USING ART TO ELIMINATE REDUCE HIV/AIDS RELATED STIGMA & DISCRIMINATION COMPETITION 2019

USING ART TO ELIMINATE REDUCE HIV/AIDS RELATED STIGMA & DISCRIMINATION COMPETITION 2019

UPDATES

11/05/2019

The DEADLINE for ART submission is December 06, 2019 at 11:59 PM.

Register now!!

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To date we have been making numerous progress in the HIV/AIDS Science. Treatment as Prevention (TasP) re-branded as Undetectable equal Untransmittable (U=U) demonstrating people living with HIV who have been undetectable for at least six months CANNOT transmit HIV (or AIDS) sexually. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) just recently approved Descovy as an additional biomedical prevention tool for Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) for those who are HIV negative.

There are currently long-acting antiretroviral therapy (injectable HIV treatment) being done, cure research and the list goes on. Despite all these progresses we are making in the science for HIV, there seems to be two problematic area for people living with HIV, those who are significantly affect and those want to get tested. STIGMA & DISCRIMINATION (S&D). Yes, S&D is still problematic especially most recently you has celebrity like Cardi B according to Complex.com “Cardi B Calls Out 'Access Hollywood' Over Clickbait: ‘I Hope Your F*cking Mom Catch AIDS’” and Khia who makes HIV jokes about Bobby Lykes according to Rollingout.com.

HEALING with HOPE (HwH) is launching “Using ART to eliminate reduce HIV/AIDS related STIGMA & DISCRIMINATION Competition 2019” giving away US$500.00. Yes, if you are an artist and got a talent like singing, dancing, writing, painting, spoken words etc… I invite you to enter right now either as one person or as a group to win a share of US$500.00 CASH.

1.     Complete Online Application Form

2.     Create your ART and add description about ART.

3.     Submit your ART to be upload on our Social Media Pages (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr) by November 1, 2019.

4.     Make a video of work and picture of your work.

5.     Remember to submit work by November 1^st to HEALINGwHOPE@gmail.com with Subject: “ART Submission and Name”

6.     Winners will be determined by most reactions, views, retweets, tags, comments and announced December 1^st on World AIDS Day.

For additional information email HEALINGwHOPE@gmail.com or call +1-213-379-9281

Damone 

My 32nd | Ending Stigma & Discrimination in Jamaica

July 26, 2019 my 32nd birthday will makes 12 years, 6 months and 23 days. As I look over my life, I come to realize that my journey and experience have been interesting to say the least. To be honest many things I’ve been forced to bury as I’d not remember them due the shame I felt. I write this blog to share my story in an effort help someone in my country Jamaica. Being away from Jamaica makes it is much easier to share my story, but like the four men with the leprosy in 2 Kings 7:3-20, I was at the point of do or die. This blog will highlight three of my most trauma filled personal experiences.

I am the “wash belly” (last child) to my parents and I’ve always known my life would be different; but didn’t expect it to be this different. From attending Duhaney Park Primary school I remembered my grade 3 teacher Ms. Hamilton taking a chance on my intellect and moving me from the average class. This shift has aligned me to be able to meet Mrs. Erskin who prepared me for the first Grade Six Achievement Test (G-Sat) examination. I was successful and ultimately granted admission to the prestigious all boys school Calabar High. The funny part is I never wanted to go to Calabar before because of all the negative stories I had heard about it. After careful thought, I realized not many would have this opportunity especially given how this school has shaped the history of Jamaica.

 

It was January 2000 second term in grade 7, I suddenly took sick. High fever, swollen joints- I could not walk. Yes, I was in pain and unable to walk at the age of 12. After spending months in the Kingston Public Hospital, after many tests and almost heart failure I was diagnosed with rheumatic fever. What the hell was this? My treatment was a penicillin shot every 28 days for the rest of my life. This was my high school life and I could not do any major activities because my heart wouldn’t be able to keep up. I thank God the day when doctors told me my heart was good and I no longer needed to take the medication. That was right around my 26th birthday. So I know a thing or two about being sick.

