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Swaziland King Pushes AIDS Testing
AIDS Camp Is Short On Donations
"AIDS Epidemic Will Hurt Russian Economy", World Bank Official Says
Carding offence - aiding & abetting
Gambia
arrests hundreds of prostitutes in sweep
Kings Cross (Sydney) community and police address
concerns
Bristol & West Ad Campaign Features Same-Sex
Relationship
SAFER 2002 Sexual Awareness Fundraising Educational
Roadshow
The big picture
Gay sex law that convicted Wilde will be overturned
Exhibition supports calls for gay equality
The
common virus that can kill
CDC Warns Spermicides Can't Prevent STDs
AIDS Vaccine May Offer Compromise, Researcher Says
CDC
Wants Annual HIV Tests for Gay Men
VD rise blamed on cheap flights
Older Americans Make up the New Face of HIV-AIDS, Experts Say
GMB
Sex Industry Branch Meeting and WMP Competition!
"Swaziland
King Pushes AIDS Testing"
Swaziland's ruler, King Mswati III, has urged all the subjects of his AIDS-ravaged
southern African kingdom to take an HIV test. "I expect all Swazis to
take a blood test, to know our own HIV status so that we can take the necessary
steps to protect ourselves and to live in a responsible and healthy manner,"
the 34-year-old monarch said in the foreword to a book about Swazis living
with HIV/AIDS that was launched May 10. The British- educated Mswati, who
has eight wives and two fiancées, has long been a vocal campaigner
against the scourge but this is the first time he has urged all of his subjects
to take an HIV test. Palace
sources say Mswati is tested every six months; Mswati did not say
who would pay to have the many impoverished subjects tested.
Between 20 and 25 percent of Swaziland's roughly one million
people are infected with HIV.
SOURCE : Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for
HIV, STD and TB Prevention (US)
back to top
"AIDS
Camp Is Short On Donations"
A lifelong resident of urban San Antonio, Becky Lachel, who is HIV-positive
along with her nine-year-old daughter, and her four children are looking forward
to spending four days this June at Jenifer's Camp - an outdoor experience
at the Deer Creek Camp in Medina. But the organizers with the Alamo Area Resource
Center said they are worried they may have to limit the number of campers
this year because of a severe shortfall in donations.
Since 1998, the nonprofit organization has held the special camp in honor
of ayoung San Antonio girl named Jenifer B., who died from an AIDS-related
illness in 1996. But hard economic times and an emphasis on helping families
affected by last year's terrorist attacks have slowed donations. The shuttering
of the Levi-Strauss factory in San Antonio - a major sponsor in years past
- has also hit the program hard.
The camp started with 25 participants. By last year, it had 75. Organizers
this year have 136 potential participants - most from San Antonio and South
Texas, some from Louisiana and Alabama. This past holiday season, the group
sent donation
requests to 300 civic and corporate groups and received one cash donation
of $350 and a commitment from the San Antonio Chef's Association for an in-kind
donation of food and catering services. A pilot's group called Angel Flight
- whose members
provide free transportation for terminally ill children - will fly in the
out-of-state children.
Jenifer's Camp welcomes any kid affected by HIV/AIDS - children whose parents
are infected, children who themselves have the virus - as well as their caregivers.
"These camps do the family thing because it builds family rapport and
understanding of HIV, each other and the stresses that the disease creates
in a family,"
said Jerry Permenter, AARC's executive director. Permenter said the group
may need to limit future participants to children with the virus and one parent.
For information on Jenifer's Camp, call (US) 210-222-2437.
SOURCE : Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for
HIV, STD and TB Prevention (US)
"Challenges
Faced by Homeless Sexual Minorities: Comparison of
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Homeless Adolescents With
Their Heterosexual Counterparts"
Homeless youth represent a diverse population that reaches the street for
a variety of reasons and whose numbers have grown in recent decades. Gay,
lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) homeless youth face the obstacles
of survival on the streets as well as the stigma of sexual minority group
membership.
It is difficult to estimate the proportion of GLBT youth in the street population.
Study estimates range from 6 percent to 35 percent. Among adolescents in general,
GLBT youth are more vulnerable to health and psychological problems than are
heterosexual youth. High rates of externalizing and internalizing problems,
including psychosis, have been found among this population and high rates
of risky sexual behavior, including prostitution and survival sex place these
young people at risk
for victimization and STDs.
The current study is the first of its kind to examine psychosocial outcomes
of GLBT homeless youth. The objectives of the study were to identify risks
faced by GLBT homeless youth and to compare those risks to those of their
heterosexual
counterparts.
A sample of 84 GLBT was matched by age and self-reported gender with 84 heterosexual
adolescents. The matched samples were recruited from a data pool of 375 adolescents
ages 13-21 collected between 1995 and 1998. Youth were recruited for the Seattle
Homeless Adolescent Research and Education project at
street locations or social service agencies in metropolitan Seattle. Youth
were eligible to participate if they spoke English, had not lived in the residence
of a primary caretaker for at least 1 week, and had no stable home in which
to live.
Youth were paid $25 to participate in face-to-face structured interviews that
included self-reported sexual identity, their reasons for leaving home, street
victimization, their use of drugs and/or alcohol, and their sexual behavior.
Depressive
symptoms were measured with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies
Depression Scale and other behavior problems were assessed with
Achenbach's Youth Self-Report.
Results indicate that GLBT experience multiple negative outcomes with respect
to frequency of departures from home, vulnerability to physical and sexual
victimization, higher rates of addictive substance use, more psychopathology,
and riskier sexual behavior, with more sexual partners in comparison with
homeless heterosexual adolescents. GLBT also face great challenges as they
work to come to terms with their sexual orientation. They frequently have
no family members available, no school environment to support them, and transient
or insufficient peer networks.
