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Fly Love Yourself: How To Have Sex and Avoid HIV (feat. Sebastian Castro)
by  The Love Yourself (Vinn Advocacy) (May 9, 2013)
www.loveyourself.ph

This video departs from the clinical approach of talking about the basics of HIV/AIDS. Instead, similar to an airline’s in-flight safety video,  Sebastian encourages men to “dare” to fly, shows them how to take “care” of themselves during flight, and encourages them to “share” the video with others.

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Are You Worry-FREE? Photoshoot
by Take The Test Project (May 10, 2013)
www.facebook.com/takethetest

See more photos

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The Riddle: new anti-homophobia message
by United Nations (May 17, 2013)
www.youtube.com/user/unitednations

United Nations, 14 May 2013 – 76 countries still criminalize consensual same-sex relationships and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people everywhere continue to suffer violent attacks and discriminatory treatment.

In this simple, high-impact video from the UN human rights office, individuals from diverse backgrounds pose questions directly to the viewer designed to expose the nature of human rights violations suffered by LGBT people around the world.

The video includes cameo appearances by UN Secretary-General and High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay.

The UN’s message: LGBT rights are human rights. Together we will build a world that is free and equal

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Artful Warriors
by Mark Leydorf (May 17, 2013)
www.poz.com

Visual AIDS fought early major battles against the virus with its “Day Without Art” and the Red Ribbon. Twenty-five years later, it continues to arm HIV-positive artists.

Read more

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HIV-related issues are often difficult to take up: sex, sexuality, gender, discrimination, and stigma. With the increasing incidence still largely disregarded, the struggle for awareness and prevention has never been this tough. Cases are shooting up as social media becomes an easy access for sex partners that could lead to risky sexual practices. People fear screening. Government and civil society organizations have scaled up their battles, but at the end of the day, it’s still about numbers that matter. The Philippines is now reporting 12 new cases a day, but any reduction, even in deaths, is nowhere in the data.

Prevention is the best and only thing we can do right now as there is yet no final conclusion to scientific findings of a possible cure. It is not about when and how but it’s about what we do NOW. This is where our role starts, the point where we accept the challenge. This is us. This is me. A counselor. An advocate.

As a counselor, I learned to treat every person as an individual with needs and vulnerabilities, not as mere fractions of the statistics. A counselor and the client explore and discover, and act as partners.

It is normal for clients who come to the ASP ICON Clinic for testing and counseling to have apprehensions. They are not alone in this. We let them express their feelings about the process, and help them identify any risks associated with their lifestyle. We aim for their awareness towards a positive and healthy behavior change. We want them to grow and eventually be advocates to other people.

Counseling is a two-way process, with the clients learning from us and us learning from them. We grow and are fulfilled whenever we touch someone’s life. The positive feedback we receive is enough to devote our time more and continue with what we do. The ASP ICON Clinic is blessed with so much support from people and that inspires us more to attain our goal to live in a world where HIV is no longer a disease ignored, feared and disregarded by people.

Counseling also gives us the chance to meet different kinds of individuals of varying perspectives about the disease. It is always about making sure that each client would feel valued and respected regardless of sexual orientation, religion, culture, or social status, and without being judgmental.

From all these, I sure will continue to be a counselor. The pride of being one has been immeasurable. This is not just a job for me but more of a mission and a lifelong advocacy.

Visit our website and check out ASP TV on the side bar.

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Op-ed: When Is the Right Time to Tell Your HIV Status on a Date?
by  Tyler Curry (March 16, 2013)
www.advocate.com

As I prepare to say goodbye to my 20s, I’ve noticed that getting older has its perks. Department store salesmen no longer roll their eyes when I ask to be fitted for a new suit, I no longer feel the need to sleep until just before the sun starts to set, and my car insurance company no longer hates me. It would seem that this so-called “midlife” isn’t so bad after all. That is, unless you are single. Single, and you are about to go on the dreaded first date. Single, dreaded first date, and you have to find a way to casually disclose that you are HIV-positive. Now, I still don’t believe getting older is all that bad, but it is definitely a hell of a lot more complicated.

Read more

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Infographic: CONDOMS Facts & Myths
(March 25, 2013)
www.healthytimesblog.com

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Our Voices – Young People and HIV
by YouthLEADful (March 26, 2013)
www.youth-lead.org

Every day 2500 young people are infected with HIV. To change that Youth LEAD is working towards empowering infected and Youth at Risk of HIV exposure.

Visit their website

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Revisiting these words and thinking about their impact today would bring an impression that does not surprise advocates, because they would find out that there has been little progress as much as one would think after more than a decade has passed.

Kirby’s examples of what steps the Australian government has taken to prevent HIV infection during a drug use scare was not what was on everyone’s mind especially after a statement on the moral correctness of protecting their citizens.

He said, “Paradoxically enough, the only way to deal effectively with the problem of the rapid spread of this epidemic in our region is by respecting and protecting the human rights of those who are already exposed to the virus and those most at risk.”

He said that despite political disagreements, political parties recognized that there really was one clear and efficient way to reduce the risk of individuals, especially those who are in sex work, people who inject drugs, males who have sex with other males, and other marginalized persons. It was the “courageous decisions” that have been made by their political leaders to put aside their differences and prioritize these lives that changed the game.

“When we were in the middle of the war on drugs, needle exchange was a very politically risky step to take. But it was taken because the politicians came to the view that saving lives was the ultimate moral test,” he added. He referred to the program wherein people who inject drugs were encouraged to exchange their used needles for new ones when they are about to use drugs anew. He also encouraged the need for a standardized and realistic way of educating the public.

