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.
Science
Drugs Produce High Hepatitis C Eradication Rates, Even in Liver-Diseased Patients
A course of new antiviral drugs in a clinical trial has resulted in almost all the patients with chronic hepatitis C infection becoming virus-free, even those whose disease meant they had scarring of the liver and so were at transplant or cancer risk.
Treatment
Gilead's Price Cuts Cause Hep C Scripts to Soar
Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: GILD) didn't make many friends last year when it priced its next-generation hepatitis C drugs, Sovaldi and Harvoni, at north of an eye-popping $1,000 per pill. However, the launch in December of AbbVie's competing Viekira Pak has led to a price war that has insurers warming up to Gilead's drugs.
Miscellaneous
Are Scare Tactics Off the Table for Public Health Campaigns Targeting HIV?
Over the last 10 years, public health campaigns in New York City around smoking, obesity, and HIV underwent a dramatic shift to use fear and disgust to spur behavior change, sometimes with the unintended consequence of stigmatizing affected populations. In a new article, scholars explore the implications of this shift to fear-based campaigns in the present public health environment.
From Oakland To Baltimore, Lessons Learned From Cities Of Unrest
The images from Baltimore of demonstrations, police in riot gear, looting and outbreaks of violence are familiar to some other cities after encounters with police ended in death for unarmed individuals - primarily black men.
Officials say what comes from those tragic encounters can be important lessons about policing and moving forward.
In Wake of Baltimore Unrest, Ta-Nehisi Coates Steers Conversation to History of Racial Inequality, Violence
Acclaimed writer speaks at inaugural 'JHU Forum on Race in America'
Obama Finds a Bolder Voice on Race Issues
As he reflected on the festering wounds deepened by race and grievance that have been on painful display in America's cities lately, President Obama on Monday found himself thinking about a young man he had just met named Malachi.
Rural Indiana Struggles to Contend With H.I.V. Outbreak
AUSTIN, Ind. - She became addicted to painkillers over a decade ago, when a car wreck left her with a broken back and doctors prescribed OxyContin during her recovery. Then came a new prescription opiate, Opana, easily obtained on the street and more potent when crushed, dissolved in water and injected. She did just that, many times a day, sometimes sharing needles with other addicts.
Smith College to Admit Transgender Women
(CNN)In yet another sign of evolving attitudes toward gender identity, venerable Smith College will begin admitting transgender women.
This Entire Magazine is Printed Using HIV-Positive Blood
To make a big point, a small Austrian men's magazine printed an entire edition using ink laced with HIV-positive blood. The idea, said Julian Wiehl, co-publisher of The Vangardist - a "progressive" magazine aimed at young, urban men - was to make a statement about the stigma still associated with the virus that no one could ignore.