Innocence stolen – Raw Truth

One Saturday night at church, I was performing my cleaning duties and started talking with a community member in his late 30s who had come to see the Pastor. Our conversation diverted into sex talk and I was turned on yet uncomfortable at the same time.  He lived in the area close by and later in the evening saw me leaving and offered to accompany me home.  We were on Washington Blvd walking and reached at the Bridge at Patrick City where there is a gully, that was dark and bushy at the time. When we got to the bridge, he suggested we go into the bushes where he could show me something and no one could see us.  I could see he had an erection and I was curious to know, but fearful at the same ti me.  He made me perform oral sex on him and then he rubbed his penis within my legs until he ejaculated.  He then performed oral sex on me until I did the same.  As pleasurable as the experience was, I also felt guilty at the end. When it almost over, I made one shout and that one shout I felt something left my body; a part of me was taken away, a part I cannot get back. I was upset and told him to leave me alone.  When I got home that night, I remembered I went straight to the bathroom, I cried in the shower while I tried to wash away what was done to me. In all the years up till then, I used to tell myself the encounter was my fault; I had brought it on myself. A feeling of emptiness or loss was left with me. Homophobia and fear for myself I really did not tell anyone about the encounter to this day until I started therapy July 2014. I was just 14years old.

Living my truth

July 26, 2019 will be 4587 days since I told myself, “God had a plan.” After leaving high school I started working as a Teller at GSB Cooperative Credit Union February 2005. I was only making JA$5,000.00 (around US$65 at the time) until I got promoted to full time. January 2006, I took sick for almost a month. While in the hospital, doctors performed just about every test possible even a HIV test. They were still not sure what was happening to my body. At the end of that year going into the new year, I felt changes in my body I never expected. All these symptoms began happening to me, but what was really happening I could never tell. I remember I told myself beginning of January 2007 right after the holidays I need to go back to get a test. I prayed about and read about it and I got an answer. I was at peace. I remembered I went to the clinic, did the paperwork and I sat down with the nurse and we chitchat and make jokes. She did the test and we waited the then customary 20mins for the results. Time flew so fast because of the conversation we were having. And she told, “its reactive to HIV” and I paused for a moment and asked her what that meant. She told me plainly it means you are HIV positive and we need to draw blood to do a confirmation. I asked her to do a next test to confirm she reminded me the blood test will confirm the results. She finally asked me, how you do feel? ---- I simple told her, “God has a plan” and smiled.

I know when I got up to leave Jamaica AIDS Support for Life’s office, I had to be strong, bold, show no tears, show no fear, no one else could know, tell no body because bein g gay I already felt condemned. But gay plus HIV positive it will be deemed THE punishment from GOD as far as my community was concerned.

July 26, 2019 will be 150 months and 23 days since I have been living with HIV.  I was 19 years old when I knew I had HIV. While I knew “God has a plan” I had to face my reality. Working in the credit union industry was good because it meant I could afford to go to private doctor and take care of myself without no one else knowing what was happening. The sad reality September 2007 my contract was terminated and for five years from my diagnosis to January 2012, I stayed away from care because of fear and shame. I stayed away because the facilities in Jamaica were not friendly towards LGBTQ people much less someone living with HIV. The facilities I encountered had virtually no privacy; everyone knew why you were there, and I would tell myself I could not do that. Around July 2011 I didn’t like how I was feeling, and my identity was changing. Especially people I knew younger than me were dying from AIDS related illnesses. I refused to die! I didn’t care who see me or know my status I am going to get the help I need. I kept this from my family. It seemed it was just in time because my body started showing more visible signs something was wrong and I was referred to see a Dermatologist who help me solved one problem and as I sat in her office January 2012 after completing a treatment, she asked if I was in care and what do I want to do. I told her I have an appointment in 6 months at Kingston Public Hospital she told me, I could see her at her office and get my care treatment from her. My life has since turned around for the better. To this day I have been on treatment for 7 years and very much undetectable. Being undetectable means the HIV is under control and will not be able to transmit HIV sexually.  

I write this blog because I am thriving beyond HIV. It does not define who or what I am. Today, I work as a full time Treatment Education Specialist, helping African/Americans living with HIV with adherence to their medication and on a part-time basis I am a Sr. Community Health Worker, offering HIV/STD testing to the LGBTQ community in Los Angeles.

