Namibia: Condoms among inmates divide opinion

The Windhoek Correctional Facility says the constitution does not allow same-sex individuals to engage in sex, hence condoms cannot be distributed in correctional facilities.

"Same sex is still regarded as a crime in Namibia and if we distribute condoms it will be seen as if we are encouraging that. We want to maintain law and order," said the officer in charge of the Windhoek Correctional Facility, Deputy Commissioner Victor Eichab.

His comments came in the light of Minister of Health and Social Services, Dr Bernard Haufiku's call for the distribution of condoms in prisons. Haufiku said that for Namibia to make strides in HIV/AIDS prevention and education, circumcision and the distribution of more condoms is needed including in prisons.

"In most cases we educate offenders to abstain from sexual activities because it's an offence. We know that it is not easy, as studies have shown that being in custody does not take away people's desire for intimacy," said Eichab.  Read more via All Africa
Namibia

Australia: HIV is a public health issue not a crime say advocates

Advocates for people living with HIV and sex worker support organisations have condemned the arrest and subsequent media stigmatisation of a trans person living with HIV who was also a sex worker in WA. The trans woman was arrested by Sydney police to face charges of grievous bodily harm after allegations of HIV transmission were raised. HIV advocates suggest the move was counterproductive to the strategic plan to end HIV transmissions by 2020 as it compounded unfounded fears surrounding the virus and further stigmatised people living with HIV.  

Janelle Fawkes, CEO Scarlet Alliance, Australian Sex Workers Association says: “The involvement of money in sexual transactions does not increase the risk of HIV transmission. Sex workers with HIV can routinely exchange sex for money without putting themselves, or their clients, at risk. Any suggestion that occupation or gender identity is somehow responsible for HIV transmission is extremely naïve.”

Cameron Cox suggests criminalising HIV transmission not only undermines the notion of shared responsibility to prevent HIV, it creates stigma and discourages people from being tested. Cox also highlighted the important role sex workers had in Australia’s response to HIV: “To date there has not been one documented case of HIV transmission having ever been recorded in a sex work setting.” 

Read more via Gay News Network

 

Namibia: Sex workers, homosexuals at higher risk of HIV/AIDS…as it is extra hard for them to access health services

Jackie, a trans-woman and another 40-year-old homosexual man *Robin, shared their struggles to freely access health services at state facilities as homosexual men. Not only that, but they are also sex workers. Sex workers and homosexuals are particularly at higher risk of HIV/AIDS because of their lifestyles.

“I don’t know my HIV status. I’m scared of discrimination from the nurses and the reaction of people when I have to go to health facilities,” says Jackie who has been selling his body for money for the last four years. Unlike Jackie, Robin has been living with HIV for the past 20 years. Being gay and HIV positive has not been an easy journey, as he struggles with acceptance. Not self-acceptance but rather being accepted by society for who he is.

In 2010, Robin who has been on antiretroviral treatment since 1996, stopped going to state facilities to get antiretroviral medication after being discriminated against: “The nurse told me ‘God created you as a man, you can’t be gay, a sex worker and also infected with HIV.”

“That was the last time I ever went back for my ARVs because I was shattered." Robin comfortably seeks the services of traditional healers. “They give strong medicines to keep me healthy and I also buy things from the pharmacy to boost my immune system,” explains Robin. Read more via New Era

US: LGBTQ youth engaged in 'survival sex' see perks for skipping condoms – survey

Choosing not to use a condom can mean an extra meal or shelter for LGBTQ youth, according to a survey of young people in New York City who exchange sex for money to pay for basic needs – a practice also known as “survival sex”.

The health habits of 283 LGBTQ youth in New York City who who become involved in the commercial sex market to meet “basic survival needs” were published in a study by the nonprofit Urban Institute.

“A common theme we had through a lot of the conversations was ‘I’m doing this because I have no other choice’ and ‘this is the only way I can get by,’” said Meredith Dank, the study’s lead author. Of those surveyed, 99% said they use protection against sexually transmitted infection and pregnancy, though only 63% said they used protection all the time.  Read more via the Guardian

Brazil: State Secretary of Human Rights dismissed over gay ‘cure’ remarks

A Brazilian governor has fired his official human rights secretary because the man expressed a belief in curing homosexuality. Ezequiel Teixeira told the O Globo newspaper that he believed in a "gay cure" comparable to a cure for AIDS or cancer and declared his opposition to gay marriage. Teixeira's also an evangelical minister.

After the publication of the interview, Rio de Janeiro state Gov. Luiz Fernando Pezao said he was "totally opposed" to Teixeira's comments and replaced him with Paulo Melo, a former president of the state assembly. Rio faces a financial crunch, and it recently closed down four LBGT call centers and an anti-homophobia project run by the state government has fired 78 people. Read more via Gospel Prime 

US: High rates of HIV found among trans women as new studies narrow transgender data gap

Although transgender people -- especially trans women of color -- have among the higher rates of HIV infection, this population has not been adequately studied. Many HIV prevention studies miscategorized transgender women as men who have sex with men, and there has been little specific research on HIV among trans men.

However, HIV prevention and services for transgender women and men were the focus of several presentations at the 2015 National HIV Prevention Conference (NHPC), which took place in December in Atlanta, Georgia. In addition, the upcoming Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) will feature a plenary session on transgender people -- a first for this research conference focused on HIV/AIDS and related infectious diseases. Follow the link for an overview of new data. Read more via The Body Pro

Czech Republic: Officials launch criminal investigation into 30 gay men over HIV exposure

A public health department in the Czech Republic has launched criminal investigations against 30 HIV-positive men whom it alleges had unprotected sex in violation of the country’s laws that make it a crime to expose someone else to HIV.