The researchers offered recommendations related to seeking adolescent's sexual
identity in order to plan for services; addressing and acknowledging the contribution
of homophobia to the etiology and maintenance of substance abuse problems
and
encouraging acceptance of sexual minorities among street youth and in shelters
in order to reduce the risk of GLBT adolescent victimization.
American Journal of Public Health (05.02) Vol. 92; No. 5; P. 773- 777::Bryan
N. Cochran, MS; Angela J. Stewart, BA; Joshua A. Ginzler, PhD and Ana Mari
Cauce, PhD
SOURCE : Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for
HIV, STD and TB Prevention (US)
"AIDS
Epidemic Will Hurt Russian Economy, World Bank Official Says"
Russia's economy could suffer substantially in the next couple of decades
if the country doesn't take steps soon to stem the spread of HIV, World Bank
experts said Wednesday. World Bank analysts and Russia's Federal AIDS Center
worked out forecasts of economic damage through 2020 based on current rates
of HIV
infection. They predicted that the country's economy would shrink by 10.5
percent by 2020 if no preventative measures were taken, because of the decline
in the available workforce and the costs of treating people with HIV. Investment
would also shrink by as much as 14.5 percent.
Under optimistic projections, 21,000 Russians will die a month of AIDS as
of 2020 if preventative measures aren't taken, and the number of Russians
infected with HIV will reach 5.4 million in 2020, said Christof Ruehl, the
senior economist at the
World Bank's Russia office.
A total of 194,000 HIV cases have been registered in Russia as of Wednesday,
the head of Russia's AIDS Center, Vadim Pokrovsky, said. That was up from
177,000 in December. He and other AIDS officials have warned that the real
scale of HIV infection
is much larger because just 10 to 15 percent of Russia's population has been
tested. HIV in Russia has been associated almost exclusively with intravenous
drug use.
SOURCE : Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for
HIV, STD and TB Prevention (US)
Carding
offence - aiding & abetting
Police in Westminster are bringing charges against women (and men/TV) who
use carders under "aiding and abetting", so that the sex workers
are at risk of prosecution, not just the carders.
SOURCE : Hilary Kinnell UKNSWP
Gambia
arrests hundreds of prostitutes in sweep
Gambian plain clothes police have arrested 400 prostitutes in bars, hotels
and nightclubs over the past few days, police in the West African tourist
destination said on Wednesday.
Many of the women arrested by operation "Sweep Clean" in Banjul
are from Senegal, Nigeria or Sierra Leone.
"We are going to screen all of them. Those who committed crimes or are
illegal immigrants will face the law and the operation will be extended countrywide,"
police spokesman Sarjo Keita told Reuters. Government officials said prostitution
had reached an unacceptable level and they were worried about the spread of
the virus which causes AIDS. Gambia lies in one of the world's worst affected
regions.
Package tourists, many from former colonial power Britain, are an
important source of income for Gambia.
The country of fewer than 1.5 million has been highlighted as a sex tourism
destination by global campaigners against sexual exploitation, but usually
for women from Europe seeking sex with Gambian men.
SOURCE : Copyright
2002 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
Kings Cross (Sydney) community and police address
concerns
Kings Cross
residents are demanding more visible policing and faster
response times.
As part of a new move to make senior police directly accountable to
the community, a trial meeting was held in Kings Cross last night
between police, community, business and political representatives.
Kings Cross police commander Superintendent David Darcy says there
were requests for police to crack down on prostitution in
residential areas.
"If I could get all the prostitutes to work in the designated zones
we wouldn't have a problem," he said.
"It's very much about managing an extremely complex issue and there's
a lot of different stake holders that you have to touch base with to
get a good result in that one."
Superintendent Darcy says he also wants to find a solution for a
group of people who continue to breach alcohol free zones.
"We are just in the process of almost completing now negotiations
with the Wayside Chapel, the Aboriginal medical service and other
agencies to resolve that issue in a much more productive way and get
these people support in a medical sense, rather than put them into
custody," he said.
SOURCE : Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Bristol & West Ad Campaign Features Same-Sex Relationship
Our commendations go to Bristol and West for their latest advertising campaign, which features a lesbian couple discussing their new mortgage. The advertisement, which can be seen on London's tube trains, is sensetive and refreshingly free of stereotypical images. The two women, pictured holding a card congratulating them on their move to a new home, are ordinarily dressed, attractive women; there is none of the soft-porn approach so common in the photography of women in the media thesedays. There is a light sexual innuendo, but the advertisment is not at all voyeuristic, and shows the womens' relationship to be entirely natural and as normal as heterosexual relationships. It is pleasing to see such a non-discriminatory advertisement, as same-sex relationships are still currently under-represented in the media.
If you have
spotted an advertisement or media feature which you would like to reccomend
for its sensetive approach to same-sex relationships, why not email
our news editor for a possible inclusion in WMP News.
www.bristol-west.co.uk
- WMP News Team
SAFER
2002
Sexual Awareness Fundraising Educational Roadshow
Launched by the SEXplained... Foundation
http://www.sexplained.org/
in association with Choice FM
May 10th marks the official launch of the first Sexual Awareness Fundraising Educational Roadshow (SAFER) 2002 by the SEXplained... Foundation in association with Choice FM London. The SEXplained... Foundation formed in 2001, is a not-for-profit organisation, working with commercial organisations to raise their profile for social responsibility, as well as with registered charities to support their work in the UK and overseas. Choice FM is the UK's premiere Black led radio station, and has live links to Jamaica, New York, The Bahamas and Miami as well as being audible 24/7 via the Internet.
A percentage of the funds raised by the SEXplained... Foundation in association with Choice FM will be donated to one or more registered charities working in the related fields of contraception and sexual health.
