GMHC Advocates for Increased HIV Prevention Programs Targeting Young Gay Men

artwork courtesy of kingsgalleries.com

Today, August 3, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released its estimates of HIV incidence in the United States for the years 2006-2009. These estimates markedly showed there was an estimated 21% increase in HIV incidence for people aged 13-29 years, driven by a 34% increase in young men who have sex with men (MSM)--the only group to experience a significant increase in incidence in this age range. Among MSM aged 13-29, HIV incidence among black/African American MSM increased significantly (48%) from 2006 through 2009 with a 12.2% estimated annual percentage increase.  

  

"Young gay men, especially those who are black, continue to face a serious uphill battle in the fight against HIV/AIDS," said Marjorie J. Hill PhD, Chief Executive Officer of GMHC.  "We must develop more targeted and empowering HIV prevention messages, tailored to these already-disenfranchised  individuals." 

Other significant findings in the CDC report included:

• MSM represent approximately 2% of the US population, but accounted for 61% of new HIV infections in 2009.
• Blacks/African Americans represent approximately 14% of the US population, but accounted for 44% of new HIV infections in 2009.
• Hispanics/Latinos represent 16% of the US population, but accounted for 20% in 2009.

GMHC continues to develop HIV prevention approaches that:

• Address public health issues that contribute to people's heightened vulnerability to HIV infection such as stigma, homophobia, poverty, racism and sexism;
• Promote family support which strengthens the resiliency within women, men and youth to better negotiate safer sex practices;
• Support gay-affirming interventions and activities in schools, such as gay-straight alliances and anti-bullying curricula;
• Advocate for age-appropriate sex education programs that are implemented and evaluated in schools;
• Offer more HIV testing in traditional sites such as churches and street fairs;
• Provide social marketing messages that address the hardest-hit populations; and
• Include partnerships with community- based organizations that reach groups most at-risk such as churches, schools, and youth organizations.

   "We advocate for a substantial increase in resources for  targeted HIV prevention programs, added Hill.  "To be young, gay and particularly black should not automatically come with an HIV diagnosis." 

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To read more about GMHC's HIV prevention efforts, please visit www.gmhc.org.

HIV Denialism and African Genocide

By Lawrence Mass, MD

IN THE PERIOD of the first reports of the new syndrome of immune deficiency (1981 to 1985), before we were certain about the primary role of HIV in the epidemic, sides were taken about putative cause(s), and about what the future held for the epidemic, gay sexual life, and the gay community in general. The range of viewpoints fell into several discernible camps.

First, there was Larry Kramer’s view, which he had already laid out in his 1978 novel Faggots, the image of gay men as obsessed by sex and fucking ourselves to death. Implicit in Kramer’s critique was the assumption that AIDS, the latest and deadliest in a series of STD epidemics in the gay community, was the inevitable culmination of it all...

Click here to read the entire article in the May-June 2011 edition of the Gay and Lesbian Review.


Lawrence D. Mass, MD, is a cofounder of Gay Men’s Health Crisis and the author/editor of four books. He wrote the first news report on what came to be called AIDS (in The New York Native, May 18, 1981). He is a specialist in addiction medicine in New York City.

HHS Moves to Review Outdated Lifetime Gay Blood Donor Deferral

artwork courtesy of www.ilga.org

Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) and the World Federation of Hemophilia laud the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for outlining concrete steps toward review of the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) permanent deferral on blood donation by gay and bisexual men.  In a question-and-answer document, HHS described four areas of necessary study to allow a further review of the existing policy, and implementation of the June 2010 recommendations from the Advisory Committee on Blood Safety and Availability (ACBSA). These areas include:
 

• How the risk of blood transmissible diseases in the current donor population relate to the risk factors in donors;

• The root cause of quarantine release errors (QRE), the accidental release of blood not cleared for use that potentially put the blood supply at risk;

• If potential donors correctly understand the current questionnaire and if men who have sex with men (MSM) would comply with modified deferral criteria; and

• If alternative screening strategy (e.g. pre- and/or post-qualifying donation infectious disease testing) for MSM (and potentially other high-risk donors) would assure blood safety while enabling data collection that could demonstrate safe blood collection from a subset of MSM or other currently deferred donors.

"We are pleased to see that the federal government has taken critical steps to review outdated blood donation policies," said Nathan Schaefer, Director of Public Policy at GMHC. "As this research agenda is pursued, GMHC will continue educating the public about the negative consequences of current blood donation policies, and advocating for revised policies that would allow low-risk gay men to donate blood and maintain the highest standard of blood safety."

