Scientists have possibly cured HIV in a woman for the first time

Following a cutting-edge treatment four years ago, the “New York patient” is now off of HIV medication and remains “asymptomatic and healthy,” researchers say.

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Factors Associated with Use of HIV Prevention and Health Care Among Transgender Women — Seven Urban Areas, 2019–2020 

During 2019–2020, 38% of transgender women were surveyed in seven major cities in the United States reported receiving a previous positive HIV test result.  In addition, the finding showed transgender individuals experience particularly high levels of poverty, unemployment, homelessness, and other economic hardships. The survey suggested that nearly 44% of transgender women were in the low-income spectrum and 39% of them experienced homelessness while 40 % faced severe food insecurity were associated with lower likelihood of receipt of HIV prevention and health care. Thus, having a health care provider with whom the participant is comfortable was positively linked with receiving those services.

Lee, K. (2022, May 19). Factors associated with use of HIV prevention and health care among transgender women – seven urban areas, 2019–2020. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved May 26, 2022, from https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7120a1.htm?s_cid=mm7120a1_e&ACSTrackingID=USCDC_921-DM82226&ACSTrackingLabel=This+Week+in+MMWR+-+Vol.+71%2C+May+20%2C+2022&deliveryName=USCDC_921-DM82226

STDs increased during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic

April 12, 2022 – STDs in the U.S. continued to increase in 2020

Reported cases of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in the United States decreased during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, but most resurged by the end of that year. Reported cases of gonorrhea, syphilis, and congenital syphilis surpassed 2019 levels, while chlamydia declined (likely due to decreased STD screening and underdiagnosis during the pandemic).

• 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.

Rashida Muhammad, DrPH(c), MHS

She/Her/Hers

Managing Partner

AANSRR Enterprise

Know Your COVID-19 Community Level

COVID-19 Community Levels are a new tool to help communities decide what prevention steps to take based on the latest data. Levels can be low, medium, or high and are determined by looking at hospital beds being used, hospital admissions, and the total number of new COVID-19 cases in an area. Take precautions to protect yourself and others from COVID-19 based on the COVID-19 Community Level in your area. 

Click here to see COVID-19 County Check

National HIV Testing Day

Registration is now open for the Let’s Stop HIV Together campaign’s Self-Care Health Check: National HIV Testing Day Webinar, taking place on Wednesday, June 8, 2022, at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Featuring a panel discussion led by DaShawn Usher, of GLAAD and Mobilizing Our Brothers Initiative (MOBI), this webinar will provide you with information and tools you can use to plan for your National HIV Testing Day (NHTD) outreach. Join us and learn how HIV testing is an act of self-care and how knowledge of status can enable individuals regardless of their status to live long and healthy lives.

Panelists will include individuals from the following organizations:

• Division of HIV Prevention, CDC
• SAMHSA
• Kaiser Family Foundation/Greater Than AIDS
• Medical Advocacy and Outreach (MAO)

Click here to register

Roe v. Wade Overturned: Supreme Court Gives States the Right to Outlaw Abortion

The Supreme Court eliminated the federal constitutional right to abortion. But we’re not backing down. We’re doing everything we can to keep abortion accessible for all people.

What Just Happened at the Supreme Court?

On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court ruled in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (JWHO). The ruling upheld Mississippi’s ban on abortion at 15 weeks of pregnancy, overturned Roe v. Wade, and ended the federal constitutional right to abortion in the United States.

By overturning Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court erased nearly 50 years of precedent. They took away our power to make our own personal medical decisions, and they gave that power to lawmakers. The court’s decision most harms Black, Latino, Indigenous, and other people of color — communities for whom systemic racism has long blocked access to opportunity and health care.

Learn more: https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/issues/abortion/roe-v-wade