A cross-section of articles we've read this week about HIV/AIDS, STIs and a wide cross-section of structural and systemic factors impacting HIV/AIDS in Black communities.

MSM

Poor Black and Hispanic Men Are the Face of H.I.V. 

The AIDS epidemic in America is rapidly becoming concentrated among poor, young black and Hispanic men who have sex with men.

Prevention

New HIV/AIDS Prevention Methods for Women Needed 

President Obama's significant commitment of $100 million in funding for HIV/AIDS treatment research will surely bring us closer to a cure. But hand in hand with even the best treatment should be better prevention.

Researchers Urge Earlier HIV Testing 

Last week, to coincide with World Aids Day and National HIV Testing Week, a series of m

obile clinics around the region offered help and advice to raise awareness of the importance of early testing for HIV.

Science

Amid the Uproar Over the Health Law, Voices of Quiet Optimism and Relief 

Despite its flaws, the insurance market has given hope to many who could not afford coverage or were denied it because of existing medical conditions.

Health Care Exchange is Vastly Improved, Users Say 

MIAMI - After two months of false starts, error messages and pleas for patience from the once-hobbled federal online health care exchange, Karen Egozi, the chief executive of the Epilepsy Foundation of Florida, watched on Monday as counselors navigated the website's pages with relative ease.

HIV Can Infect Transplanted Kidneys in HIV-Positive Recipients with Undetectable Virus 

HIV can infect transplanted kidneys in HIV-positive recipients even in the absence of detectable virus in the blood, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). The study's investigators also developed a simple urine test to diagnose such infections.

HIV Cure May Lie in Radioimmunotherapy 

A new study suggests targeting HIV with radioimmunotherapy could eradicate HIV from infected cells. If given in conjunction with highly active antiretroviral therapy, it may form the basis of a cure.

Study Results Have Important Implications for HIV Vaccine Development 

Infectious disease researchers have identified a novel mechanism wherein HIV-1 may facilitate its own transmission by usurping the antibody response directed against itself. These results have important implications for HIV vaccine development and for understanding the earliest events in HIV transmission.

Treatment

F.D.A. Approves Pill to Treat Hepatitis C 

The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved a pill that is expected to make the treatment of hepatitis C less onerous, shorter in duration and more effective.

Miscellaneous

Insurance Changes Raise Concerns for H.I.V. Patients 

When Dena Hughes learned about the Affordable Care Act's passage, she rejoiced. Ms. Hughes, who has tested positive for H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS, has struggled to find insurance coverage, because H.I.V. is considered a pre-existing condition. But even under the new law, Ms. Hughes said her care providers had advised her not to enroll in the federal health care exchange yet. It is unclear, they said, how the law will affect H.I.V. care when marketplace coverage begins Jan. 1.

Marrow Transplants Fail to Cure Two H.I.V. Patients 

Two patients in Boston whom doctors hoped they had cured of both H.I.V. and cancer through bone-marrow transplants have seen their H.I.V. return, researchers said Friday.

How Media and Research Institutions Contribute to HIV/AIDS in Black Communities 

Dec. 1 was World AIDS Day! However, here in the U.S. you would have scarcely known. Much of the focus was, and still is, on developing countries.    

Medicaid Expansion: A Case of the Kentucky 'Haves' and the Indiana 'Have-Nots' 

Uninsured face stark difference in options.

32 States Have HIV/AIDS Criminalizing Laws Based on 'Outdated Fears' 

This June a man in LaFayette, Georgia was charged with "criminal exposure to HIV" because he spat at another man. Georgia is one of 13 states that have HIV-specific laws making spitting or biting a felony, even though it has been years since the Center for Disease Control declared it;s not possible to transmit HIV via saliva.