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Gay men 'continue to top list' in contracting STIs

Figures released by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) this morning have shown that the state of sexual health among the UK population is poor, with STI rates reaching record levels. The figures have also revealed that gay men are of particular concern;

Terrence Higgins Trust’s Chief Executive Sir Nick Partridge said: "It’s staggering that almost half a million people each year are affected by preventable sexually transmitted infections. Gay men continue to top the list, accounting for two thirds of syphilis and over a third of gonorrhea diagnoses last year, while being only 6% of the population.

"We know about the risks of HIV transmission and these figures show that it’s just as important to be aware of STIs too. Getting an STI, like chlamydia or gonorrhea, makes it much easier to pick up or pass on other, more serious infections, including HIV."

The Terrence Higgins Trust run several STI prevention campaigns, including Young and Free, which seeks to encourage young people to get tested for chlamydia, an STI that can often go unnoticed because of the relative lack of symptoms, but can lead to serious problems if left untreated.


According to the HPA's figures, chlamydia among gay men and men who have sex with men has risen 341 per cent in the last ten years.

Sir Nick: "We know how to reduce the risks: enjoy safer sex, use condoms, and if you’ve had unsafe sex go to a GUM or community testing clinic. All sexually active gay men should have a full sexual health screen and an HIV test at least once a year. We can – and we must – improve our sexual health."

Speaking to PinkNews.co.uk, Jason Warriner at THT said that although websites such as Gaydar and the new Grindr iPhone app had increased opportunities for meeting for sex, there was no hard evidence that the popularity of social neworking sites made a significant contribution to the rising statistics.

Mr Warriner cited Netreach, the new service from Terrence Higgins Trust for Gaydar users in England and Wales, which allows users to talk to trained outreach workers in the website's chat rooms or on the general chat boards. He added: "The key thing [to know] is that websites such as Gaydar can also be used as vehicles to get across messages and offer advice about safe sex, which is what we aim to do with Netreach."

Source by Christopher Brocklebank

Attitude magazine tackles mental health issues in gay men

The latest edition of Attitude, the UK's best-selling gay magazine, is focusing on the sensitive – and often taboo – issue of mental health problems in gay men.

The "Issues Issue" addresses the "alarming" high rates of depression, suicide, anxiety and addiction in gay men, and provides "concrete reasons" for why some may suffer from these things and what they can do about them.

Attitude's editor, Matthew Todd said: "It's not just treading over old ground. We've taken advice from the world's leading gay psychologists and I think we have some real, solid answers about what causes the increased levels of anxiety, depression and self-destructive behaviour in many of us, including myself, as I say in the issue – and how those of us who do feel that way can do something about it.

"I'm hoping this will be the first step towards discussing this openly. I'm especially pleased that people can now download Attitude onto their iphones or ipads because we know some people are anxious about buying gay magazines in shops."

The findings presented in the magazine are backed up by research which shows that gay men suffer a disproportionate amount of mental health problems – certainly more than their straight brethren.

Source by Christopher Brocklebank (Pink News)

Is It 1990 Again? HIV/AIDS Myths are Alive and ... Scary

"Don’t drink from the same glass of an AIDS patient." "AIDS may be able to spread by coughing or sneezing." "Having AIDS means you’re dead in 5 years." "AIDS meds can kill you quicker than AIDS." "You can tell someone has AIDS just by looking at them." "I can't get AIDS - it only happens to 'those people.'"

These are examples of statements and myths that were made back during the early years of the AIDS epidemic. The statements are also reflective of the derogatory language used during that time. No one would say these statements or use this language now, right? Wrong. Myths like these continue to spread quicker than HIV itself. This is a very scary scenario.

Over at thebody.com, a top HIV/AIDS online resource center for consumers and professionals, they field questions centered around myths on almost an hourly basis. Dr. Robert J. Frascino, aka "Dr. Bob," tackles these questions with the grace and utter snark of a true professional. Scroll down the list of questions posted by freaked out people from across the world and it becomes clear that there is still a lot of work to be done to combat these dangerous myths. (You can also read the posts and Dr. Bob's comments when you are in need of some serious belly laughs.)