As for the Philippines, where advocates were lobbying for a law (RA 8504) at that time, he said the country’s leaders had “too many words and not enough action” and that they should respond “with more than words”.

RA 8504 or the Philippine AIDS Law was passed a year later in 1998, but it’s disheartening to know that despite Kirby’s reminder to the Philippine government to respond fast, and to adopt the moral correctness of recognizing its moral obligation to protect the rights of its citizens in preventing HIV infection, not much has changed.

There are still many disagreements on what is the ‘morally right’ thing to be done. This at the expense of the lives lost to AIDS and continues to lose at a hastening pace. Would it take another 16 years or more for us to see anything happening in the fight against HIV? We sure hope not.

Thirty years later, with Facebook, decades of AIDS research, a tighter-knit international community, and a widely established anti-retroviral therapy, the Philippines is undergoing the same epidemiological patterns as the US.

The rise among men who have sex with men

Statistics show that the virus has taken hold of the demographic of men who have sex with men. In the government’s HIV registry for January 2013, there were 380 people registered as newly diagnosed with HIV; 93% percent were males. The most dominant form of transmission was via sex of males with other males at 82%, followed by people who inject drugs through shared needles.

The data provides two perspectives: one that shows the HIV prevention advocacy is working well because people, especially the key affected population (KAP) of males who have sex with other males (MSM) are getting themselves tested, and another that says more people are engaging in sexual activities without protection that increases their risk of exposure to HIV.

No condoms, baby

This controversial contraceptive has sparked debates for decades in the Philippines. Despite its acceptance in the international community for its benefits in HIV prevention and that of other sexually transmissible infections, as well as unplanned pregnancies, its rejection by religious groups still proliferates today. One fact in all of this is not using condoms increases the risk of transmitting HIV.

Dr. Eric Tayag of the Department of Health previously mentioned the preference of the MSM community to perform “bareback” or anal sex without protection as one of the results of the obvious lack of correct information about the use of condoms. According to Dr. Tayag, this has driven the numbers to their consistent record highs.

We have yet to find out what the condom preference is of the heterosexual demographic in their activities in bed and what it means for the Philippines in general.

Let’s pick up the pace

The national program on HIV prevention and control is currently handled by the DOH in partnership with ASP. They provide education to the KAPs of MSM and people who inject drugs under a package of services that cover HIV 101, condoms, lubricants, and information distribution. Other efforts include online HIV education, also under ASP, and the involvement of community-based organizations under the ISEAN-HIVOS project handled by the Philippine NGO Council on Population, Health and Welfare (PNGOC).

Only with the passage of the Reproductive Health Law did the discussion of age-appropriate education on reproductive health take off. But as citizens, we can stand up and say to our officials that we want more. These activities, as well as more funding on HIV awareness and prevention, would potentially serve as the foundation needed to create a generation of individuals with enough information on their sexual health. Maybe then can we see more individuals who access and use condoms properly.

What you can do

Be an activist in your own way. Involve yourself by being educated and tested. Knowing how the virus works and knowing your status is the best way for you to stay healthy. Pay it forward. A way to help the HIV advocacy is by spreading the word that getting tested is vital. You can do one better by joining groups like the ASP Volunteers Circle and helping out in community outreach activities.

There are a lot of ways to help but it will always start with the individual. To stop the spread of HIV, motivation and education is the key. You can be the cure.

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DOH: 12 new HIV/AIDS cases per day
by  Sheila Crisostomo (March, 2, 2013)
www.philstar.com

Photo from ASP Facebook page, lifted from registry published by NEC

MANILA, Philippines – From an average of nine new cases of HIV/AIDS a day in 2012, the Department of Health (DOH) registered 12 new cases daily in January this year.

Health Assistant Secretary Eric Tayag said these 12 new cases daily are equivalent to 380 new cases reported to the DOH’s Philippine HIV and AIDS Registry in January 2013. Of these, 25 were already AIDS at the time of reporting.

Read more

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Consistent condom use in anal sex stops 70% of HIV infections, study finds, but intermittent use has no effect
by Gus Ciarns (March 4, 2013)
www.aidsmap.com

An analysis by Dawn Smith of the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported at the 20th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2013) on 4 March has provided the first estimate of the efficacy of condoms in preventing HIV transmission during anal sex since 1989. It found condoms stop seven out of ten anal transmissions – the same efficacy found by the 1989 study.

Dawn Smith of the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) presenting at CROI 2013.

However, it also found that sometimes using condoms is not effective at preventing HIV infection, and that long-term 100% condom use is a minority behaviour: only one-in-six gay men actually managed to maintain it over the three- to four-year time frame of the analysis.

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US doctors cure child born with HIV
by Ian Sample (March 4, 2013)
www.guardian.co.uk

Mississippi doctors make medical history made with first ‘functional cure’ of unnamed two-year-old born with the virus who now needs no medication

Doctors in the US have made medical history by effectively curing a child born with HIV, the first time such a case has been documented.

The infant, who is now two and a half, needs no medication for HIV, has a normal life expectancy and is highly unlikely to be infectious to others, doctors believe.

Though medical staff and scientists are unclear why the treatment was effective, the surprise success has raised hopes that the therapy might ultimately help doctors eradicate the virus among newborns.

Doctors did not release the name or sex of the child to protect the patient’s identity, but said the infant was born, and lived, in Mississippi state. Details of the case were unveiled on Sunday at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Atlanta.

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