The latest milestone in the 30-year battle against HIV, is Monday’s approval of Truvada® by the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the prevention of HIV transmission. Truvada® is the first anti-retroviral (ARV) drug to gain approval as a preventive measure for healthy HIV negative people who are at high risk of acquiring HIV through sexual activity, such as those who have HIV-infected partners.
South African guidelines for the preventative use of HIV medication by men who have sex with men who are not infected with the virus are to be published in the peer-reviewed academic publication, Southern African Journal of HIV Medicine, this month.
The treatment, pre-exposure prophylaxis (Prep), consists of an antiretroviral (ARV) pill that is taken daily by HIV-negative people to lower their chances of becoming infected with the virus.
While consistent use of condoms remain your best defence against HIV and other sexually transmitted infection (STIs), evidence has emerged that some water-based lubricants may be harmful to your rectum. This applies equally to top-of-the-range, expensive imported brands and locally manufactured lubricants.
These findings emerged when researchers trying to develop rectal microbicides started poking around and asking questions about the effects of sexual lubricants on the mucosal lining of the rectum
Men who have sex with men (MSM) can now access specialised health care at the Yeoville clinic in central Johannesburg, including free and confidential HIV and STI screening and free treatment for men who test positive.
“The new Health4Men site is a significant development for all men who have sex with men residing in Johannesburg who have been unable to access to appropriate services within the public sector,” explains Prof James McIntyre, Executive Director of the Anova Health Institute. “Now these men have a space where they feel welcome and can be honest about their sexuality when interacting with medical staff.”
MEN who have sex with men (MSM) can now get specialised sexual health services at Soweto’s Zola Clinic.
The Anova Health Institute’s Health4Men initiative launched the service at the clinic on 6 March 2012
WikiQueer, a gay, bi and trans online encyclopaedia has launched publicly this week.
The wiki site began collating content after its soft-launch last year and has now gone live.
Recreational drug use can make people more likely to be infected by HIV. Also, for people taking antiretroviral medications (ARVs) to fight HIV, there can be some serious interactions between drugs and ARVs. These interactions can lead to under- or overdoses of ARVs or recreational drugs. Some of these may be fatal.
A local health orientated website reports that anal cancer rates are higher among people infected with HIV, according to new data published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.
The highest rates of anal cancer were found in HIV-positive men who have sex with men (MSM), but rates of anal cancer among HIV-positive men and women in general were also higher than rates in the general population.
Dr Kevin Rebe, the Specialist Medical Consultant at Ivan Tom’s Health4Men in Cape Town, comments on this article.
In the wake of local actress Lesego Motsepe’s astonishing public announcement, a column in Tuesday’s (14 February 2012) The Times questions the value of using celeb power as a driver of causes and campaigns.
Human papillomavirus (also known as HPV or simply genital / anal warts) is the diarrhoea of sexually transmitted infections. It’s the most common of all STIs, yet gets the least press. Nobody wears coloured ribbons in aid of it or makes Oscar-winning movies about its victims. In fact, nobody even likes to talk about it, as I recently discovered at a dinner party when I mentioned that I was being treated for the virus. The conversation spluttered and jerked, then ground to a complete halt. I reckon I would have received a warmer response if I’d admitted that I shagged goats or was converting to Mormonism.