Even popular culture and major cable networks are not immune to this flagrant display of HIV misinformation. Those who follow the Gay Rights cause no doubt remember the extensive coverage of The View debacle from a few months ago. To recap, Sherri Shepherd and guest host D.L. Hughley attempted to blame the spread of HIV in the black community on men who are on "the down low." This is utterly damaging and completely irresponsible behavior on the part all parties involved.

Stigma and discrimination toward those who are HIV+ can feed into the spreading of misinformation. Many of us have heard the line "that can't happen to me." Whether it's HIV, a car crash, or someone "defriending" you on Facebook (isn't that the worst?!), many people live in denial or somehow view their own life as superior to others to avoid what could very easily become a reality. This stigma fuels the stereotypes around HIV, and it leaves persons living with HIV feeling isolated and fearful of their own reality.

These are the very findings of a recent global survey of 2,035 people living with HIV conducted by the International Association for Physicians in AIDS Care (IAPAC). The results were presented (pdf) at the XVIII International AIDS Conference in Vienna back in July. Overall, respondents feel stigmatized and discriminated against. To sum up some of the findings: 38% of respondents felt as if other people were judging them; almost 50% said they had encountered someone who was afraid to have casual contact with them; 25% said that someone would not share food or drink with them; and 24% said that someone would not kiss them. All of this terrible behavior due to someone believing in a myth rather than seeking out the truth.

Sometimes there is avoidance of the issue entirely. Back in May of this year, the National Association of Social Workers - New Jersey Chapter (NASW-NJ) held their annual meeting of the profession. During the conference, I conducted a workshop on HIV and the importance of keeping this issue relevant in the work we all do. To my surprise, the topic generated the interest of around 15 professionals (compared with the over 350 who were registered in attendance for the 3-day conference). Those who were in the room got it; I was hoping to reach more of the ones who aren't quite there yet. After the workshop, a lovely and more seasoned social worker approached me. She let me know that she had been coming to these conferences for "many years" and that this topic would've been the keynote address 15 or 20 years ago. She seemed dismayed with the turnout as well. At the same time, we were all hopeful that with continued attention, the issue of HIV will not be silenced again as it was 20 years ago.

This is the real fear — that HIV/AIDS will become something to be ignored in the larger world. This cannot happen. We must continue to be a voice for HIV awareness. We can all educate those who are not completely aware of what it means to be HIV+ today. We can laugh when someone says something ridiculous about HIV, then quickly correct them and never laugh with them again. If these myths and misinformation prevail, HIV will spread at even more alarming rates than it is today. Further, those living with HIV will be even more segregated than they already are. That is when we, as a society, would feel real fear and panic. Let's all try to live like it's 2010; not 1990.

Photo Credit: Keith Haring

Source By Elizabeth Lombino is a Licensed Social Worker and freelance writer. She provides individual and group mental health services to HIV+ adults. (Change.Org)

One in seven men on London gay scene thought to have HIV

One in seven men on the capital's gay scene are thought to be infected with HIV – markedly higher than the rate for the general gay male population.

Although Health Protection Agency figures estimate that one in 20 gay men nationally and one in ten in London are living with HIV, a recent sample of 1,251 men in gay bars and clubs found that 15.2 per cent were carrying the virus.

Health experts believe that up to a quarter of gay men with HIV do not know they are carrying the virus and suggests that many wrongly think HIV-positive men can be identified through their appearances or how they act.
Alan Wardle, head of health promotion at sexual health charity Terrence Higgins Trust, said: “Men who have seen the campaign in focus groups have been genuinely shocked by the one in seven figure. Yet the reality is that, after Brighton, London has the highest HIV prevalence of any city in the UK.

“Many gay men wrongly believe that you can tell someone’s HIV status by what they look like, how they act, or who they’re friends with. But you can’t tell whether someone has HIV by looking at them, and with a quarter of gay men who have HIV currently undiagnosed, he may not even know himself.

“The assumption that HIV is visible is almost certainly affecting whether men use condoms or not. Forty-seven per cent of gay men surveyed reported having unprotected anal sex with at least one partner, and a quarter reported doing this with more than one casual partner. With this in mind, it’s vital this campaign reminds men that the best way to protect themselves and others is to use condoms.”

To highlight the figure and encourage men on the scene to use condoms, THT is running an advertising campaign in London gay magazines, bars, clubs and sexual health clinics over the next three months.

