Soaring for New Heights

The READ Rolls on Arkansas

The READ will be stepped off at The New Six Ten last Friday evening and the
resounding enthusiasm and congratulatory spirit was electric. "I'm so excited about this launch and the turn out for it." said Editorial Director Tonya Estell. She continued, " we put a lot of work into this as well as tried to cover as much of the community as possible. I hope that moving forward we will continue to get the support of everyone." 

This new venture was an outgrowth of community assessments and other dialog that expressed a need for a "community newspaper," that would be LGBTQ focused and driven. Consequently LA Corp Publishing an off shoot of community based organization, The Living Affected Corporation made the decision to add the periodical as another publishing effort in its catalog of published items that included Arkansas's first LGBTQ health journal, Omnibus in 2012.

After numerous rough drafts and other minor set backs, the staff went into overdrive trying to get every possible angel covered while serving advertising interest. To date the newspaper has secured significant sponsorship from I-30 Liquor and additional ad support from the Human Right Campaign, The New 610 Lounge, Inz & Outtz and Body Clinic Little Rock.

The staff further reported that this version of the newspaper grew to a 20 pager featuring local entertainer spotlights, gossip column, human interest stories and community resources. Advertising rates and information can be obtained from calling 501.379-8203 or reaching out to info@livingaffected.org  An online version of the publication will be scaling up with some possible exclusive coverage that ay not appear in the hard copy. Check out the site at www.theread.net and stay tuned to COP 24/7 for all the updates.

Mid South Conference Announces Agenda


The 2014 Saving Ourselves Symposium, Thursday, June 5 and Friday, June 6 will be the Black Gay Men’s Technical Assistance Meeting. The technical assistance workshops are designed for traditional and non-traditional stakeholders working with Black Gay Men in a effort to improve their overall health outcomes.  Workshops include topics such as Culture Sensitivity, Faith & Black Gay Men, Bio-medical Prevention,  Mental Health, Exploring Sub-cultures and Building Rapport with Black Gay Men, to name a few. 

Plenary discussions during the 2014 Saving Ourselves Symposium will be hosted by Young Black Gay Men's Leadership Initiative, AVAC, Intimacy & Colour and Gilead Sciences. SpeakOut will be the topic for the Twitter Town Hall Meeting on Friday night, June 6, 2014.  SpeakOut will convey the need for black gay/bi-sexual and same gender loving men to speak out about their relationships, their health and for their communities in the South.  This discussion will be interactive by using #SpeakOut on twitter.

Saturday morning will involve community level workshops on topics such as PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis), Finance Management, Interpersonal Relationships, Spirituality and Sexuality,  Self-Care, Social Media Activism  and Leading with Passion.  Schedule of events available here.

Sponsors for the 2014 Saving Ourselves Symposium are Gilead Sciences, Southland Park Gaming and Racing, Tennessee AETC, James Anderson Lester, King Rose Consulting, Young Black Gay Men's Leadership Initiative,  Positively Aware, Family Safety Center, WellsConsulting Events and Graphics, Dr. LaShunda Thompson, Studio1524 Salon Luxury Furniture and iSmile Family Dentistry, Inc.  and the Human Rights Campaign. Sponsorship opportunities and vendor space is still available. Contact trdfmemphis@gmail.com to request information.

 

Affordable Care Act: From Coverage to Care

The Living Affected Corporation was a successful entity serving as an access point to directly educate and enroll individuals in the program. Uniquely LA Corp was the only African American-LGBTQ owned and operated agency to be awarded such a service contract in Arkansas. The agency was required to serve a target of 2800 individuals throughout a seven county area. Coupling educating and enrolling participants also allowed the agency to further serve its client base around sexual health disparities and community capacity building.

Although open enrollment has concluded, the group continues to follow up, educate and assist individuals who have encountered problems or challenges. With updates continuing to be forwarded the company has been instrumental in disbursing the latest information and or interactive portals for those seeking more information. The group would like to share the following:

Interactive Webinars on the Health Care Law

The HHS Partnership Center has updated webinars on the health care law for faith and community leaders. All webinars are open to the public and include a question and answer session.
To participate in one of the webinars, please select your preferred topic from the list below and submit the necessary information. Please click on the title of the webinar and fill out the registration form. After registering you will receive an e-mail confirmation containing information about joining the webinar. Please contact us at ACA101@hhs.gov if you have problems registering or if you have any questions about the health care law. All webinars are one hour.