There are no complainants in the case, nor any evidence anyone has contracted HIV from the 30 men under investigation. The sole evidence against the men is that they contracted other sexually transmitted infections (STI) — like gonorrhea or syphilis — after testing HIV-positive, which the health department contends is proof they had condomless sex in violation of the law.

“There’s absolutely no evidence, there are no victims,” said Jakub Tomšej, a lawyer with the Czech AIDS Help Society, which has provided counseling to some of the men under investigation. “We believe the only consequence [of this kind of investigation] is that HIV-positive people who get another STI will simply avoid doctors.”

Edwin Bernard, the U.K.-based head of the HIV Justice Network, said that the collaboration between a public health agency and law enforcement in this new investigation is alarming because it threatens much of the progress that has been made in Europe in reforming HIV policy. 

Read more via Buzzfeed
 

Thailand: A new gay web series that is worth your health

Have we been waiting too long for a realistic storyline of native Asian gay men coping with their sexual health issues? The answer is yes. Despite efforts to expand the visibility of LGBT individuals on mainstream TV series and webseries, there's still not a lot out there that truly empower sexual health and rights of gay men who are living in Asia – the region that’s progressing sluggishly, if not the least, in standing up for health and rights of its sexual minorities.

The tide, however, will turn. GAYOK BANGKOK The Series, a webseries following the lives of six diverse gay men living in Bangkok and their drama – relationship, career, family and, most of all, sexual health – in a manner that Asian gay men can truly relate. 

Read more via Test BKK
 

Australia: Zero tolerance for gay 'conversion' therapy

The state government will attempt to crack down on so-called gay conversion therapy through a new public watchdog with the power to investigate people purporting to "cure" or suppress homosexuality. The move comes amid growing concerns that such practices remain prevalent in Australia – including alarming claims of shock treatment or aversion tactics being used in recent years in a bid to thwart same-sex attraction.

Legislation will be introduced into parliament later this year to establish a new watchdog – the Health Complaints Commissioner – with the power to investigate and sanction anyone claiming they can treat homosexuality.

While registered practitioners can already be investigated by authorities, the legislation will close a loophole that currently exists regarding unregistered practitioners making unproven claims that they can convert gay people. "If they are found to be making false claims and to be acting in a manner that puts people's physical, mental or psychological health, safety or welfare at risk, the Commissioner will be able to ban them from providing such services," said Health Minister Jill Hennessy. Read more via The Age

US: Opt-out screening can improve acceptance of HIV testing

Compared with active choice testing, opt-out screening can substantially increase HIV testing, and opt-in schemes may reduce testing, a new study has suggested.

"Our study provides evidence that small changes in wording can significantly affect patients' behavior and thus our understanding of their preferences. Specifically, modifying HIV testing defaults led to clinically and statistically significant differences in test acceptance percentages." 

"We found that active choice testing, although previously considered a form of opt-in testing, is a distinct category: compared with a strict opt-in scheme informing patients that they can request a test, simply asking patients if they would like a test increased test acceptance by 13 percentage points," the authors write.

In an accompanying editorial, Jason S. Haukoos. MD, and Sarah E. Rowan, MD, both from the University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, emphasize that, "the study by Montoy and colleagues represents one of the largest trials to evaluate consent for HIV testing among emergency department patients, and the only one to do it in a randomized fashion but with particular focus on the efficacy of the various consent options." Read more via MedScape

Oral sex can raise risk for head and neck cancer by seven times

Oral sex can spread viruses that can cause head and neck cancers, according to a new study. The research shows a strong connection between the human papillomavirus (HPV), which can be spread through oral sex, and head and neck cancer. The virus can raise the risk of getting head and neck cancer by as much as seven times, and maybe by far more, scientists say. The study involved nearly 97,000 people in two studies, according to the researchers.

HPV accounts for 70% of head and neck cancer, according to experts. It is so prevalent that by 2020 it is predicted to beat cervical cancer as the main cancer caused by HPV.

Head and neck cancers were long thought to have been caused by smoking and drinking. But a sharp rise in the number of cases led doctors to speculate that there may be another cause, and the new study is the first to show conclusively that HPV-16 precedes the development of those cancers. The research, conducted by scientists at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, was published in 'JAMA Oncology'.   Read more via the Independent 

UK: PrEP, plus increased testing and treatment, could prevent nearly half of HIV infections in gay men by 2020

A new British mathematical modelling study published in The Lancet HIV has found that adding pre-exposure prophylaxis for gay men at high risk of HIV to relatively modest increases in HIV testing, and immediate treatment for those diagnosed, could substantially cut the number of gay men infected by 2020. The researchers conclude that without these interventions, the number of gay men acquiring HIV is unlikely to decrease by 2020, even if the UK achieves the ‘90-90-90’ target of 73% of all people with HIV virally suppressed by this time.

The study, which was funded by the UK Health Protection Agency (now Public Health England) also finds that behavioural changes such as reducing the number of regular sexual partners could also make substantial inroads into HIV incidence but are less powerful as individual interventions.

It finds that increases in sexual partner numbers or condomless sex would substantially reduce the effectiveness of PrEP, testing and treatment, but even a complete cessation of condom use would not totally negate the effect of other interventions: only this, combined with a decrease in HIV testing, would do so. 

Read more via AIDSmap