How many times have you started to have a conversation with someone about Hepatitis C only to have it blow up in your face? Have you ever heard someone say something about Hep C that didn't seem quite right to you? You were probably right something was amiss. A discussion about Hepatitis C can...
As per Wikipedia, the definition of a stigma is as follows: "Stigma is a word that originally means a "sign", "point", or "branding mark"." Wikipedia goes on to call stigma "A badge of shame, a physical mark of infamy or disgrace." Damn that w...
Recently, the CDC (Center for Disease Control) issued a statement that all Baby Boomers should be tested for Hepatitis C. The question often comes up as to why this particular segment of people is so vulnerable. What does being born between 1945 and 1965 have to do with Hepatitis C? What was di...
Buyer Beware! There are several snake oil salesmen out there who are claiming to have cured their own Hepatitis C with herbs, supplements and parking lot gravel. Okay, maybe not the parking lot gravel but it might as well be. What you need to remember is that there are two different types of...
Most every adult woman (and an occasional man) has enjoyed a manicure and a pedicure at a nail salon or spa. That 30 minute pedicure can be so relaxing but are you aware of the danger lurking in that nail salon? Although few individuals recognize the medical risks associated with this common pr...
As the Indian Health Service (IHS) prepares to participate in the AIDS 2012 conference later this week, I am reminded of both the mission of the Indian Health Service and the importance of collaboration with our partners within the HIV community.
The IHS is fully committed to helping our nation move toward an AIDS- free generation because our mission is to raise the physical, mental, social, and spiritual health of American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN) to the highest level. Our agency works year-round to ensure that comprehensive, culturally acceptable personal and public health services are available and accessible to AI/AN people. Our HIV/AIDS Program supports quality health care provision in rural and urban settings.
We partner with communities, grantees, and health care providers throughout Indian Country to educate patients about HIV, train providers on strategies to increase HIV testing rates and retention in care, and enable those AI/AN living with and affected by HIV to have access to the highest quality care.
Before and during the AIDS 2012 conference, in recognition of this commitment, the IHS will participate in discussions about our collaborations, successes, and challenges related to “turning the tide together.”
The IHS will be participating in the International Indigenous Pre-Conference on HIV & AIDS “TO SEE AND BE SEEN Exit Disclaimer” to be held on July 20 and 21, 2012, in Washington, D.C. We look forward to the opportunity to exchange ideas with indigenous leaders from around the world about culturally appropriate responses to the HIV/AIDS epidemic at this important time.
On July 25, from 1:30 – 3:00 p.m., IHS will be hosting a panel entitled “Turning the Tide with Communities” at the Indigenous Networking Zone Global Village, Indigenous Circle: Decolonizing HIV and AIDS. During this event, IHS will be announcing the availability of some new tools for communities to address HIV and AIDS, including a collection of resources for tribal decision-makers. The Global Village is a vital part of the AIDS 2012 conference. Truly it is “a diverse and vibrant space where community gathers from all over the world to meet, share and learn from each other.” In the Global Village and across the conference venue, we will meet with people from around the world, including staff, advocates, and stakeholders from the U.S. HIV community who currently partner with the Indian Health Service.
The austere reality of our times makes it difficult for many health care providers, grantees, and community members to attend conferences such as AIDS 2012. Many of our partners will participate in the conference virtually via the daily webcasts Exit Disclaimer. I’m proud to know that several of our IHS grantees applied to the AIDS 2012 conference organizers for permission to offer conference hubs. These partners collaborate with the Indian Health Service HIV/AIDS Program to offer technical assistance related to HIV awareness. Our partners have
recognized that provision of a hub would be a tremendous way to extend the conference conversation to more providers and organizations that reach the AI/AN communities.
I encourage you to review the list of approved hubs for sessions that may be planned for locations near you. The list is regularly updated and already includes one hub that is being convened by the National Native American AIDS Prevention Center , our technical assistance partner located in Denver, Colorado.
Next week, as the scientific resources for turning the tide are examined at AIDS 2012, we will be working to identify even more strategies to help the movement toward an AIDS-free generation. Effective incorporation of promising strategies for prevention, care, and treatment will rely on the continuation, expansion, and initiation of many collaborations, including those between the Indian Health Service and the communities we serve.
By Yvette Roubideaux, M.D., M.P.H., Director, Indian Health Service.
Please sign the ATC Salvage Therapy Petition Join us in asking Congressman Alcee Hastings and Congresswomen Maxine Waters to send a ‘Dear Colleague’ letter to Anthony Fauci, Director of NIAID, asking for the federal facilitation of apricitabine (ATC). ATC is a phase III nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI) that has been shown to be safe and effective in treating people with HIV. It works against viruses that are resistant to several other nukes and could ...
Researchers from Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, the University of Mississippi Medical Center and the University of Massachusetts Medical School announced today at CROI2013 the discovery of the first infant functionally cured of HIV. The baby, a female now two and a half years old, received 3 HIV medications when brought to the hospital at 30 hours old. Viral load tests were performed during the first few weeks that showed a rapidly decreasing viral load which reached ...
At the 19th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012) in Washington D.C., the CDC reported that only 1 out of 4 HIV patients in the U.S. have HIV under control, which is defined as complete viral suppression. Warning bells should be ringing in the scientific and HIV advocacy communities. While much progress has been made in the last three decades in the treatment of HIV, tens of thousands of people living with HIV (PLWH) are currently struggling to construct viable treat...
Paige Rawl is 17 and HIV positive, but while her life has been shaped by HIV it isn't ruled by it. When Paige Rawl starts her senior year at Indianapolis’s Herron High School next month, she'll be cheer captain and a member of the student government and prom committee. This summer, the 17-year-old held down a part-time job at Hollister, hawking the popular Southern California-inspired clothing brand. The all-American girl — who happens to be HIV positive. Paige was in...
The HIV community has been abuzz with the August FDA approval of what had been termed “the Quad”, the second one-pill-once-a-day combination antiretroviral drug. Marketed by Gilead under the name Stribild, the drug contains two NRTIs (tenofovir and emtricitabine), an integrase inhibitor (elvitegravir) and an integrase booster (cobicistat) and is approved for use in treatment naïve patients with either drug resistant or wild type virus. In comparison to Atripla, the first...

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE: BMY) today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a supplemental new drug application (sNDA) for SUSTIVA® (efavirenz), including dosing recommendations for...

California and other states would be pressured to amend or repeal criminal laws that single out HIV-positive people under a bipartisan bill co-authored and introduced this week by Rep. Barbara...
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At HIV Haven we wish to provide our readers with vital cutting edge information to help expand HIV knowledge and promote activism, particularly that which works towards an end to the HIV pandemic. It is our desire to bring to you the scientific, medical and social advances that given the appropriate attention and support, could change the course of the HIV pandemic, lessen the devastating effects of HIV and AIDS, better the quality and quantity of life for people living with HIV and even yield an eventual end to the HIV pandemic. We also provide the basics of HIV transmission and treatment.
We will focus on issues such as innovative drug development, strategic activist campaigns, HIV relationships and novel HIV and HIV cure research. We also will bring you advances in Hepatitis C (HCV), a common HIV co-infection. Whether you are living with HIV/AIDS, HIV and HCV, love someone who is, are an activist, advocate, researcher, physician or just an interested party, we hope here at HIV Haven we can help you find what you are looking for.