The SAFER 2002 Campaign
aims to challenge and change the behaviours and
perceptions of young people to contraception and sexual health and, therefore,
reduce the numbers of:
· Unwanted teenage pregnancies.
· Teenage single mothers and children facing destitution, misery and social isolation.
· Sexually transmitted diseases (STIs).
Gill Sampson, Director of the SEXplained... Foundation who is heading the SAFER 2002 Campaign comments: 'Enough babies to fill the equivalent of 500 jumbo jets are born each day(1) and one person in 11 catches a sexually transmitted infection every day(2). HIV in pregnant women continues to rise and transmission amongst gay men shows no sign of diminishing(3) (4). Over a quarter of 14 to 15 year olds in the UK think that the contraceptive pill protects against infection (5).
'You may well say, it's not my problem - but the implications and consequences for society of the lack of informed contraception and professionally delivered sexual health education is everyone's problem - parents, teachers, tutors, sexual health workers, employers and young people themselves, of course.'
As the SAFER 2002 Campaign
commences, schools and youth organisations in the UK or overseas who have
registered with the SEXplained... Foundation will
receive free Sex Education Packs.
The Sex Education Packs
will contain SEXplained... The Uncensored Guide to
Sexual Health and SEXplained... 2 For Young People together with condoms,
branded pens and other appropriate educational and promotional material. A
list of the companies supporting SAFER 2002 by donating money, items or prizes
to enable the SEXplained... Foundation to continue its work will be provided
in each pack. Currently, the SEXplained... Foundation has received requests
for more than 20,000 Sex Education Packs. In addition to being listed in the
Sex Education Packs, companies supporting SAFER 2002 will be featured on the
www.sexplained.org website. The more they donate, the higher their profile
on the website.
Choice FM will publicise the Foundation's events, attract advertising and plug participating companies. Companies already standing four square behind the SAFER 2002 Campaign include: Condomania Ltd (UK), one of Europe's largest condom suppliers; Cool, the condom brand of the International Planned Parenthood Federation, (IPPF) European Network; Mertec Computers PLC, the leading Swansea based computer system and network solutions company in the Southwest; Bridgend Rugby Football Club; National Ambulance Service, a dedicated Patient Transport Service provider to prestigious NHS Trusts in England; Mediaburst Ltd, a leading provider of business class messaging services incorporating broadcast electronic message and document distribution in the UK; and RingtoneZone.co.uk, a subsidiary of StealthNET Interactive.
Companies supporting SAFER
2002 and the SEXplained... Foundation through
sponsorship and advertising on Choice FM qualify for 100% tax relief for the
net cost to them of their involvement.
To help raise funds, the SEXplained... Foundation is holding an It's a Knockout competition and Fun Day provisionally booked for 14th/15th September in London. Schools and youth organisations are invited to send a representative and reserve player; fellow students will help them raise funds to support their school/organisation, which will then receive a number of Sex Education Packs equivalent to the amount they have raised. This will provide their school/organisation with a valuable resource to enhance their sexual health education programme benefiting even more students.
Local businesses will be invited to match fund these amounts and, by so doing, will be perceived as being socially responsible 'good neighbours'.
'This truly is a win-win
situation for all those getting involved,' says Patrick Berry, Managing Director,
Choice FM. 'As a leading voice in the Black community, we believe it's our
duty to stand up and be counted and to play our part in proactive prevention.
Therefore, we wholeheartedly commit ourselves to the SAFER 2002 Campaign.
We urge others to do the same, in
whatever way they can.'
'Together we can challenge
young people's perceptions of contraception and sexual health - and really
make that difference. This Campaign has been designed to help as many young
people and businesses as possible. In addition to SEXplained... Foundation's
publicity, we will be mentioning on air, all businesses supporting this Campaign.
The more support a company provides, the more that company will be mentioned.
No company considering itself to be socially responsible can afford to be
left out, when all we are asking is for their support at nett cost, so that
the SEXplained... Foundation can generate more Sex Education Packs to help
young people here and
overseas.'
Although SAFER 2002 is
being co-ordinated from London, individual campaigns
will be run across the UK, commencing with Wales and Manchester. Substantial
interest is being generated from other areas as diverse as Scotland, Tobago,
Johannesburg and San Francisco. Raffles, auctions and other competitions are
just some of the other events being planned.
Contact: Gill Sampson,
SEXplained... Foundation, PO Box 6969, Chiswick,
London W4 3WX - UK. Tel: +44 (0) 20 8742 3910
E-mail: sexplained.foundation@virgin.net
Website: www.sexplained.org
References:
(1) Professor John Guillebaud - Contraception - Your Questions Answered -
ISBN 0-4430-6153-x - p2
(2) World Health Organisation
(3)+(4) DOH - Prevalence of HIV and Hepatitis Infections in the UK 2000
Report on the Unlinked Anonymous Surveys Steering Group DOH Dec 2001
(5) Health Education Authority - Young People and Health, HEA 1999
Submitted by: Helen Knox - for Gill Sampson
http://www.nationnews.com/StoryView.cfm?Record=25055&Section=LO&Current=2002-05-14%2000%3A00%3A00
The big picture - Tuesday
14, May-2002
Nation Newspaper Barbados.
People travelling along Bay Street toward The City yesterday saw one of the
two new billboards promoting greater HIV/AIDS awareness. This billboard,
featuring a collage of faces, speaks against stigmatisation since people of
all ethnicities, ages and walks of life, have contracted the disease.
They stand out against
the cityscape.
Two large, colourful new billboards, the first of their kind in the country,
have been positioned at major gateways to The City, to draw the attention
of passers-by to their critical role in fighting the scourge of HIV/AIDS.