Seven years ago, I started HEALING with HOPE as an avenue of advocacy to talk about HIV without people knowing my life story.

Today…

I am living proof of HEALING with HOPE.

I am not ashamed of my status.

I am not afraid to share my story to help someone else

I am giving because I know what it is like to be without.

TODAY, I AM NOT SICK, I AM THRIVING BEYOND HIV!

 I encourage you to support HEALING with HOPE and myself by buying a HOPE PIN. This is to support social media campaigns and efforts to bring awareness to ending HIV/AIDS stigma and discrimination in the Caribbean, within my country “Jamaica, land we love.”

Holy Healers Hurting - Several Persons with HIV/AIDS Abandoning Medical Treatment After They Are ‘Cured’ By Church Leaders

Source: Jamaica Gleaner

Kandasi Levermore, Executive Director of the Jamaica AIDS Support for Life (JASL)

 Jamaica's efforts to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS could be stymied by the Church, as several persons who have tested positive have abandoned medical treatment because they were declared cured by their spiritual leader.

Executive director of the Jamaica AIDS Support for Life (JASL), Kandasi Levermore, last week declared that she is deeply concerned about this development.

"When we have a one client where we experience this type of situation, we usually try and do a one-on-one; but I have three clients in St James, another two in St Ann and another three in Kingston where, basically, they went to church and they were prayed for, and they were told they were healed, and they are not taking their medications," said Levermore.

"I don't treat the majority of people living with HIV, it is just a little group of people that access the JASL treatment programme. Remember that you have at least 20 times more that access public health, so you don't even know what is happening there," she told The Sunday Gleaner.

Levermore, who is a Christian, said she does not doubt that people can be healed through spirituality, but she notes that in many of the cases, the individuals had not sought to verify their change in status by getting tested.

"So when we reach out to them, they are missing out on care, they are not coming to the clinic and they are getting worse, their outcomes are declining," she lamented.

MISINFORMED

"If we come upon a miracle story, trust me, we are going to say it, but we are saying, don't misinform the clients and tell them that they are healed, and the people end up not taking their medications and not going to the doctor," added Levermore.

She also worries for the spouses or sexual partners of these individuals, as their viral loads could increase as a result of them aborting treatment. Viral load is the term used to describe the amount of HIV in the blood.

Levermore noted that some HIV/AIDS-positive persons are so convinced of their healing by pastors that they have refused any sort of assistance from the JASL. One of these individuals, she said, was considered a model patient because of the progress he has been making in reducing his viral loads.

"He was doing so well that he was one of the model clients that would facilitate some of the treatment literacy workshops with us. He would be the model patient that would be able to say to the clients, 'When you are feeling this way, this is what you would do', because he lived it," she said.

"Now not even the psychologist can get through to this person," Levermore pointed out.

She said further investigations have shown that many of these individuals had attended one of the new evangelical Christian churches where the miracle healing was reportedly done.

CONCERNS

"The truth is, it is not within what we know as church when we were growing up," she explained.

The Jamaica Council of Churches has been informed of the concerns of the JASL and has agreed to meet with Levermore to discuss the issue on February 19.

Efforts to have dialogue with the leaders of some of the less traditional churches have not been as fruitful.

"We are writing specific churches, because we got specific reports, to have a sit down with the leadership of those churches. We haven't received any kind of positive response," said Levermore.

UN Special Envoy on HIV/AIDS to the Caribbean, Dr. Edward Greene, revealed last year that Jamaica and Cuba have both seen major increases in HIV infections.

He noted that after 10 years of decline in the prevalence rate, the Caribbean has witnessed a nine per cent increase in new infections.

The country is currently working towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goal of ending AIDS as a public- health threat by 2030 and other international targets, but this could be stymied if persons stop taking their medication and are not healed.

"You can't force anybody to take medicine in Jamaica. But what I am asking for is some amount of responsibility on the spiritual leaders to know that you shouldn't be the person to put somebody's health at risk," said Levermore.

FAST FACTS:

- There is currently no cure for HIV, although antiretroviral treatment can control it.