"The safety of the nation's blood supply is of paramount importance to all Americans," said Mark Skinner, President of the World Federation of Hemophilia.  "We are encouraged by the Secretary's proposed research agenda.  The knowledge gained will allow for a thoughtful scientific review of the suboptimal aspects of the donor deferral policy.  We look forward to the Secretary engaging both donors and patients in the research process."

In February 2010, GMHC released a comprehensive report titled "A Drive For Change: Reforming U.S. Blood Donation Policies," which details the FDA's current blood donation guidelines and provides recommendations for alternative guidelines that emphasize behavior-based deferrals. In June 2010, GMHC provided testimony at the ACBSA meeting held to review the MSM policy. GMHC has long advocated for consistently applied standards of rigorous, scientifically-based blood safety, contributing to an increased pool of blood donors. 

In June 2010, Mark Skinner spoke on behalf of the American Plasma Users Coalition (A-PLUS) at the ACBSA meeting held to review the MSM policy.  A-PLUS is a coalition of national patient organizations created to address the unique needs of over 125,000 patients with rare diseases that use life-saving plasma protein therapies and are dependent on blood plasma therapies to lead healthy.  A-PLUS has acknowledged that the scientific basis for the permanent deferral requires review, and previously indicated that there are a number of factors which should be fully evaluated before making a revision to the policy. Such evaluation and research could lead to a policy revision that maintains or enhances the safety of blood and blood products.

"Art from Adversity" - short documentary by Robert Penn

One of the many New York City community organizations that formed in response to the AIDS epidemic is a writers group for Black Gay Men. In honor of James Baldwin's signature work, Another Country, the group selected the name Other Countries. It held its first writers workshop on June 14, 1986. Over the next year, it developed a three pronged program of peer critique, performance and publishing. In its 25 years, Other Countries has published three volumes of work by Black gay men and women. The most recent VOICES RISING came out in January 2007. The workshop continues each 2nd and 4th Saturday at NYC's LGBT Community Center from 6 to 9 p.m. Many past and current members have gone on to publish work that "went through" the workshop. Several who developed their craft in the workshop went on to work in publishing, television and academia. Though many of its founding members died twenty years ago, their affinity group continues to nurture and foster creativity and appreciation of the life we have, here and now.

To view the documentary, click here.

Positively Ambitious

by Dorothy Crouch

In 1981, on June 5, the first cases of AIDS were reported. Thirty years later, despite great strides and accomplishments in the fight against the disease, the United States federal government reports that there are approximately 33.4 million global HIV/AIDS cases. An estimated 1.2 million cases of HIV/AIDS exist in the United States—one quarter of these are women.

The stereotype of HIV/AIDS as a gay man’s problem faded as people from all socio-economic classes, sexual orientations and genders became infected. Many HIV/AIDS patients are now afforded longer, healthier lives as medications, including antiretroviral drugs, are prescribed to stop the reproduction of the virus or maintain health. Under proper supervision of their doctor, HIV positive women are now even able to carry and bear HIV negative children without infecting the father.

The Broken Road

 

Education, career, marriage and motherhood are all options that every woman should be able to choose. In a world that still searches for an HIV/AIDS cure, infected women struggle to find normalcy in their lifestyle choices–women like Denise from New York City.

Like many of us, Denise made a few destructive and dangerous choices when she was younger. Twenty years of her life were dedicated to a drug addiction that entirely consumed her; it was so powerful that she would not leave her bedroom. Denise gathered the strength to become sober, then in 1994 she received the news she was HIV positive—and lost all hope.

Mentally accepting the diagnosis was almost as debilitating as Denise’s former lifestyle. For a long time she isolated herself, having no desire to see anyone or do anything. Once she reached a turning point, Denise moved out of state… and discovered a new version of herself along the way.

New Beginning

 

Eventually Denise returned to New York. Many of the people from her old neighborhood in the Bronx were pleasantly surprised by the changes she’d made. She became a peer counselor and, after accepting her own diagnosis, never had a problem discussing her life with HIV. “I wanted to help people find out about themselves,” reveals Denise, “I would stand on the corner in Brooklyn handing out literature and condoms to people.”