Each strategically-sited,
double-sided billboard has a different message.
The one on Bay Street, adjacent to the Coastal Zone Management Unit, is
designed to address the problem of stigmatisation.
In bold print,
next to the picture collage of a face with different ethnic
features, are the words: "HIV+? You can't tell by looking."
The other billboard at
John Beckles Drive, Constitution Road, promotes
condom use as a preventative measure.
At yesterday's formal
unveiling, Chief Town Planner Mark Cummings said while his office did not
usually give permission for such large signage - each
eight square feet - the devastating effects of the HIV/AIDS pandemic
warranted special leeway.
Minister of State Glyne
Murray explained that the billboards were part of
the expanded National Response Programme to HIV/AIDS that seeks to
obliterate stigmatisation and underline prevention.
"We hope to break
down the myths and misconceptions about HIV/AIDS," he
said. "We are putting the full weight of the Government behind combatting
the disease itself and the disease in society where people with AIDS are
stigmatised.
"AIDS cannot be spread
with a handshake or by sharing a table with someone.
There needs to be greater social acceptance of those with the disease."
Director of the HIV/AIDS
Commission Alies Jordan added: "[With these
billboards] we're seeking to encourage individuals involved in sexual
relations to assume responsibility for their well-being as well as their
partner's."
Gay
sex law that convicted Wilde will be overturned
By Marie Woolf Chief Political Correspondent
http://www.independent.co.uk/story.jsp?story=116977
29 January 2002
Laws that outlaw men kissing in public and criminalise homosexual behaviour
in private homes will be repealed by the Government in a revamp of
legislation against sexual offences.
Ministers are preparing
to announce that the Victorian criminal offence of
gross indecency, which singles out gay men and which was used to prosecute
Oscar Wilde, will be scrapped. They will also repeal the offence of buggery,
as well as the crime of "soliciting for an immoral purpose", which
only
applies to men.
The reforms are designed to end legal discrimination against gay men and put their treatment by the criminal justice system on a par with heterosexuals.
The move follows the lowering
of the age of consent to 16 and an
unsuccessful attempt by Labour to get rid of Section 28, which prevents
local authorities from promoting homosexuality. Ministers believe that the
laws - many of which date back to the Offences Against the Person Act of
1861 - are antiquated.
The changes will delight
gay rights and equality campaigners. However, they
will infuriate groups such as the Christian Institute, which has told the
Government that the law should have a "moral basis".
Martin Bowley QC, the
president of the Bar Lesbian and Gay Group, said that
the existing law on sexual offences was "anomalous and discriminatory,
especially against gay men".
The new Sexual Offences
Act is also expected to reform laws on crimes such
as rape.
Editor's note:
'However,
the reforms to the Sexual Offences Act, while ending
discrimination against gay men, do impose the same laws equally now on male
and female sex workers, to the term prostitute can now be applied to men
(previously under this Act it could only legally be applied to women), and
it does mean that the crime of soliciting can now be applied to those guys
working on the street and through bars and clubs in the same way it is
applied currently to female sex workers.'
-WMP
Exhibition supports calls for gay equality
http://www.sundayherald.com/24006
By Jenifer Johnston
THE Scottish couple who
were the first to sign London's Partnership Register for committed gay couples
say they hope a new exhibition will highlight the
need to recognise gay relationships in society.
The Ron & Roger exhibition by photographer Richard Ansett features 20
couples who have signed up to the register run by Greater London Authority's
Partnership Register. The exhibiton opens next week.
London mayor Ken Livingstone
hopes that the huge amount of interest in the
register will encourage the Blair government to recognise that same-sex
relationships should have the same legal and civic status as heterosexual
ones.
There is now a six-month
waiting list for gay and lesbian couples to sign
the register, which has been hailed a 'huge success'.
Ansett hopes to bring
the exhibition to Glasgow later this year. The
photographer said he was trying to record the success of the register as
well as the need to recognise same-sex relationships.
He said: 'The photographs
capture couples in the environment of their own
home. I wanted the images to be objective -- they are couples in their own
right whether same sex or not. They should have at least the same legal
rights.'
Ansett hopes the publicity
surrounding the exhibition will widen the debate
around the status of same-sex relationships in the UK.
'I thought this would
be a great opportunity to to draw people's attention
to the inequality in the status of gay relationships. This is a very
interesting subject centred around human rights,' he said.
Alexander Cannell and
Ian Burford have been together for nearly 39 years.
Both originally from Scotland, they say they posed for Ansett in order to
widen the publicity surrounding the register.
Cannell, 63, said the
exhibition was a great opportunity to record its
success.
'As the first couple who
signed up we were happy to pose for the Ron & Roger exhibition. It's a
sign that we are now in a time when we can celebrate our
relationship, and Richard Ansett felt he had to have us in there as the
first couple, as it were. O ur certificate number is 001.' Cannell and
Burford view the partnership register as a sign of their commitment to each
other and while acknowledging it has no current legal status hope it will
pave the way for more legislation recognising their long-standing
involvement.
Cannell said: 'The partnership
register is not a wedding -- it's an
affirmation of a longstanding relationship, and Ian and I have been together
for a long time -- at first just living together was technically illegal.
'We have come a long way
from that, and have lasted a long time together as
a couple through some very difficult times and pressures.
'Society now is full of
relationships that people have created in different
forms -- gay relationships, single people, marriages. I do hope that the
practice of having a register is followed in other parts of the country.'
Each couple had the photograph
taken in their own home, the composition
inspired by the 15th century painting, The Arnolfini Wedding, by Jan van
Eyck, which portrays a secret marriage ceremony.
More partnership registers
are in the planning stages in England, although
there are no plans at present to open one in Scotland.