Special Enrollment Periods and Resources for the Uninsured

Thursday, May 29 at 1 p.m. ET

(Noon CT, 11 a.m. MT, 10 a.m. PT)

To Join By Phone Only, Dial 1-646-307-1706, Access Code: 564-494-667

For those joining by phone only, the Pin Number is the # key.

The health care law has created special enrollment periods for those who experience special circumstances such as graduating from college and losing health insurance, getting married and needing coverage for a spouse, losing employer insurance or turning 26 and losing coverage on a parent’s health plan. Join this webinar to learn more about special enrollment periods and how to enroll in the Health Insurance Marketplace. For those who are uninsured and don’t qualify for the special enrollment period, learn what resources are available and when and how to enroll in the Health Insurance Marketplace. Please email ACA101@hhs.gov by May 29 at 10 a.m. ET with any questions.
 

Got Coverage? Next Steps in Using Your Health Insurance

Wednesday, June 4 at 2 p.m. ET

 (1 p.m. CT, Noon MT, 11 a.m. PT)

To Join By Phone Only, Dial: 1-415-655-0057, Access Code: 141-203-101

For those joining by phone only, the Pin Number is the # key.

Many people now have health insurance but may not know how to use it. This webinar and conference call will discuss how to read your insurance card, how to find a doctor, what you need to know in making an appointment and what to do in case you have a health emergency. Key terms will be discussed as well as recommended health screenings. Please send your questions to ACA101@hhs.gov prior to June 4 at Noon ET.

Raising Awareness of The Living Affected

Save the Date!! 

You do not want to miss this fabulous event that will set a new stage of communication excellence in Arkansas!

call us at 379-8203 for more information or hit us up info@livingaffected.org

 

 

New Guidelines Strengthen HIV Screening and Prevention for Women

May 14, 2014 • 0 comments • By Ronald Valdiserri, M.D., M.P.H., Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health, Infectious Diseases, and Director, Office of HIV/AIDS and Infectious Disease Policy, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Dr. Ronald Valdiserri

During this week’s observance of National Women’s Health Week, I want to highlight some important new guidelines for physicians and other healthcare providers that will help expand and improve HIV screening and prevention services for women in the United States.

ACOG’s HIV Expert Work Group Releases Committee Opinions on HIV in Women

Last month, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG)  released two Committee Opinions on HIV in women: one lowering the recommended age for HIV screening, and one addressing prevention of HIV transmission through pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Representing the considered views of the sponsoring committee based on interpretation of published data in peer-reviewed journals, these two Committee Opinions were developed with the assistance of ACOG’s HIV Expert Work Group and reflect emerging clinical and scientific advances in HIV prevention for women.

 

Lowering the Recommended Age for HIV Screening

Previous ACOG guidelines recommended that HIV testing for women begin at age 19. The College’s updated Committee Opinion, “Routine Human Immunodeficiency Virus Screening ,” now mirrors the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC)  recommendation that all females ages 13 to 64 be tested for HIV at least once in their lifetime and annually thereafter based on factors related to risk. Additionally, new opinion recommends that ob-gyne doctors annually review their patients’ risk factors for HIV and assess their need for testing, and that women found to be HIV-positive receive or be referred for appropriate clinical and supportive care.

 

The updated Committee Opinion is an important step toward achieving the goals of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, which calls upon us to identify everyone in the United States who is infected with HIV so that we can get them into care. In the United States, there are approximately 200,000 people who are living with HIV who haven’t been diagnosed and are thus unable to take advantage of life-extending HIV care. Obstetricians and gynecologists provide primary and preventive care to their patients, and are often the only healthcare professionals that women see regularly. Thus, they are ideally suited to play an important role in identifying women who are HIV positive and linking them into HIV care as soon as possible.

 

Addressing HIV Prevention through PrEP

ACOG’s second Committee Opinion, “Pre-exposure Prophylaxis for the Prevention of Human Immunodeficiency Virus,”  addresses the use of PrEP in combination with other proven HIV prevention methods as a useful HIV prevention strategy for women at the highest risk for becoming infected with HIV. PrEP, the once-daily dose of antiretroviral medications to HIV-negative individuals who are at very high risk of becoming infected, has been proven to be an effective biomedical intervention for reducing the risk of HIV acquisition among adult men and women at very high risk for HIV infection through sex or injecting drug use. The CDC has recommended PrEP for adults at high risk of HIV infection and for people who use injection drugs as part of a comprehensive HIV-prevention strategy.

