? Why is HIV treated differently compared to other illnesses, notwithstanding moral pol...

Presentation Summary My presentation was on mercury poisoning in indigenous communities of the Peruvian Amazon caused by illegal goldmining activities. The article was posted on October 02, 2020 on the Anthropology News website, published by the American Anthropological Association. I often use this source for finding current issues in public health considered in anthropological contexts, which of course is my own background. The article reviews the history of mercury toxicity in the region and describes the population health outcomes for native peoples making a home of this now poisoned environment.   Mercury is an environmental pollutant that can travel far from its emission source, where it can damage human health and the environment. Artisanal and Small Scale Gold Mining (ASGM) is estimated to be the largest source of global mercury emissions, and occurs in the context of power, race, and gender dynamics in mining communities; as well as a long history of encultured racism ...

  Forced Sex, MSM, and HIV/STIs   Introduction   This paper examines the role of sexual violence in young men and boys who identify as men who have sex with men (MSM), and surmises its effects on high risk behaviors and HIV/STI transmission and acquisition. There is limited research on sexual violence as a predicate for HIV/STI risk and drug use in MSM. Increasingly higher rates of HIV/STIs in MSM have driven researchers to investigate the behavioral correlates and demography of this sexual minority population, but few studies have considered the subjective experience of sexual violence and poverty as indicators for high risk sexual behavior, including HIV/STI transmission, and illicit drug use among MSM. The relationship between the prevalence and correlates of experiencing sexual violence by a male in MSM and risk for drug use and STIs highlights the need for evidence-based multi-component interventions to address syndemic health disparities in this unique and d...

 I recently read through the CDC's DETECTING AND RESPONDING TO HIV TRANSMISSION CLUSTERS : A GUIDE FOR HEALTH DEPARTMENTS (2018), and have more questions than answers about the nature and scope of this novel surveillance strategy, its ethical and societal implications, as well as the impact of its implementation on minorities at-risk of HIV/STI.  Medical Monitoring Project ( VDH Stakeholder Meeting: 2015) -Ongoing supplemental surveillance system assessing behaviors and clinical characteristics of persons w/HIV who have received outpatient HIV medical care.  -To learn more about the experiences and needs of people receiving care -Funded by CDC HIV Incidence Surveillance  - Provides estimates of the number of new HIV infection over a certain period of time. - Incidence refers to persons newly infected with HIV in a specified time period, whereas a person newly diagnosed with H IV may have been infected for years before diagnosed.  Molecular HIV Surveillance -Coll...

STI Prevention in the Era of Biomedical HIV Intervention       Part I   Incident chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis have risen sharply among men in the United States and other industrialized countries, with syphilis disproportionately high among MSM. 1 This study investigates the relationship between biomedical HIV interventions and recent increases in STI incidence in AIDS-affected communities across the U.S. As Truvada (and now, Descovy) and concepts like U=U (undetectable equals untrasmittable) move across continents and into local formularies, traditional methods of HIV prevention are being destabilized. For the past 40 years, under the guidance of CDC and WHO, public health departments have focused primarily on preventing HIV by promoting abstinence, behavior change, and condoms (ABCs). However, the biomedical paradigm is shifting global strategies to address this disease. Anti-retroviral drugs can reduce the infectiousness of people living with HIV by abo...