Green MSP Robin Harper is pressing the Scottish Executive to recognise Scots in gay relationships through a similar civic register.
Yesterday he said it would
benefit Scotland's image as a forward-thinking
society if partnership registers could become a reality.
Harper said: 'This would
not only help same-sex couples, it would also help
couples who live together and maybe don't want to get married. It would
offer them a level of protection that they don't have at the moment.'
Yesterday a gay couple
from Manchester signed up to the city's first civic
partnership scheme with a register office ceremony.
Manchester City Council
leader Richard Leese said their partnership scheme
was a step towards gay couples gaining full legal rights. He said: 'We are
proud to initiate historic change in this area. There are many legal rights
and benefits which are currently only open to married couples.'
Last year 400 gay couples
had their relationships blessed in Finsbury Park
in London.
The common virus that can kill
http://www.independent.co.uk/story.jsp?story=82987
For years, human papilloma viruses were thought merely to cause unsightly
warts. But now scientists think they are linked with cancer
Roger Dobson
11 July 2001
Most people will have had a brush with HPV some time in their lives, many
without knowing it. It's the virus that is responsible for warts, those
unsightly but benign growths on the skin that can be the scourge of
adolescence, but which can crop up at any time of life.
For years HPV was thought
to be a relatively harmless infection that could
be summarily dealt with by GPs and dermatologists, and that it posed no risk
to health.
But not any more. The virus that was almost unheard of outside hospitals and
clinics 20 years ago is
now being implicated in a dozen or so diseases,
including genital warts, and cancers of the stomach, cervix, bladder,
throat, mouth, stomach, prostate and skin.
An increasing number of
researchers believe that the virus is endemic and
that all it requires to break out and trigger disease in its host is a
lowering of the defences of the immune system.
HPV or human papilloma
viruses are a family of more than 90 different
viruses, all of which appear to have a specific target in the body. Some
will manifest as verrucas, while others will appear as warts on the skin.
Some will also cause genital warts, and a third of the HPV family are
sexually transmitted and live predominantly in genital tissues.
Genital warts is now the
most common sexually transmitted infection in the
UK, and over the past 25 years there has been a six-fold increase in women
and a nine-fold in men with the condition. In 1999, more than 70,000 men and
women attended STD clinics
in the UK with a first attack of genital warts.
The highest rates of genital warts are recorded for women aged 16-24 and in
men aged 20-24. There is no immediate cure and treated warts often recur.
The first clue that HPV
had more strings to its bow than harmless warts and
verrucas, came in research which established a link with cervical cancer.
"That ground-breaking
work was about 20 years ago," says Dr Anne Szarewski,
senior clinical research fellow at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund. "Until
then, HPV was mostly associated with warts. It is implicated in cervical
cancer, and most people would now agree that HPV has to be the major cause
of cervical cancer." Researchers have since found traces of HPV in 99.7
per
cent of cervical cancer tumours.
A clue as to how HPV works
is that its presence alone is not enough to cause disease. Although all women
with cervical cancer have HPV, the majority of
women with HPV do not get cervical cancer. Although tests are available for
HPV, the problem is that many women carry HPV without ever developing
cervical cancer. There are some fears that a screening test could cause
unnecessary anxiety to women who test positive but are never going to fall
ill.
So what could be the missing
link? If HPV is the culprit, why does it cause
disease in some women infected with the virus, but not in the majority? Just
why some women with HPV develop disease and others do not remains a mystery.
One likely answer, say
researchers, is the immune system. Women who smoke,
for example, are twice as likely to get cervical cancer, and while some
studies have put that down to socio-economic and lifestyle differences,
smoking also weakens the immune system. It is also known that people with
a
lowered immune system are more likely to develop warts than others. Lack of
adequate rest, poor nutrition, stress and close living quarters can also be
contributing factors in catching the virus.
"What seems to be
required for HPV to do its dirty work is something, some
co-factor that probably depresses the immune system, and that idea seems to
make a lot of sense. If your immune system is good you can catch a cold but
not develop pneumonia and die. But if your immune system is lousy, then you
are the person, the elderly, the infirm and so on, who gets flu and dies.
In the same way, if your immune system is impaired, you are more likely to
go
on to get cancer from your HPV," says Dr Szarewski.
The link between HPV and
other cancers is increasingly being investigated by researchers, and in many
cases a depressed immune system has also been
implicated. It has been found, for example, that immuno-compromised people
have higher rates of skin cancer. Non-melanoma skin cancer is the commonest
human malignancy and epidemiological evidence implicates sunlight as an
important factor in the development of the disease. But researchers have
also found a newly identified HPV type - HPV77 - in skin cancer biopsies.
It has also been reported that that the cancer-associated forms of HPV that
usually have a thin, flat shape are present in bladder cancer.
New research at the Fred
Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle
reported this week, has also found that men who have sex with multiple
partners, especially unprotected sex, can increase their risk of getting
prostate cancer in middle age. Numerous pieces of research have already
indicated that a high number of sexual partners may increase the likelihood
of certain types of cervical cancer in women.
"The findings suggest
that sexual behaviour and associated exposure to
sexually transmitted agents enhance the risk of prostate cancer," say
the
researchers.
They say they cannot speculate
on what the sexually transmitted agent may
be, but other studies implicate HPV. Researchers in Germany have found that
high levels of HPV-16 - a viral strain that is linked to cervical cancer too
- turned up in considerable amounts in samples of tissue samples taken from
men with prostate cancer. They found that HPV-16 was present in 10 of 47
samples of prostate-tumour tissue. In contrast, the strain was present in
such quantities in only 1 of 37 tissue samples from men without cancer.
"This is potentially
a very important discovery," says Jonathan W. Simons, a molecular oncologist
at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions in Baltimore.