- Most research is towards a 'functional cure' where HIV is reduced to undetectable and harmless levels permanently, but some residual virus may still be present in the body.

- Some research is looking for a 'sterilising cure' where all HIV is eradicated from the body, but this is more complex and risky.

- Trials of HIV vaccines are encouraging, but even once developed will only offer partial protection.

SOURCE: The HIV PLUS Magazine

CDC: “…viral suppression, defined as less than 200 copies/ml or undetectable levels, it prevents sexual HIV transmission.”

In a historic letter, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention unequivocally says
 "Undetectable Equals Untransmittable" for the first time.

After hundreds of other experts and HIV organizations have already signed on to a pledge that recognizes that people living with HIV whose treatment has brought their viral load to an undetectable level — which is nearly half of all HIV-positive people in the U.S. — cannot transmit HIV to any other person, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has come out with the definitive statement on the subject. 

In recognition of National Gay Men’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, the CDC memo stated,

“On this day, we join together in taking actions to prevent HIV among gay and bisexual men and ensure that all gay and bisexual men living with HIV get the care they need to stay healthy.” Gay and bisexual men, the CDC noted, continue to be disproportionately affected by HIV, with, “more than 26,000 gay and bisexual men received an HIV diagnosis in 2015, representing two-thirds of all new diagnoses in the United States, and diagnoses increased among Hispanic/Latino gay and bisexual men from 2010 to 2014.”

Although these findings are certainly disappointing, the letters key paragraph is not. Noting that research has shown that antiretroviral therapy both keeps people living with HIV healthy and has a preventative effect, the CDC writes,

“When [antiretroviral treatment] results in viral suppression, defined as less than 200 copies/ml or undetectable levels, it prevents sexual HIV transmission.”

In other words, having one’s HIV suppressed to undetectable levels prevents transmission.

“Across three different studies, including thousands of couples and many thousand acts of sex without a condom or pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP),” the statement continues, “no HIV transmissions to an HIV-negative partner were observed when the HIV-positive person was virally suppressed. This means that people who take ART daily as prescribed and achieve and maintain an undetectable viral load have effectively no risk of sexually transmitting the virus to an HIV-negative partner.”

That is a remarkable statement, as Bruce Richman, executive director of UequalsU.org and the Prevention Access Campaign tells us.

“This is the moment we have been waiting for! The CDC agreed today there is effectively, no risk, of sexually transmitting HIV when on treatment and undetectable.”

NO RISK MEANS ZERO RISK THAT SOMEONE WITH HIV CAN SEXUALLY TRANSMIT THE VIRUS TO THEIR HIV-NEGATIVE PARTNER, EVEN IF THEY ARE NOT USING CONDOMS OR PREP.

Richman says congratulations are in order to

“All the pioneering people and partners in this community and in the city, state, and federal health departments who worked together outside and inside the system to make this change. What a beautiful moment! The CDC’s new and unequivocal language is a result of [the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’] unprecedented review of transmission risk messaging across departments which will be rolling out core messaging in the coming weeks and months.”

Richman, whose Prevention Access Campaign has led the educational effort around the Undetectable=Untransmittable message, points to the other people living with HIV, who “have been leading the way for this change here in the U.S. and around the world. Our experience as part of the review process and as early as last summer with HHS, [National Institutes of Health], and CDC has been productive and positive even when the gaps in our positions seemed wide. We especially appreciate their integrity, commitment, and decisive action during a time when our health and human rights have been continually under assault.”

At this year’s U.S. Conference on AIDS, Richman notes that Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, “confirmed, the science really does verify and validate U=U (Undetectable = Untransmittable), in follow-up to his statements at [the 2017 International AIDS Society].”

Now, Richman adds, “It’s time to make history and share this news!” He calls on other HIV and LGBT organizations to join “nearly 400 organizations from 56 countries that have signed on as part of a growing and vibrant U=U Community Partner network. Resources on U=U messaging in the U.S. and around the world as well as the related issues of unequal access, social determinants of health, and HIV criminalization are on our website.” 

