Tag: HIV

HIV treatment options

“From 2002 to 2012, expanded access to HIV treatment averted 4.2 million deaths globally and contributed to a 58% reduction in new HIV infections.”

hiv-treatments-2Back in January 2016, I helped organize a workshop at my church, “Ending the Epidemic in NYS: HIV/AIDS Treatment in 2015: What Congregations Need to Know!”

It was designed to, among other things, increase awareness of the Blueprint to Ending the Epidemic in NYS by 2020; and learn how HIV treatment, such as PEP and PrEP, have impacted HIV prevention and treatment efforts.

PEP is post-exposure prophylaxis, “taking antiretroviral medicines (ART) after being potentially exposed to HIV to prevent becoming infected. PEP should be used only in emergency situations and must be started within 72 hours after a recent possible exposure to HIV.”

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (or PrEP) “is when people at very high risk for HIV take HIV medicines daily to lower their chances of getting infected. A combination of two HIV medicines (tenofovir and emtricitabine), sold under the name Truvada® (pronounced tru vá duh), is approved for daily use as PrEP to help prevent an HIV-negative person from getting HIV from a sexual or injection-drug-using partner who’s positive.”

Since then, I’ve been on the email list, seeing the progress of the NYS Department of Health’s effort. There is an Ending the Epidemic website in New York.

At the global AIDS conference in July 2016 in South Africa, it was noted that 15 million people have received “access to life-saving HIV treatment by 2015. Additionally, UNAIDS estimates that from 2002 to 2012, expanded access to HIV treatment averted 4.2 million deaths globally and contributed to a 58% reduction in new HIV infections. However…more than 60% of people living with HIV remain without antiretroviral therapy.”

I was interested to read in Wired recently, To Build A Viable HIV Vaccine, Start from the Molecule Up:

“Someday, vaccines might bat the [HIV] virus out of your system without you ever knowing you’d been exposed. If successful, such a vaccine would effectively cure AIDS. Someday, maybe. So scientists are working on it. Like yesterday: Researchers published results to a promising study on primates infected with SIV, a monkey version of HIV. The study, published in Nature, used a special drug to awaken the virus, which made it easier for their novel vaccine to detect and snuff it out.”

Here’s the 2015 HIV Surveillance Report. HIV/AIDS continues to be one of those issues that weighs on my heart.

NYS: end HIV/AIDS in the state by 2020

The Centers for Disease Control is planning a National HIV Prevention Conference in December 2015 in Atlanta to “continue refining, improving, and strengthening our nation’s response to HIV.”

AIDS.homepage-graphicIn the summer of 2015, I went to a dinner and discovered that there is a plan by the New York State Department of Health to end the epidemic in the state by 2020.

The three-point plan:
Identifies persons with HIV who remain undiagnosed and link them to health care.
Links and retains persons diagnosed with HIV in health care to maximize virus suppression so they remain healthy and prevent further transmission.
*Facilitates access to Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) for high-risk persons to keep them HIV negative.
Implicit in the framework was making sure people were not being shamed into hiding their HIV status, which merely makes it harder to treat.

There was a headline from a couple of months ago that surprised me:

Everyone who has H.I.V. should immediately be put on antiretroviral triple therapy and everyone at risk of becoming infected should be offered protective doses of similar drugs, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday as it issued new H.I.V. treatment and prevention guidelines.

The guidelines increase by nine million the number of people who should get treatment and by untold millions the number who should get protective doses. Previous guidelines recommended them for gay men, prostitutes, people with infected partners and others; the new guidelines effectively bring in millions of women and girls in Africa.

How much that will cost and how it will be paid for are not yet determined.

Advocates around the world welcomed the new guidelines — usually without addressing the cost.

Dr. Mark Dybul, executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, said the two recommendations were “critically important to moving us toward fast-track treatment and prevention goals.”

This was exciting, though: Truvada Protected 100 Percent Of Study Participants From HIV.

The Centers for Disease Control is planning a National HIV Prevention Conference in December 2015 in Atlanta to “continue refining, improving, and strengthening our nation’s response to HIV.” Because it’s not over yet.

Blog Action Day: HIV/AIDS (#HumanRights #BAD13)

Alicia Keys is teaming up with Greater Than AIDS to reach women about HIV/AIDS.

I’m not much into coincidence. All of these took place in a 10-day period:

*CBS Sunday Morning recently noted a milepost: it was 21 years ago when Magic Johnson told Los Angeles basketball fans: ‘I’m coming back to the Lakers and I’m playing again.’

“It was a dramatic reversal from the announcement he had made the previous November, one that had stunned people in the sports world and beyond: ”Because of the HIV virus that I have obtained, I will have to retire from the Lakers.'”

*I got this e-mail: Healthline recently partnered with the Timothy Ray Brown Foundation (TRBF) to launch “You’ve Got This” – a video campaign that encourages HIV patients to give hope and advice to the recently diagnosed. For every video created, Healthline will donate $10 to the TRBF towards finding a cure. Initial participants include Jack Mackenroth, Olympian Ji Wallace, Paul Lekakis, Josh Robbins, and Kevin Maloney.

We would love it if you could help us spread the word about the campaign by sharing with your friends, followers, and/or posting to your website or blog. For more information, please visit www.healthline.com/health/hiv-aids/youve-got-this or https://www.facebook.com/TheNewFaceofHIV.

I asked how long the videos would be accepted: “Currently, it is an open project – there isn’t a specific deadline. We plan to run it for at least a year.”

Admittedly, I was unfamiliar with Timothy Ray Brown. He is the Berlin Patient, who, some claim, has been cured of HIV. It may only be that he has a genetic mutation specific to him, but gene therapy may be a pathway to a real cure. The foundation does not claim that this is the sole path, so I am providing the links above.

*I happened across a television ad with singer Alicia Keys, teaming up with Greater Than AIDS, on the Empowered project, to reach women about HIV/AIDS awareness, since 1 in 4 people with AIDS are women.

*I had signed up for Blog Action Day, without really knowing what I wanted to write about in the area of Human Rights. Suddenly, addressing the still prevalent HIV/AIDS epidemic spoke to me. I think it’s a human rights issue.

If you should decide to participate in Blog Action Day, sign up at the website. Then go on your favorite social media sites and write, “I’ve just posted my #BlogActionDay post on #HumanRights on [yourwebsitelink] – take a look & leave a comment #BAD13. Tweet to them at @blogactionday. “Follow the live coverage on October 16, on blogactionday.org and our social media profiles to find out about other participant posts. If you like someone’s Blog Action Day post why not leave a comment and share it via social networks.”

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