By PinkNews.co.uk Staff Writer

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UNBELIEVABLE THE THINGS STILL HAPPENS

The Next Time You Hear "Ex-Gay" ...


WANTED - ATTEMPTED MURDER
“I continued to live as a homosexual for two years after I knew I was HIV-positive,” Johnston said in a 1998 speech to a California church, reported in POZ magazine. “And I am ashamed to say that in those two years not once did I ever tell any of my partners that I was carrying this deadly disease.”


The once higher than the rest former ex-gay Michael Johnston is the poster boy for "ex-gays" and their sullen movement to "convert gay men back on the straight and narrow path".

From BC Politics, As Southern Voice reports, Johnston, who is HIV-positive, admitted to having sex with men — allegedly without disclosing his seriopositive status. The news is also reported by Peter LaBarbera of the right-wing, anti-gay Concerned Women for America's department of Culture and Family, though Pete doesn't mention Michael by name. Ex-gay network Exodus International, however, does name names.

Why has Johnston never been prosecuted for willfull misconduct and possibly spreading HIV by having sex with men without their knowledge of his HIV status ?

Like this man in Texas as was reported back in May, McKinney, TX - A jury sentenced a man to 45 years in prison for knowingly infecting six women with the AIDS.

Philippe Padieu, described by his own lawyer as a "modern-day Casanova," shook his head and looked down when the decision was read yesterday. Jurors sentenced him to 45 years on five counts and 25 years on the sixth, to be served concurrently. Padieu had faced up to 99 years.

The Collin County jury convicted 53-year-old Padieu on Wednesday on six counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Since HIV is the virus that causes AIDS, prosecutors contended Padieu's bodily fluids were a deadly weapon. Padieu is a former martial arts instructor who continued to have unprotected sex after he tested positive for HIV in 2005.

Assistant District Attorney Lisa King in Collin County told jurors earlier yesterday that Padieu deserved a life sentence. But defense attorney Bennie House said Padieu may have made mistakes as a "modern-day Casanova," but did not intentionally spread the virus. He said a 20-year sentence would be fair. Jurors heard testimony was on Thursday in the punishment phase, including from women who described the harm that the HIV diagnosis had done them.

Or this man, A judge in Chicago in the US has sentenced a man to prison for concealing that he was a HIV patient while donating blood to a plasma collection center at Hammond.

Michael Ivy, 46, of East Chicago, pleaded guilty to selling blood contaminated with the HIV in September last year.

Blood plasma is the liquid component of blood, in which the blood cells are suspended. Plasma is a yellow colored liquid. Plasma is the largest single component of blood, making up about 55% of total blood volume. Blood plasma contains many vital proteins including fibrinogen, globulins and human serum albumin.

Pro-Tem Lake County Criminal Court Judge Robert Lewis on Friday ordered Ivy to serve a two-year sentence in a state prison and imposed a one-year probation on him. Ivy admitted he had been diagnosed in August 2002 with HIV. A doctor at St. Catherine Hospital in East Chicago confirmed the diagnosis in November 2002 and told Ivy he could never donate blood, plasma or tissue in the future.

Nevertheless, Ivy indicated to Bio-Blood, the Hammond collection center, last summer he wasn't infected with HIV. He checked the "no" box on a questionnaire that asked if he was HIV positive. Court records say Ivy donated blood three times last September before Bio-Blood tested the Sept. 13 specimen and found it HIV positive.

State law requires contaminated blood to be destroyed. According to researchers there is a 90% risk of HIV transmission through infected blood products which is higher than the risk from any other transmission means.

However there are those who object to criminalization of reckless transmission. They say that if there are many high-profile prosecutions, those who might be infected may be deterred from testing.

This may have serious public health implications.

Or this man in Canada, A Canadian man has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for knowingly exposing women to HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

Carl Leone, 32, was convicted of 15 counts of aggravated assault, each earning him two to five years in jail, to be served consecutively for a total of 49 years.

But the judge reduced his sentence to 18 years to better reflect sentencing guidelines.
Superior Court Justice Joseph Quinn said at sentencing that Leone had committed a "despicable and selfish crime for five to 10 minutes of sexual gratification."

Leone was told in 1997 that he was HIV-positive, seven years before his arrest in June 2004.

Five of his victims are now HIV-positive.


PS.: Extract from the blog LYNDON EVANS