Scientists Divulge Latest in HIV Prevention

SOURCE: Jamaica Observer

PARIS, France (AFP)— A far cry from the 1990s "ABC" campaign promoting abstinence and monogamy as HIV protection, scientists reported on new approaches Tuesday allowing people to have all the safe sex they want.

ABCDE VS HIV | Infographic by
Rocel Ann Junio for MP-KNN http://sumo.ly/54o0

  

Moving away from the message to "Abstain, Be faithful, Condomise", modern prevention strategies include drug-doused vaginal rings, male circumcision, and taking antiretroviral therapy (ART) medication, experts said at a HIV Science Conference in Paris.  

Thirty-five years of research has yet to yield a cure or vaccine for the virus which has infected more than 76 million people since the early 1980s and killed 35 million.

This means that prevention remains "absolutely critical," according to Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) in Maryland, who attended the International AIDS Society conference.

There are 19.5 million people on ART today, with another 17.1 million who need it.

"Each year we add about two million to that group," Fauci told AFP. "We must decrease the number of new infections."

Some recent advances:

Circumcision

According to the World HealthOrganization, there is "compelling evidence" that male circumcision reduces the risk of sexual HIV infection in heterosexual men.

On Tuesday, researchers said it also protects their female partners.

In a study with nearly 10,000 people in South Africa, women who reported that their most recent male sexual partner was circumcised were 22 per cent less likely to have HIV and 15 per cent less likely to have genital herpes than women whose last partner was not.

The reason is not clear. Is it simply that fewer men are being infected and infecting others in turn, or does circumcision actively prevent HIV-positive men from passing on the virus?  The research will continue, said Ayesha Kharsany of the CAPRISA Research Centre in South Africa.

"What is certain, however, is that having a circumcised partner can provide women with partial protection against HIV," she told journalists in Paris.

Some 12 million men have been medically circumcised in sub-Saharan Africa to date in an effort to stop the spread of HIV, Kharsany said.

Opposites Attract

A study of gay couples in which one partner had HIV, showed that infected men who achieve virus suppression with ART also protected their uninfected partners.

Add caption

"There were no, zero, HIV transmissions within these couples," said Andrew Grulich of the University of New South Wales in Australia, who took part in the study entitled "Opposites Attract".
Grulich and a team followed 330 couples for about 1.5 years, during which time the participants reported 17,000 acts of condomless, anal sex.

The lack of HIV spread was despite high rates of other sexually-transmissible infections, the team found.

"We think these findings really strongly support the hypothesis that condomless sex, when the viral load is undetectable, is a form of safe sex," said Grulich.

Vaginal Ring

A two-year study of 96 girls aged 15 to 17 in the United States, showed that a vaginal ring treated with the ARV drug dapivirine, was safe and easy to wear.

The ring is worn constantly and replaced monthly.

In previous research involving adult women, the ring reduced the risk of acquiring HIV by about 30 percent, according to the research team. Further study is needed to test whether it also protected girls.

"HIV doesn't distinguish between a 16-year-old and an 18-year-old," said Sharon Hillier of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

"Young women of all ages deserve to be protected."

Teenage girls and young women aged 15-24 accounted for a fifth of new HIV infections among adults in 2015 — rising to one in four in sub-Saharan Africa where 1,000 are infected daily, according to the study authors.

Injectable Shield

A long-acting, injectable dose of the virus-suppressing drug cabotegravir, given every two months, was well tolerated in trial participants, according to early results.

Cabotegravir is being probed as an alternative to oral ARV as prevention — also known as pre-exposure prophylaxis or PrEP. Forgetting to take a pill can expose one to infection, and is a major complaint of PrEP users.

Further trials are in the pipeline to test the drug's virus-suppressing efficacy, said Raphael Landovitz, an infectious diseases expert from the University of California.

Less Frequent Sex

A drug cocktail that has been shown to protect uninfected gay men who engaged in frequent and "high-risk" sexual behaviour, also shields those who are less active and hence take fewer tablets, another study showed.

The IPERGAY trial is testing the efficacy of the drug cocktail Truvada taken as prevention before and after sex.

No infections were reported among men on PrEP who had sex about five times a month, researchers found. The team had previously measured a near 90-percent drop in infection risk for Truvada-users who had sex on average twice as often.

PrEP