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
Black MSM, PrEP Access Top Focus of New CDC HIV Prevention Funding
More than $216 million over a five-year period has been awarded to 90 community-based organizations (CBOs) by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The majority of the funding is for HIV prevention strategies for gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (MSM), as well as African-American communities. New funding will also go to increase access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for black MSM -- the demographic that has been most impacted by the epidemic.
Science
Liver Transplants in HIV/HCV Co-Infection: Study Underlines Importance of Hepatitis C Treatment
People with HIV and hepatitis C co-infection were significantly more likely to experience organ rejection than people with hepatitis C alone or HIV alone after undergoing a liver transplant, according to a review of 11 years' experience of liver transplantation in people with HIV and with hepatitis C virus (HCV) in the United States, published in advance online in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.
Miscellaneous
After Health Care Act, Sharp Drop in Spending on Birth Control
Out-of-pocket spending on most major birth control methods fell sharply in the months after the Affordable Care Act began requiring insurance plans to cover contraception at no cost to women, a new study has found. Spending on the pill, the most popular form of prescription birth control, dropped by about half in the first six months of 2013, compared with the same period in 2012, before the mandate took effect.
FDA Approves First at Home Rapid HIV Test
The first ever over-the-counter rapid HIV test has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
Dating While Gay
Gay marriage is finally leagal! But before matrimony comes the dating scene. Sexpert Glamazon Tyomi looks at the Black, male and gay dating scene. Hepatitis C Rising -- Especially Among Young People -- and May Be Underestimated
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Division of Viral Hepatitis has released its 2013 Viral Hepatitis Surveillance Report, providing the latest data on hepatitis A, B, and C in the U.S. While hepatitis C has traditionally been predominant among Baby Boomers, the new report shows that HCV incidence is rising fastest among young people. But a recently published related study suggests that formal surveillance methods may grossly underestimate the number of people newly infected with HCV.
HIV in Young People Rising in Maryland
As the rate of HIV cases among young people rises in Maryland, public health officials are scrambling for new ways to address the problem - or risk undermining years of success.
Medicare and Medicaid at 50
Medicare and Medicaid, the two mainstays of government health insurance, turn 50 this month, having made it possible for most Americans in poverty and old age to get medical care. While the Affordable Care Act fills the gap for people who don't qualify for help from those two programs, there are important improvements still needed in both Medicare and Medicaid.
Op-ed: LGBT Work, Housing Protections Needed Now, Says NAACP Leader
Julian Bond, the chairman emeritus of the NAACP, says the lack of government protections for LGBT people is simply unconscionable.
With Marriage Equality Won, It's Time to Turn to LGBT Rights Abroad
Back in New York City in the 1980s, AIDS, death and discrimination defined my life as a young gay lawyer whose partner was dying of AIDS. Same-sex couples were denied an entire slew of basic rights such as the right to hospital visitation, medical decision-making, adoption, and immigration, to name just a few. During that time, it would have literally been impossible for me to imagine the day when the U.S. Supreme Court would deliver the broadest, most historic victory for LGBT equality in our nation's history. This is a magnificent achievement.
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