 

ACOG’s new Committee Opinion states that potential candidates for PrEP are HIV-negative women who have a male sexual partner who is HIV positive and/or women who engage in sexual activity within a high HIV-prevalence area or social network, and who have one or more of the following risk factors:

• Inconsistent or no condom use;
• Diagnosis of sexually transmitted infections;
• Engagement in transactional sex (i.e, sex for money, drugs, or other forms of payment);
• Use of intravenous drugs or alcohol dependence or both; and/or
• Partners of unknown HIV status with any of the factors previously listed.

The Committee Opinion also recommends that ob-gyn doctors involved in the care of women using PrEP reinforce the importance of adhering to the daily anti-viral medication regimen and that physicians remain aware of new developments in this area as guidance for PrEP is likely to evolve in the coming years. Indeed, the U.S. Public Health Service guidelines on PrEP are expected to be released later this summer.

Quality Family Planning Services Recommended by CDC and HHS Office of Population Affairs

Also noteworthy, last month, CDC and the HHS Office of Population Affairs released updated, evidence-informed guidelines for the delivery of family planning services. The guidelines, Providing Quality Family Planning Services: Recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the US Office of Population Affairs, were published as a CDC MMWR Recommendations and Reports [PDF 1.18MB]. The primary audience for this report is all current or potential providers of family planning services, including those working in service sites that are dedicated to family planning service delivery, such as those funded by the Title X program, as well as private and public providers of more comprehensive primary care. The recommendations outline how to provide quality family planning services, which include contraceptive services, pregnancy testing and counseling, helping clients achieve pregnancy, basic infertility services, preconception health services, and sexually transmitted disease services.

 

The family planning guidelines integrate clinical recommendations from a number of federal sources and professional medical associations and include important HIV, STD (sexually transmitted diseases) and viral hepatitis recommendations. Specifically, the updated family planning guidelines recommend that providers conduct routine, opt-out HIV screening for both male and female clients, in accordance with CDC’s HIV testing guidelines. They also recommend that when counseling clients about contraceptive methods, providers should address the importance of consistent and correct condom use in providing protection from STDs, including HIV.

 

The guidelines also incorporate important viral hepatitis prevention and screening recommendations for providers. Vaccination for hepatitis B is included among the STD services and preconception care detailed in the new guidelines. CDC and OPA recommend that hepatitis B vaccination should be offered to all unvaccinated children and adolescents under 19 years old and all adults who are unvaccinated and do not have any documented history of hepatitis B infection. In addition, the new family planning recommendations incorporate the CDC and USPSTF recommendations for screening persons at high risk for infection for hepatitis C and one-time screening for HCV infection for persons in the 1945–1965 birth cohort.

 

These new guidelines, coupled with the Affordable Care Act’s expanded coverage for clinical preventive services – which includes coverage for HIV screening for sexually active women as well as hepatitis B screening for pregnant women at their first prenatal visit – will help realize the promise of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy for women in the United States.

- See more at: http://blog.aids.gov/2014/05/new-guidelines-strengthen-hiv-screening-and-prevention-for-women.html#sthash.jBcWB5wK.dpuf

Streaming Upward and Forward

SAVE THE DATE
For these Important area events!

For More Information call 379-8203

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rolling in the Living Affected

LA Corp Publishing Wing Produces New Paper
Community dialog and concerns have been the subject of numerous meetings, workshops or round
table discussions. Among the most talked about "need" for the LGBTQ community was the desire for a local newspaper dedicated to addressing challenges and issues impacting gay Arkansans. That void is being filled with the launch of The READ  which will began circulating its premier first edition Friday, March 28.

Cornelius Mabin, Executive Producer of the long running online blog, CorneliusOnpoint,(www.corneliusonpoint.blogspot.com) commonly referred to as COP 24/7  has been tapped as Managing Editor of the periodical. The paper will feature an assortment of hard news, columns, community announcements and "infotainment," to offer the widest possible coverage across Arkansas and the mid-south.