"It's the first evidence of how the microbial environment could promote
prostate cancer." Another study found that 42 per cent of the men with
prostate cancer had created antibodies to HPV 16 showing they had been
exposed to the virus at some time.
With on-going research
likely to link the virus to other cancers, the
importance of HPV as a trigger if not a cause of disease, is growing.
"There is no doubt
that our understanding of its role and importance in a
number of areas has changed significantly over the last 15 to 20 years. We
used to recognise warts because we could see them on fingers and toes, but
the relationship with other conditions is relatively new," says Dr David
Brown, consultant virologist at the Public Health Laboratory Service.
It is hopes that the growing
awareness of the importance of HPV may lead to
its eventual downfall as a potent virus. Several centres are working on
vaccines designed to act against the virus, especially those strains
involved in cervical cancer and warts. The only problem is that it may take
many different vaccines to protect against the many different faces of the
virus.
CDC
Warns Spermicides Can't Prevent STDs
Thu May 9, 5:59 PM ET
By Paula Moyer
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=594&ncid=751&e=3&u=/nm/20020509/hl_nm/std_spermicide_1
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Physicians still need to get the message out to
patients that sperm-killing chemicals have no contraceptive advantage over
proper condom use and offer no protection against sexually transmitted
diseases (STDs), according to Dr. Beth Carlton Tohill, an epidemiologist in
the Division of Reproductive Health at the US Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (news - web sites) (CDC).
In this week's issue of the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, she
and her colleagues report that data from federally funded family planning
clinics showed that a small minority of women reported using the spermicide
nonoxynol-9 as their method of contraception. The CDC's concern is that
women who use spermicidal products are not protected from STDs.
"Each woman needs
to consider her risk of infection with HIV (news - web
sites) or with an STD when choosing a contraceptive," Carlton Tohill
told
Reuters Health.
While spermicides may
be appropriate for couples in a monogamous
relationship who are free from STDs, she pointed out, for young patients,
patients with multiple partners, a partner who has multiple partners, or a
partner with an STD or HIV, a condom is the best method. Physicians need to
remind patients that consistent use of a condom is as effective as a
spermicide for preventing pregnancy, and can reduce the risk of transmitting
gonorrhea, chlamydia and HIV, she told Reuters Health.
The CDC report uses data
from women attending family planning clinics in
1999. Between 1% to 5% of the women said that they used contraceptive
products containing the spermicide nonoxynol-9. These products included
vaginal films and inserts, as well as spermicidal gels, jellies and foams.
These data were collected
before recommendations had been made against using
nonoxynol-9 for protection against HIV and STDs.
"When physicians
are considering the most appropriate contraceptive product
for their patients, they need to talk to them about their sexual practices,"
Carlton Tohill told Reuters Health. "The individual patient's risk for
being
infected with HIV or with an STD needs to be a factor in deciding the best
method of family planning for that patient."
Particularly for young
patients, using condoms correctly and consistently is
the best way to protect against unintended pregnancy and STDs, she said.
Carlton Tohill noted that nonoxonyl-9 can actually promote lesions in the
vagina that increase a woman's susceptibility to HIV infection.
SOURCE: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 2002;51:389-391.
AIDS
Vaccine May Offer Compromise, Researcher Says
Wed May 8, 5:26 PM ET
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20020508/sc_nm/aids_vaccine_dc_1&printer=1
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -
A vaccine that does not prevent HIV (news - web
sites) infection but helps the body control the AIDS (news - web sites)
virus shows promise in monkeys and will soon be tested in humans, a
researcher said on Wednesday.
It is one of the first vaccines designed with a compromise in mind -- as
none of the 30 or so vaccines being tested looks like it can prevent
infection, scientists are now aiming at a vaccine that can at least dull the
most lethal effects of HIV.
Virologist Harriet Robinson
of the Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center
at Atlanta's Emory University said a vaccine she is working on did not
prevent infection in monkeys, but did stop them from getting sick.
"All the vaccinated
animals became infected, but in contrast to
non-vaccinated (animals), the vaccinated animals controlled their infections
to levels seen in humans who are long-term non-progressors and
non-transmitters," Robinson said in a telephone interview. "I think
we are
going to be able to control HIV infection."
From almost the beginning
of the AIDS epidemic, doctors have noticed a small group of patients who become
infected with HIV but who never progress to
AIDS, or take a very long time to do so. Their immune systems seem naturally
adept at controlling the virus.
These so-called long-term
non-progressors offered hope that drugs or a
vaccine might also work to control infection.
And in fact, cocktails
of drugs called highly active antiretroviral therapy, or HAART, do work, but
they are expensive, have serious side-effects and
often one or more of the drugs eventually stop working as the virus mutates
inside the patient's body.
They are out of reach to most of the people in the world infected with HIV.
Robinson helped develop
a vaccine that she says works as well as HAART, at
least in monkeys.
Only humans can get AIDS,
so medical researchers use an engineered virus
called simian-human immunodeficiency virus, or SHIV, to test on monkeys.
They first vaccinated
the monkeys with an experimental vaccine using DNA
from the virus -- three genes called gag, pol and env -- boosted with a
vaccine made from a pox virus.
Seven months later, the
monkeys were infected with SHIV rectally, which
simulates real-life sexual transmission of HIV in people.
She said 19 of 20 animals
who got the three-gene vaccine were still
controlling the virus well nearly two years later. The virus was just barelydetectable
in their blood which, in humans, translates into having no
symptoms.
"Overall, they have
continued control of infection and a decline in the
level of infection," said Robinson, who presented her findings in Baltimore
to the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases. "This could be as
effective, if not more effective, than HAART."
