September 1, 2015




Raniyah Copeland, Director of Programs, Black AIDS Institute

Black AIDS Institute to Host Black Treatment Advocates...
It's no secret that African Americans face a more severe burden of HIV/AIDS than other groups. In an effort to change that, the Black AIDS Institute|more

 
   


  
Dr. Amy Lansky



Jane Lazarre

CDC STD App

Ferguson demonstrators
New White House Guidance...
The Administration releases the Indicator Supplement - a companion document to the recently updated National HIV/AIDS Strategy.
Last month, the Administration, led by the Office of National AIDS Policy|more 

 


Can Health Care Be Cured Of Racial Bias?... 
Jane Lazarre was pacing the hospital waiting room. Her son Khary, 18, had just had knee surgery, but the nurses weren't letting her in to see him. "They told us he would be out of anesthesia in a few minutes," she remembered. "The minutes|more 



 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

A New Digital Tool for Treating...
Sexually transmitted diseases (STD) continue to threaten the health and well-being of millions of Americans. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released its updated STD Treatment Guidelines, which have played |more 
 



 






 

 
 

Ferguson Activists and Attorneys.
..
August 19, was the one-year anniversary of the still-unprosecuted police killing of Kajieme Powell, but that wasn't the only source of turmoil in the Ferguson area. Within the same 24 hours, St. Louis County issued the first of up to what may be 1,000|more
  

 

 

 

 

 

 



   
 


WHAT WE'RE READING

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.

Treatment
 
 
HIV-positive women who have recently given birth have low rates of engagement with HIV care, investigators from the US report in the online edition of Clinical Infectious Diseases. A retrospective analysis of 561 HIV-positive postpartum women in Philadelphia showed that only 38% engaged with HIV care in the three months after delivery. Rates of retention in care and viral suppression after one and two years were also poor. However, early re-engagement with care after delivery was associated with a better chance of staying in care and maintaining an undetectable viral load.
 
 
Interactions also possible with erectile dysfunction drugs and benzodiazepines
 
 
Pregnancy could be a turning point for HIV-infected women, when they have the opportunity to manage their infection, prevent transmission to their new baby and enter a long-term pattern of maintenance of HIV care after giving birth-but most HIV-infected women aren't getting that chance. That is the major message from a pair of new studies in Philadelphia, one published early online this month in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, and the other published in July in PLOS ONE.
 
Miscellaneous
 
 
Criminal justice reform is finally gaining some traction in the U.S., including bipartisan support for legislation such as the SAFE Justice Act that would keep many people charged with non-violent crimes from going to jail in the first place. Top U.S. health officials need to be part of this movement, as criminal justice reform is not only about closing prisons; it's also about improving public health. Incarceration is associated with increased HIV risk, interference with medication regimens and poorer outcomes once infected, so the updated National HIV/AIDS Strategy would have been a great place to start. Unfortunately, this opportunity has been missed.
 
 
I was born between 1945 and 1965, but don't have any other risk factors. I never used intravenous drugs or had unprotected sex. Should I be tested for hepatitis C?
 
 
Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is associated with an important early warning side of cardiovascular disease, investigators from the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS) report in the online edition of the Journal of Infectious Diseases. Both HIV and HCV infections were independently associated with hardening of the coronary artery, but there was no evidence that HIV/HCV co-infection worsened atherosclerosis. After controlling for HIV infection and other factors associated with heart disease, a consistent relationship was present between chronic HCV infection and coronary artery plaque formation.
 
 
Do jail and prison authorities have the right to deny prisoners life-saving medical care simply because of the price tag? People imprisoned in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Minnesota are heading to court to find out, with suits focused on access to expensive treatment that can cure hepatitis C. Although prisoner's access to HIV screening and treatment has expanded, hepatitis C treatment remains extremely rare despite high rates of infection among prisoners, many of whom may also be living with HIV.
 
 
The Ryan White Comprehensive AIDs Resources Emergency Act marked a milestone recently as it celebrated its 25-year anniversary of providing comprehensive care for nearly 525,000 low-income people living with HIV.
 
 
It may be easy to talk a good game when it comes to race, but a new study from Pew Research Center reveals the hidden racial biases that people carry. To get at the truth, researchers used an Implicit Association Test (IAT), which tracks how quickly people associate good or bad words with specific groups. The study focused on black, Asian, white, biracial black-white, and biracial Asian-white participants, with an eye toward discovering if biracial people are less likely to be biased. It turns out that they are not.
 
 
Earlier this month about 60 people attended the Black Gay and Bisexual Men's Town Hall Meeting at the Pride Center in Wilton Manors, Florida. Speakers discussed HIV infection among Black Gay Bisexual Men (BGBM).

In This Issue
Phill Wilson
Next week, the Black AIDS Institute will be at the U.S. Conference on AIDS in Washington, D.C. On Tuesday, September 8, before the Conference kicks off, the Institute will host the 2015 Black Treatment|more 
 
EVENTS 

September 8
BTAN National Meeting at USCA
Register here

 
September 9
BTAN Black PrEP Summit at USCA
Register here 

September 10 - 13 
U.S. Conference on AIDS
Washington, DC 
 
 
For more information on events 
contact Gerald Garth at
or visit 

BLACK AIDS
WEEKLY

PHILL WILSON 

Publisher

 

HILARY BEARD 

Editor-in-Chief

 

TERESA RIDLEY 

Copy Editor

 

LASHIEKA P. HUNTER 

Media and Public Relations Consultant


Founded in May of 1999, the Black AIDS Institute is the only national HIV/AIDS think tank focused exclusively on Black people. The Institute's Mission is to stop the AIDS pandemic in Black communities by engaging and mobilizing Black institutions and individuals in efforts to confront HIV. The Institute interprets public and private sector HIV policies, conducts trainings, offers technical assistance, disseminates information and provides advocacy mobilization from a uniquely and unapologetically Black point of view.

Support the Black Aids Institute through the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC# 12320). The Institute holds the Independent Charities Seal of Excellence for meeting the highest standards of public accountability.