Mabin stated, "for some time I kept hearing that if we "only" had a newspaper...and so now that we now have it, I'm hoping that it will do its part in keeping everyone informed or entertained in some way. Our first run of 1000 copies will set the tone of how we move forward." He concluded, "we have capacity to build what ever we want if we can find common ground, as well as mutual perspectives to do so. At this time we are preparing to publish monthly depending on our success metrics."

Currently the roster of contributors include Tonya Estell, Sara Strickland, Terrene Sain, Michael Henderson, Mikaltodd Wilson and Keith Jones among others who will be apart of the team producing the monthly tabloid. "I'm very proud of our first edition and looking forward to getting this out into the area," said Tonya Estell. "It almost surreal that we brainstormed at a kitchen table and then made it happen!" Other's interested in submitting content contributions should contact Tonya Estell at tonya.estell@gmail.com

Under the LA Corp Publishing banner, The READ is the latest publication produced by The Living Affected Corporation. The entity has produced two periodicals included the ground breaking "Our Lives, Our Stories, The Untold Stories of Women with AIDS," and the first LGBTQ health Journal, Omnibus. "I'm excited about this new venture" said, Publisher, Diedra Levi. "Not having a local paper was a missing link that needed to be done based on the conversations that I was apart of. Therefore we moved ahead to make it a reality with high hopes that we get enthusiastic support from advertisers and contributors throughout the community."  The next expanded issue is scheduled for a May 2014 release.

COP 24/7 will be cross pollinating both its digital platform in conjunction with the new monthly piece. An official The Read launch party planning is underway and will be announced across all online portals. The new publication has affordable advertising rates for both color or black and white. Also individuals can support through various levels from Patron at $25 to the World Changer level at the $10,000 or more benchmark. For more information call Melina Granger, 501-349-7776 or 877-902-7448.

Observing LGBT Health Awareness Week

statement by HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius

LGBT Health Awareness Week is an important time to bring attention to the unique health needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Americans and to highlight the progress we’ve made in our work to ensure LGBT Americans have the same rights and protections as other Americans, especially through implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

It’s critical for the LGBT community and all Americans to remember that Monday, March 31 is the last day of open enrollment and those who miss out can’t get covered through the Marketplace until 2015.

Access to affordable care has long been an obstacle to good health and financial security for the LGBT community and all Americans. On average, LGBT Americans suffer from higher rates of cancer, obesity, HIV/AIDS and mental illness than the rest of the nation. For those with chronic conditions such as HIV/AIDS, dollar caps on annual and lifetime coverage meant astronomical bills and debt for many in the community.

But thanks to the Affordable Care Act, it is a new day. Lifetime and annual dollar caps are a thing of the past and no one can be denied coverage based on their health history.
Legally married couples are treated equally when it comes to coverage or financial assistance, no matter who they are married to. And, for the first time, Marketplace coverage is now affordable for the LGBT community and Americans all over the country.
Remember: Monday, March 31 is the last day of enrollment – that’s only five days left to get everyone covered who still needs it.

This Administration is committed to improving the health of all Americans, including LGBT Americans, and we look forward to continuing this work during LGBT Health Awareness Week and beyond.

Keping the Living Affected Flame Burning

President Obama Announces Douglas M. Brooks, MSW, as Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy

 President Obama announced the appointment of Douglas M. Brooks, MSW, as the Director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP). A leading HIV/AIDS policy expert, Douglas most recently served as Senior Vice President for Community, Health, and Public Policy at the
Justice Resource Institute (JRI).  As the Director of ONAP, he will lead the Administration’s work to reduce new HIV infections, improve health outcomes for people living with HIV, and eliminate HIV health disparities in the United States.

“Douglas’s policy expertise combined with his extensive experience working in the community makes him uniquely suited to the task of helping to achieve the goal of an AIDS-free generation, which is within our reach,” President Obama said.  “I look forward to having him lead our efforts from the White House.”

A component of the White House Domestic Policy Council, ONAP coordinates the ongoing implementation of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy  and the HIV Care Continuum initiative, while working together with public and private partners to advance the federal response to HIV/AIDS. ONAP also works with the White House National Security Council,  the State Department’s Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator, and international bodies to ensure that America’s response to the global pandemic is fully integrated with prevention, care, and treatment efforts around the world. Through the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) initiative, the U.S. has made enormous progress in responding to the global HIV/AIDS pandemic, working with countries heavily impacted by HIV/AIDS to help expand access to treatment, care, and prevention.

