May 19 is National Asian & Pacific Islander HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, a day devoted to eliminating HIV stigma in API communities. Learn more about the impact of HIV on these populations online at https://bit.ly/3gfhsPG and https://bit.ly/3djLa4q. ‘
If you’re looking for testing resources, you can go to https://gettested.cdc.gov and search by zip code to find local testing clinics. Pennsylvania residents can also go to www.getmyHIVtest.com and order a free HIV test kit through the mail.
Scholarship opportunities for people living with HIV are available now through HIV League. Applications are being accepted until 6/1/21 and individuals will be awarded with $1000 towards their studies. Send an email to Daniel@HIVleague.org for more information or go to their website www.HIVLeague.org. 
All individuals living with HIV in Pennsylvania are invited to share their opinions in this Priority Setting Survey!
Priority Setting is a part of HIV Planning in Pennsylvania and offers a special chance for individuals living with HIV to have their opinions recorded. These responses help the state’s HIV Planning Group and Pennsylvania Department of Health Division of HIV Disease make decisions about HIV spending and planning for a 5-year cycle. Individuals living with HIV are invited to rank a list of Ryan White Part B services, based on their own needs and the kinds of services that they find important.
Due to extended HIV Planning deadlines, we are reopening this year’s Priority Setting Survey, and are looking for your response!
We ask for your responses by Wednesday, June 30th .
Complete the Pennsylvania Ryan White Priority Setting Survey at this link: https://bit.ly/3dZf3Hk.
Please direct any questions to Maura Bainbridge at stakeholders@stophiv.org or 412-383-1619.
From HIV.gov…
All youth deserve access to comprehensive sexual health education. National Youth HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NYHAAD) is an opportunity to work together to make this a reality. By educating youth about the basics of HIV, how to protect themselves, find testing, treatment and care services, and confront HIV stigma in their communities, we are empowering them to take an active role in ending the HIV epidemic for future generations.
Today’s youth have many of the same hopes and dreams as previous generations. But we must also recognize they are distinct in many ways too. Their widespread passion for advocacy and social change sets them apart. They also face unique challenges and barriers when it comes to achieving those dreams.
In 2018, youth aged 13 to 24 made up 21% of the 37,832 new HIV diagnoses in the United States and dependent areas. Most new youth diagnoses were among gay, bisexual men, and men who have sex with men (MSM). Most of these new diagnoses occurred among young Black and Latinx MSM. Yet, in 2018, youth were the least likely age group to be aware they had HIV, remain in care, or achieve viral suppression. One of the most important things we can do to change this trend is to provide accurate, age-appropriate, and culturally sensitive information about HIV.
From HIV.gov…
This year’s National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NBHAAD) observance comes amidst a national dialogue on systemic racism and calls for a greater focus on equity in all our work. We should use this opportunity to examine and address historic inequities experienced by Black Americans. For the HIV community, this means working to understand and address the circumstances that put people at risk for HIV or that create barriers to HIV care and treatment.
Black Americans continue to be disproportionately affected by HIV compared to other racial/ethnic groups. According to CDC data,
Fewer Black Americans in HIV care are virally suppressed: In 2018, 60% of Blacks, 64% of Latinos, and 71% of whites with diagnosed HIV were virally suppressed.
From PBS.org…
For more than 30 years, Gaétan Dugas was blamed for bringing the AIDS epidemic to the United States. A French-Canadian who died in 1984, Dugas was thought to have carried the disease to America and transmitted it to scores of sexual partners while working as a flight attendant.
But this week, scientists finally cleared the name of the man who, in the history of the AIDS epidemic, came to be known as “Patient Zero.”
In a study published in the journal Nature, the researchers found that blood sampled from Dugas in 1983 contained the same strain of HIV that was infecting men in New York City as early as 1971 — three years before he arrived in the U.S. as an employee for Air Canada.
| To support the efforts of local partners in ending the HIV epidemic in their communities, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is announcing the launch of a new tool, AHEAD: America’s HIV Epidemic Analysis Dashboard.
Who Can Use the AHEAD Dashboard? Dashboard Overview What’s Next? Explore the AHEAD Dashboard today and view our progress towards ending the HIV epidemic in America |
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From the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors…
The core of NASTAD’s mission is an unwavering commitment to social justice. We recognize that we will not end the HIV and hepatitis epidemics and related syndemics without dismantling the systems of oppression that fuel racial disparities in access and outcomes. We prioritize fighting injustices where we see them, and we value diversity and inclusivity in all forms. In 2016, NASTAD released the “NASTAD’s Commitment to Black Lives” statement, which stated, “racism has imprinted a legacy of systemic injustices against Black people in the United States. The pervasive undercurrent of white privilege and supremacy exists in the form of obstructed economic, political, and social power for Black people in America.” Four years later, we amplify this message more than ever.
From the Trib Live…
August “Buzz” Pusateri played an integral role in the Pitt Men’s Study, a confidential research study of the natural history of HIV and AIDS. Not only did he believe in the importance of recruiting volunteers to help further research, he was one of the project’s first volunteers. Twice a year, sometimes more, Pusateri visited the clinic to give blood and answer detailed questions about his life. He also participated in special studies.
“Buzz got it across to the community … that this had to be done for them to defeat this epidemic of AIDS,” said Charles Rinaldo, a scientist and investigator of the Pitt Men’s Study. “He was central to it. He was always there. He was a tough guy, too.”
Pusateri, a long-term HIV survivor, died on Monday, according to a tribute on the Pitt Men’s Study website. He was 81. Pusateri was a well-known community activist, a founding member of the Pitt Men’s Study community advisory board, and a volunteer with Shepherd Wellness Community. He had been involved in the Pitt Men’s Study since recruitment began in 1984.
From HIV.gov…
More than 160,000 Americans with HIV are unaware they have the virus because they have not been tested and diagnosed. Yet we know that early diagnosis and treatment with ART are associated with better health outcomes for those with HIV. There are profound prevention benefits as well—a CDC analysis found that the nearly 15% of people with HIV whose infections are undiagnosed account for 38% of all HIV transmissions in the U.S. By finding ways to help more people get tested, we can prolong lives and prevent further transmissions.
That’s why HIV testing is a key strategy in Ending the HIV Epidemic: A Plan for America (EHE), the nation’s plan to reduce new HIV infections in the U.S. by 75% by 2025 and by 90% by 2030. The first of the Plan’s four strategies calls for diagnosing all people with HIV as early as possible after infection so they can begin care and treatment that can protect their health and prevent transmission of the virus to their partners.
Stakeholders across the country are exploring innovative ways to pursue this EHE strategy and seeking to make HIV testing more available to previously unreached populations, such as those who live far from the nearest testing site or who are concerned about confidentiality. One innovative model includes HIV self-testing programs, sometimes called “home HIV test giveaways.” These are programs in which city or state health departments advertise free self-test kits via the internet and/or dating apps, and distribute the kits by mail so that users can perform their own HIV tests in private.