After discovering Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC) Denise became increasingly optimistic about her life and role in the community. GMHC provides support services to clients who are infected with HIV/AIDS, including a starting point toward higher education. Working with local colleges, GMHC is able to offer classes to certain clients who are chosen by lottery. Denise’s inspiration grew after she received high grades on her exams in accounting and public speaking. This success drove her to apply to Long Island University, where she will begin taking courses this fall. “The more I keep my mind going and occupied, I will do well,” believes Denise.

Upon completion of her coursework toward an elementary education degree with a music and art minor, Denise hopes to help younger generations remain on a healthy path. “Going through CASAC (Certified Alcohol and Substance Abuse Counseling) training to visit schools and educate kids is what I would like to do,” she says.

Children are extremely important in her life. She has three children and five grandchildren, whom she spoils. The attention she provides to her grandchildren partially stems from her effort to compensate for the time she lost with her children during the many years that she lost to drugs. Denise is partcularly close to her 10-year-old granddaughter–“She does AIDS Walks and understands the virus, says Denise. “I help with homework and take her to the aquarium, zoo and Rye Playland.”

One Wish

 

Though HIV/AIDS receives a fair amount of attention, Denise believes there could be a greater effort to make it a “…controllable disease…” “I am going to be 59 next month and never felt better than today. I still see. I still hear. I always went to the doctor and took my meds,” says Denise. She has friends who were also diagnosed, but were not dedicated to maintaining their health. “Some of my friends refused treatment,” Denise recalls. “They are now dead. I am the last one from our group.”

Denise believes that through openness, greater campaigning and community events, HIV/AIDS awareness will increase. She does not believe she will see a cure in her lifetime. However, her one wish is “…to live long enough to see my grandchildren grow and have children. I want to see my great-grandchildren.” Oh yes—and also that diploma.

The article was originally published in Moxy Magazine on July 26, 2011. 

Perspectives

Introduction 
Welcome! I’ve always liked that word welcome…so much more personal and inviting than saying hello. So welcome to the Geffen Center’s blog, Perspectives. The goal of Perspectives is to give readers a view into the world around HIV prevention and testing through the eyes of those who work closely in the field. My name is Walter Vickerie and I am an author and HIV Test Counselor/Phlebotomist with GMHC’s Geffen Testing Center. I love to write and enjoy healthy discussions around provocative and topical issues. One of those issues being the importance around HIV testing and prevention. For the past two years I have been fortunate enough to be part of the Geffen Center and have tested hundreds of people from varied backgrounds. Through my work as a counselor I’ve heard thousands of stories and in those stories there are often provoking questions that bring about great topics for discussion amongst the testing team. It is my hope that Perspectives will do the same thing by simultaneously opening minds and encouraging dialogue on a larger platform. In addition, it’s my objective to get readers of this blog to truly see the importance around HIV testing and prevention. Let’s make this a space of bettering ourselves through knowledge because the more knowledge we all have the better. Lastly, your thoughts and experiences matter to me so please feel free to chime in on stories that provoke your minds and touch your hearts. Until next time, stay safe! 

What’s In a Question?
Whether we are testing in the office or out in the field people always want to know: Why do we ask so many personal questions? I will be the first to say yes… it’s a lot but it’s all for you. Why? It’s because our questions are excellent gateways to providing much needed information to clients. Case in point…, I recently had a client who was in a six-month relationship. He and his partner were considering having sex without condoms. I asked him did he know his partner’s status. He said, ‘Yes. He tested negative a year ago.’ I told him it was great that he knew the information but that was a year ago and his partner’s status might not be the same. In the world of prevention, there is a term known as the “window period,” and it was important with the client had a clear understanding of what it meant. [Window Period: the time from infection until a test can detect any change in HIV status. Three weeks after exposure the window opens and closes three months thereafter.] In short I let the client know his partner’s year- old results was just that… a year old! A week later the client came back with his partner to be tested! So you see our questions opened up a conversation that ultimately empowered the client to make a more informed decision. Remember we are here to service you…so help us to help you! Until next time, stay safe!

Two New HIV Prevention Video Shows!

Check out these new video shows created by our Community Health Department!

The Lunch Box Show

The Lunch Box Show speaks candidly to the realities faced by young Black and Latino men who have sex with men such as navigating through homophobic environments; dealing with community stigma; negotiating safer sex; nurturing loving, intimate relationships and friendships; and experiencing self-worth through educational and professional achievement. 

 

The Women with Voices Show

The Women with Voices Show covers topics, provides information, and offers stories for women and girls to be inspired. Women with Voices seeks to shift social norms and attitudes about HIV among women.