Robinson said her team
is moving under the auspices of the U.S. National
Institutes of Health (news - web sites) to start human trials later this
year. The first tests will use healthy people at low risk of HIV infection
to see if the vaccine is safe.
More than 40 million people
worldwide are infected with HIV, which has no
cure and has killed 25 million people.
CDC Wants Annual HIV Tests for Gay Men
http://foxnews.com/story/0,2933,52410,00.html
Friday, May 10, 2002
ATLANTA - Sexually active gay and bisexual men should get tested at least
once a year for the AIDS virus, the government says in a new recommendation
aimed at heading off a feared surge of infections.
The new guidelines, released
Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, mark the first
time the government has made such a
recommendation. Previous guidelines from federal health officials have been
less specific, urging doctors to recommend HIV tests for patients whose
behavior might put them at risk for infection.
But studies conducted
in the past few years have shown gay and bisexual men, possibly lulled into
complacency by medical breakthroughs that have allowed
AIDS patients to live longer, are having more unprotected sex.
Rates of syphilis and
gonorrhea are up among gay and bisexual men in many
U.S. cities, and health officials worry those diseases signal a coming spike
in HIV and AIDS rates.
The new guidelines recommend
annual screening for HIV, chlamydia, syphilis
and gonorrhea for gay and bisexual men - plus vaccination against hepatitis
A and B. The CDC said some men in high risk groups may need to be screened
more often.
"There has been an
increase in awareness of the level of risk behavior of
men who have sex with men," said the CDC's Dr. Stuart Berman. "There
really
haven't been recommendations before."
The guidelines also urge
doctors to ask their male patients about the gender of their sex partners
- a question CDC experts say doctors are sometimes
hesitant to ask.
"It's important for
them to provide educational messages about what's
important in terms of safe-sex behavior," said lead author Dr. Kimberly
Workowski. "A lot of times providers have reticence in asking their patients
these questions."
The CDC updates its guidelines
on sexually transmitted diseases about every
four years. They were first published in 1982, and the last set was issued
in 1998.
Among other changes in the new guidelines:
- The CDC recommended
expanded screening among women for chlamydia, the most commonly reported STD.
Women with chlamydia infections should be tested
again three to four months after they finish treatment, to guard against
reinfection.
- The agency said doctors
in California should not use a class of
antibiotics called fluoroquinolones to treat gonorrhea. Strains of gonorrhea
resistant to that class of drugs have become common on the West Coast.
Gonorrhea infections have
already developed widespread resistance to
treatment with penicillin and tetracycline.
- The CDC said nonoxynol-9,
a spermicide, should not be used as a way to
prevent STDs. The recommendation is in line with studies over the past few
years that have shown nonoxynol-9 can cause vaginal lesions, making it
easier for women to contract HIV.
VD rise blamed on cheap flights
http://www.sundayherald.com/24382
Holidaymakers bring home antibiotics-resistant gonorrhoea
By James Cruickshank and Jenifer Johnston
Passengers flying on low-cost
airlines are being blamed for an alarming
increase in reported cases of gonorrhoea in Scotland.
Travellers using budget airlines are importing the sexually transmitted
bacterial infection from Europe and other parts of the UK.
It is also feared that
long-haul passengers who have been to Thailand and
south east Asia, which have thriving sex industries, have brought back a
strain of the infection which is resistant to antibiotics.
Glasgow has the most dramatic
rise in cases of gonorrhoea with the latest
figures showing a 365% rise in the number of reported cases since 1994.
'This is the tip of the
iceberg,' said Dr Andy Winter, a consultant at the
Sandyford Initiative in Glasgow. ' Young people have more partners than they
used to and frequently have concurrent partners. The sex industry in south
east Asia and low-cost airlines are also part of this problem.
'So far 160 gonorrhoea
cases are resistant to antibiotics. Forty-seven are
from Thailand and 27 are from other Asian countries.'
Once diagnosed, gonorrhoea
is normally easy to treat with antibiotics, but
left undiagnosed can cause serious long-term health problems.
'It is a difficult concept
to grasp but they could have a serious infection
but feel fine, and have no noticeable symptoms.
'It is not surprising
that cases are rising on the back of dramatic
lifestyle changes,' said Dr Winter, who is part of a team working to develop
a gonorrhoea 'home-test' kit that could be used in remote areas of Scotland.
Dr Hugh Young runs the
Scottish Neisseria gonorrhoea reference laboratory at Edinburgh University.
The lab has been compiling data from primary care
workers and hospital labs in Scotland.
Dr Young said: 'Most of
the resistant infections occur in heterosexual men
who have travelled to Thailand and south east Asia. This can be spread to
a
regular partner.
'It is worrying. The levels
had fallen in the 1980s and now they are
increasing again.'
The massive rise in the
number of Scottish cases is also being blamed on the lifestyle of teenagers
and young people who missed out on the safe sex
message of the late 1980s. Public health officials are also concerned that
the same behaviour that puts people at risk of catching gonorrhoea could
lead to a rise in HIV and Aids in Scotland.
Research shows a strong
link between youth and gonorrhoea -- in Scotland
68.7% of females with the disease are in the 15 to 24 age group.
Winter believes that the
high rate of gonorrhoea infection is an indicator
of a future rise in cases of HIV and Aids. He said: 'Traditionally when you
see a rise in gonorrhoea it is because of a rise in risky sexual behaviour.
There is a time lag, and then cases of HIV appear.'
The Sunday Herald revealed
in March that 75% of heterosexuals newly infected with HIV in Scotland have
a strain of the infection from Africa or Asia,
reinforcing the trend of travel bringing in new strains of disease. Latest
figures show 3342 people in UK have HIV and for the third year running
heterosexual diagnosis outnumber those among gay men.