Brooks, a person living with HIV, was most recently the Senior Vice President for Community, Health, and Public Policy at JRI , a health and human service agency based in Boston. He served as executive director of the Sidney Borum Jr. Community Health Center at JRI, has managed programs in urban and rural environments and has served as a consultant to domestic and international governments and non-governmental organizations assisting their efforts  to serve populations living with and at greatest risk for HIV/AIDS. Brooks was a Visiting Fellow at the McCormack School Center for Social Policy at the University of Massachusetts, Boston and was Chair of the Board of Trustees of AIDS United in Washington, DC.

In 2010, Brooks was appointed to the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) and served as its liaison to the CDC/HRSA Advisory Committee and successfully led those bodies to achieve the tasks assigned to them in the National HIV/AIDS Strategy .  He has directly managed federally funded programs, meeting or exceeding targets for Ryan White projects, CDC Prevention for African American/Black youth, a HRSA Special Project of National Significance (SPNS), and a HOPWA SPNS. Brooks received a Master of Social Work degree from Boston University and is a licensed clinical social worker.

 

Seeking New Horizons

Empowering Entrepreneurs

by Casey Halter

How an HIV intervention grew into a microenterprise.

 

When Vanessa Johnson was diagnosed with HIV in 1990, she did not come across a lot of stories of African Americans like herself living with the virus. “I knew there were other women out there, but they just wouldn’t come out,” she says. So Johnson worked to change that. Living in Albany, New

As she worked in the field, Johnson observed that when women finally did come out to talk about their history, they didn’t talk about HIV specifically. Instead, she recalls, “when women told their stories, they talked about their childhood.

And just like me, they suffered a lot of trauma in the form of abuse. I thought about it intuitively and was like, ‘This is a common thread.’”

Thus, in 2007 she launched Common Threads, what is now a five-day, small-group training session that she offers around the country. It’s designed to help HIV-positive women connect the dots between their life experiences and their positive status and then to increase their willingness to tell their stories and disclose their status to their families, friends and communities. It’s storytelling as a means for disclosure, self-empowerment, HIV prevention and activism.

When an HIV-positive woman is faced with the stigma, shame, fear and misunderstanding of her diagnosis, one of the most difficult, yet most empowering things she can find is her own voice, says Johnson, who now lives in Washington, DC, and whose main job is consulting for AIDS services organizations including governmental agencies and faith-based groups through the Ribbon Consulting Group, which she founded.

Whenever possible, Johnson takes the Common Threads sessions, funded in the beginning by the U.S. Office on Women’s Health, on the road to budding activists living with the virus. Participants must be on HIV treatment and involved in an AIDS service organization, which usually helps fund the trainings. To date, more than 100 women across the United States have graduated from Johnson’s program, ranging from Washington, DC, and New York City to the states of Louisiana and South Carolina.

In 2012, funding ran out, leaving the program and its graduates, who also require money to support their travel and outreach, in dire straits. But the empowered women devised a way to help fund themselves and their healthy lifestyles: by launching microenterprises in which they make and sell jewelry and other wares. Today, teaching that business aspect is an integral part of the retreats.

York, at the time, she became an activist dedicated to helping women disclose their positive status and tell their stories. To read more about this project go to www.poz.com

There are 16 days left to get enrolled! Call 379-8203 for updates and information!

 

Soaring to New Heights

We Are Empowered!: Southern Women on Women

Southern Women on Women will be hosting its first recognition of National Women's & Girls HIV AIDS Awareness Day, Saturday March 8, 2014, 12-4, 401 North Maple Street, North Little Rock inside the First Presbyterian Church of Argenta. 
" We are every excited to use this event as our inaugural large scale program." said Tonya E.  She continued, " it our hope that this program will continue to empower women in our service area."

Under the auspices of The Living Affected Corporation, Southern WOW was designed as outlet for "women who love women," to come together to share their lived experiences and address some the challenges and barriers that exist. Currently the group has scheduled small group "coffee and conversation," meetings as well as bi-weekly "girls night out" meet ups.  Melina G, "We are concern with numerous issues such as violence, economic injustice and certainly how HIV has and is still affecting women, especially women of color communities."

Of the more than 1.1 million people living with HIV in the U.S. today, one in four is a woman. Women of color have been especially hard hit, accounting for the majority of new infections occurring among women in the U.S. There has been some good news when it comes to women and HIV in the U.S. with a reported significant 21% decrease in new infections among American women in recent years.

