Category Archives: Uncategorized

HIV, HIV Activism, HIV testing, Uncategorized, Women's Health

March 10 is National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

March 10, 2023 administrator Leave a comment

Today is National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. Knowing your status is the best way to protect your health…and residents of Pennsylvania can get a free in-home HIV test kit from our website www.getmyHIVtest.com. Tests come in the mail, in an unmarked package and you get the results in 20 minutes!

banner for H I V women and girls awareness days with images of women of various races and ages

From HIV.gov…

The theme for NWGHAAD 2023 is: Prevention and Testing at Every Age. Care and Treatment at Every Stage. The Office Of Women’s Health (OWH) continues this theme to reemphasize the need to further prevention efforts and ensure equity in HIV care and treatment. It also reinforces the first 3 goals of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS), that focus on the prevention of new HIV infections, improving HIV-related health outcomes of people living with HIV, and reducing HIV-related disparities. NWGHAAD focuses efforts on three of the target populations outlined in the NHAS; Black women, transgender women, and youth aged 13-24 years.

Find out more at HIV.gov.

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WHO publishes new guidelines on HIV, hepatitis and STIs for key populations

August 1, 2022 administrator Leave a comment

From the World Health Organization…

WHO published new Consolidated guidelines on HIV, viral hepatitis and STI prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care for key populations. The guidelines are officially launched at the AIDS 2022 Conference in Montreal, Canada, in a satellite session entitled: Launching new WHO guidelines for key populations: Focus for impact.

The guidelines outline a public health response to HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) for 5 key populations (men who have sex with men, trans and gender diverse people, sex workers, people who inject drugs and people in prisons and other closed settings).

WHO promotes an evidence and rights based approach to addressing these health issues which puts key populations at the center of the response. “Key populations must be prioritized, in every setting and this means as outlined in these new guidelines, planning to reach them first with prevention, testing and treatment as well as prioritizing key populations in funding programs,” said Erika Castellanos, Director of programs at GATE (the global Action for Trans Equality), who was the co-chair of the WHO Guidelines Development Group.

Read the full article on the WHO website.

COVID-19, Health Alerts, Research, STDs, Uncategorized, Women's Health

COVID 19 Impact: Cases of Gonorrhea, syphilis, and Congenital Syphilis Surpass 2019 Levels

April 21, 2022 administrator Leave a comment

From medical.net…

Reported cases of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in the United States decreased during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, but most resurged by the end of that year. Ultimately, reported cases of gonorrhea, syphilis, and congenital syphilis surpassed 2019 levels, while chlamydia declined, according to new data published today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The data provide the clearest picture yet of COVID-19’s impact on the U.S. STD epidemic.

The newly released 2020 STD Surveillance Report found that at the end of 2020:

Reported cases of gonorrhea and primary & secondary (P&S) syphilis were up 10% and 7%, respectively, compared to 2019.
Syphilis among newborns (i.e., congenital syphilis) also increased, with reported cases up nearly 15% from 2019, and 235% from 2016. Early data indicate primary and secondary syphilis and congenital syphilis cases continued to increase in 2021 as well.
Reported cases of chlamydia declined 13% from 2019.

Chlamydia historically accounts for the largest proportion of reported STDs in the United States. The decline in reported chlamydia cases is likely due to decreased STD screening and underdiagnosis during the pandemic, rather than a reduction in new infections. This also contributed to an overall decrease in the number of reported STDs in 2020 (from 2.5 million reported cases in 2019 to 2.4 million in 2020).

Read the full article.

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September 27th: National Gay Men’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

September 25, 2020 administrator Leave a comment

September 27th marks the annual observance of National Gay Men’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NGMHAAD).

As you plan activities or outreach for NGMHAAD, check out these resources below and find resources on ending the HIV epidemic:

HIV.gov:
- National Gay Men’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Day resource page (includes the logo, fact sheets and more)
- Timeline of HIV and AIDS (for the history of the epidemic, with content about the involvement of community members)
- Guide to Planning Awareness Day Activities
CDC: National Gay Men’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Day – September 27—Offers downloadable social media materials (in English and Spanish), infographics, conversation starters, and posters.
TargetHIV: Ryan White and Gay Men’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Day Offers information on Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program data related to gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM), as well as HRSA Technical Assistance/Training Supporting MSM.

We invite you to follow HIV.gov and CDC on Twitter. We’ll be using #NGMHAAD to continue our long-running conversations about the epidemic’s impact on gay and bisexual men and how to take action in response to HIV.

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New CDC HIV Surveillance Reports

Audio May 8, 2020 administrator Leave a comment

And update from the CDC…

As our country continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, we understand that our partners in HIV prevention are facing unprecedented challenges and demands. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) remains committed to working to protect the communities it serves and to providing timely and important data that can be used to help guide decision-making and advance progress toward ending the HIV epidemic in the United States.
The CDC has published two new reports: Diagnoses of HIV Infection in the United States and Dependent Areas, 2018 (Updated) and Estimated HIV Incidence and Prevalence in the United States 2014–2018, as well as an AtlasPlus update that includes data from these reports. The reports and AtlasPlus update provide HIV diagnoses, diagnosed prevalence, and death data, along with estimated HIV incidence, prevalence, and knowledge of status through the year 2018. HIV prevention partners can use these reports, along with the data published in AtlasPlus, to help focus prevention efforts, allocate resources, monitor trends, and determine gaps and successes in HIV prevention.

For more information, go to HIV.gov.