Martin Raymond of the
Health Education Board for Scotland said there were
several projects about to be introduced that would tackle the growing
problem of sexually transmitted diseases.
He said: 'We have projects
in the pipeline for this summer to tackle
attitudes towards sex tourism to south east Asia where many people pick up
serious sexually transmitted infections every year. Within the next two
weeks we will also be bringing out a website aimed at young adults that will
give them links to sexual health resources in their local area.'
Hebs has also been running
an information campaign in pub and club toilets,
aimed at adults in their 20s and 30s. 'We have had good results from that
-- they are a high-risk group who we know indulge in opportunistic sex which
has a strong link with alcohol. In the toilet of a club they will have
access to condoms.'
Raymond agreed that information alone was not the solution to rising numbers of people who are infected with a sexually transmitted disease.
'We are always concerned
that once you make people aware you must have
proper resources for help and follow up. The website we are launching for
young adults who are in the right age group to be considering sexual
activity will be useful because it will show them how to contact resources
locally. But really I think the area of sexual health is something people
of all ages should pay attention to.'
Experts including Young and Winter agree that cases of gonorrhoea are higher in areas that are socially and economically deprived, making Glasgow a prime site for more research into patterns of infection of the disease.
Growing numbers of the
infections are also appearing in Aberdeen, Tayside,
Grampian and Lothian regions.
The Western Isles, Shetland
and Orkney, the Borders and Dumfries and
Galloway lack the clinics and consultants who specialise in detecting the
infection, a cause for concern for Winter. 'The Executive seems to be
sidestepping the issue at a time when action is needed,' he said.
Older Americans Make up the New Face of HIV-AIDS, Experts Say
The following
brief news article highlights the importance of not assuming
that just because a client/punter is grey and old he is not a risk of HIV
or
another STI - use a condoms with all clients at all times!
Older Americans
Make up the New Face of HIV-AIDS, Experts Say
Saturday, May 11, 2002
http://foxnews.com/story/0,2933,52527,00.html
WASHINGTON - Newly divorced
after 23 years of marriage, Jane P. Fowler was
hesitant to re-enter the dating scene. When the then 50-year-old woman
finally began seeing someone, it was a man she had known for years - a man
she now believes infected her with the AIDS virus.
"I had no idea what was out there," said the Kansas City, Mo., woman. "I was an older woman. I did not have to worry about becoming pregnant."
Fowler, now 67, is part
of the new face of HIV - which increasingly is
heterosexual, older and grayer.
"Women after menopause
are not going to use condoms because they're not
afraid of getting pregnant anymore. Viagra is spreading like chewing gum.
Usually, medical providers don't even ask about their sexual life," said
Monica Dea, a coordinator with the Center for AIDS Prevention and Studies
at the University of California, San Francisco. "These people are continually
getting infected."
While there is no nationwide
system that tracks HIV infections, the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention says that among Americans who have AIDS,
the percentage who are over age 50 rose steadily in the 1990s.
It has concerned government
officials enough that they are now collecting
data to assess the situation.
"It is an area we
want to be concerned about," said Robert Janssen, director of the CDC's
Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention. "Potentially there is a risk
of there being increases in new infections in older people."
Fowler and others complain
that the government's prevention efforts rarely
target older Americans. Posters and campaigns do not usually feature an
older face, and doctors sometimes discourage the elderly when they question
whether they should be tested, advocates say.
"One of our biggest
problems is getting clinicians to take sexual histories
of older people," Fowler said. "This is something we have to change.
People
my age, they'll ask me what an 'STD' (sexually transmitted disease) is. They
think 'VD.' We were the venereal disease generation. We have to get
everybody thinking about that."
Activists are also concerned
that little testing has been done to see if
there is any adverse reaction between HIV/AIDS medication and traditional
aging drugs. "All of the drug trials were done on younger people,"
said Jim
Campbell of Boston, the board chairman for the National Association on HIV
Over 50.
One reason for the neglect,
many say, is Americans' attitudes toward older
people and sex.
"We're a youth oriented
culture," Campbell said. "We don't like to think of
our parents or our grandparents having sex."
But studies show many older Americans maintain active sex lives.
A 1999 AARP survey found
that more than half of men and women age 45 to 59
reported that they had sex once a week or more. One in four men and women
over the age of 75 said they too had sex at least once a week.
"We must all protect
ourselves," said Fowler, who has formed a group called
HIV Wisdom for Older Women. "We have to get past this that older people
aren't part of this equation because older people don't have sex."
GMB Sex Industry Branch Meeting
Wednesday 15 May 6pm
GMB 152 Brent Street Hendon London NW4
All members welcome.
Those who would like to join can do so at the meeting.
Sex Industry workers (sex workers and support staff, e.g. project workers)
full-time £1.95 a week; part-time workers 99p a week. Those who do not
work in the industry but would like to join in solidarity (no right to vote)
99p a week.
I have also been approached by the person working on the next edition of Respect,
the journal for the International Union of Sex Workers, who would like some
editorial content from male sex workers. If any of you have any reflective
thoughts on your work, want to share experiences or information, or just have
something to say, please email to me
and I will forward to the editor.
Hilary, UK - NSWP
Linked to this, if anyone wants to win a £50 Harvey Nichols voucher, that's the prize for the best review of the WMP website received by the 25th May.
Log onto the site (www.wmplondon.org.uk) and check it out, then write a review and let us know what you think! Say what's good, what's bad and where you would like to see more information. If you want to write any new sections for the site, information on working safely or how to deal with difficult punters, etc, these are also always welcomed. Email your review to me at this address by the 25th. All entries will be judged by our web designer and technical support person, and the best review wins the prize of the vouchers and get's their review published in Respect!
So, start surfing and get reviewing!!!
Justin
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