National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (March 10) is coordinated by the Office on Women’s Health (OWH), within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, alongside many organizations that play a critical role in the observance in communities across the nation. Greater Than AIDS is proud to support the efforts our partners across the nation in the outreach efforts on this day by making available free informational and promotional materials for community groups to use around awareness days. Items for National Women and Girl’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Day are free, for download, or for low cost from vendors.

To help engage and reach women year-round, Greater Than AIDS also offers Empowered, a campaign developed with Alicia Keys that affirms the power of women — as mothers, daughters, sisters, friends, partners and people living with HIV – to change the course of this disease through every day actions. The cross-platform campaign includes public service ads (PSAs), social media promotions, informational materials, and more. “We Are Empowered,” an inspiring half-hour video of Ms. Keys in conversation with five women living with HIV, is available for community screenings and discussion. For more information on Southern WOW, call 501.379-8203 or check out their Facebook page.

Don't forget that you can still enroll until March 31, 2014! Call us at 349-7777 to schedule a educational outreach or enrollment event! We are here to serve the LGBTQI community and beyond!
Hit us up on Facebook or www.livingaffected.org

 

Keeping it Real and Living Affected

National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day March 10

National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day is a nationwide observance that sheds light on the disease's impact on women and girls.

Every year on March 10, and throughout the month of March, thousands of people, advocacy organizations, and local and state public health officials host events and share facts about HIV/AIDS. This year's theme is "Share Knowledge. Take Action."

Southern WOW ( Women on Women) as a program of The Living Affected Corporation will be hosting Super Sistah Saturday, March 8, 12-4 at First Presbyterian Church, 401 North Maple Street in North Little Rock.

The event will feature area speakers on relevant women's topics, Zumba presentation, shopping, and free food. For more details and or sponsorship information contact 501.379-8203, check out their Facebook page or email at: info@livingaffected.org  Please enjoy the following posting and You are invited to:

 

LEARN

SPREAD THE WORD

JOIN

• Learn about National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day and HIV/AIDS
• Spread the word
• Join our partners at events around the country
• Read about the 2014 ambassadors

HIV/AIDS is a serious public health issue for women and girls. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1.1 million people in the United States are living with HIV. Of those people, one in four (25%) is a woman 13 or older. Approximately 27,000 women have HIV but do not know they have the disease. Together we can:

• Encourage women and girls to get tested and know their status
• Help decrease the number of women who are HIV-positive
• Increase awareness of safe practices to prevent HIV infection
• Help people become aware of the levels of care and treatment

  

Trending The Living Affected

President Obama to launch major new effort to help young men of color

by Z.A. Goldfarb

President Obama will launch a significant new effort this week to bolster the lives of young men of color, seeking to use the power of the presidency to help a group of Americans whose lives are disproportionately affected by poverty and prison.

Obama on Thursday will announce a new White House initiative called “My Brother’s Keeper,” which will bring foundations and companies together to test a range of strategies across the country to support young male minorities, taking steps to keep them in school and out of the criminal justice system, a White House official said. He will also announce that his administration will launch a more vigorous evaluation of what policies work best and publicize results to school systems and others across the country.

The effort will seek “to make sure that every young man of color who is willing to work hard and lift himself up has an opportunity to get ahead and reach his full potential,” the White House official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity ahead of the announcement. “The initiative will be focused on implementing strategies that are proven to get results.”
Obama promised to launch a new project focused on young men of color in one line — widely overlooked — during his State of the Union address last month.

His focus on a relatively narrow demographic group is unusual for a president who usually stresses how his policies affect large swaths of the American public. It also comes after the first African American president has faced repeated criticism from those who say he is failing to pay enough attention to this group of Americans.

But the announcement of the initiative is just the latest way that Obama, in his second term, has been addressing race and the fortunes of urban youth more directly. Last month, Obama and his wife, Michelle, hosted a forum at the White House to persuade colleges to recruit more low-income Americans. And last year, the Justice Department overhauled drug-sentencing guidelines so that low-level and nonviolent offenders do not face stiff minimum sentences. (check out www.washingtonpost.com for video and complete article.)

Save the Date for Renegades for a Cause Equality Event!

When Is It Enough: The Call to Action part 1

Call to Action: This Is About US, Being About the Business of US

February 7, 2014 - I am my brother's and sister's keeper. That's the theme of the 14th annual National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, and we of the Living Affected Corporation want you to take this call seriously.

 

African Americans are disproportionately represented in new infection rates of HIV and often have National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day in an effort to highlight the importance of Black LGBT leadership at the forefront of our fight against the epidemic if we ever hope to see an AIDS-free generation.  

 

In our research we often fine that despite the impact HIV and AIDS is having in communities of color there are still often to few resources to treat the virus when they learn they have the virus. Our agency was instrumental as well as at the forefront of pushing forward Arkansas' Jurisdictional Plan which outlines how this state will use its federal dollars in implementing high impact HIV/AIDS interventions.

Through our publishing efforts we have produced the first LGBT focused health journal, periodical highlighting the disease among women and created a ongoing local resource guide with the updated service providers and assistance. Yet we are alarmed and despondent that people in the Black LGBT community continue to face stigma, homophobia and isolation if they come out about their status.

Even more alarming is the fact that this agency is the sole entity which has taken a dedicated track to deal with the issues and challenges within the Black gay community. Since our existence we have struggled with getting the deserved respect for our efforts not only within the confines of public health but much of the Black community who has all but placated the situation with lip service and tepid responses that warrant the ultimate question: when is the senseless dying ever going to be enough?  The Living Affected Corporation observes:

 

Know The Facts:

• While Black people represent approximately 14 percent of the total U.S. population, they accounted for almost half (44 percent) of all new HIV infections in 2010 (20,900) and represent half of all people living with HIV, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). 
• Approximately one in 16 black men will be diagnosed with HIV during their lifetime, as will one in 32 black women. Nationally, 25 percent of new infections are in Black and Hispanic men on average (CDC).
• The Black AIDS Institute reported in 2012 that Black men who have sex with men (MSM) make up nearly one in four new HIV infections in the United States and one in six Americans living with HIV. 
• In the National Transgender Discrimination Study (NTDS) published in 2011, over one-fifth of Black respondents were HIV-positive (20.23%) and an additional 10% reported that they did not know their status. 

Be Your Brother and Sister's Keeper.

 

Take Action:

• Get tested for HIV every six (6) months. Need help finding somewhere to get tested? Visit www.hivtest.org to find testing services in our local community.
• If you are HIV positive, find a provider you can trust and develop a treatment plan in order to take control of your health. Click here to find a list of providers in our community. 
• Know your healthcare options. If do not have health insurance, visit healthcare.gov and learn about the new health exchanges available to you through the Affordable Care Act.  Call us at 501.379-8203 for Free HIV testing and direct health care enrollment assistance.

Black History Month 2014

I Am My Brother's and Sister's Keeper: Fight AIDS!!
By Gina Brown, Program Manager, AIDS United

“I Am My Brother’s and Sister’s Keeper. Fight HIV/AIDS!” This is the 2014 theme for National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day was first observed in
1999, and since then, advocates, allies and people living with HIV/AIDS in the Black community have worked hard to be “Our Brother’s and Sister’s Keeper”. We’ve organized, united, strategized, articulated and advocated for the need to be our brother’s and sister’s keeper, as we remain dedicated to fighting HIV/AIDS in the Black community.

HIV/AIDS continues to disproportionately affect Black America. Currently, three in five Black Americans know someone living with or who has died from HIV/AIDS. Although we account for less than 14% of the U.S. population, Black America represented 44% of all new HIV infections in 2010, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Men who have sex with Men (MSM) remain the group most heavily affected by HIV, while young Black MSM continue to account for more than half of new infections among young MSM. The CDC reports a 21% decline in new HIV infections among women overall, however the new data shows that black women continue to be far more affected by HIV than women of other races/ethnicities. Of all the women living with HIV in the United States, approximately 66% are African American.

According to the Southern AIDS Strategy Initiative (SASI), in 2010, 46% of all new diagnosis of HIV infection occurred in the South. Compared to other regions, a higher percentage of diagnoses in the South were among women (23.8%), Blacks/African Americans (57.2%). With numbers this high, it is crucial to expand Medicaid in the South, since Medicaid Expansion would allow greater access to care and treatment for HIV positive individuals.

What does it mean to be “Our Brother’s and Sister’s Keeper?” One way this can be interpreted is that a sister or brother takes responsibility for the others behavior. It means taking care of them and not ignoring their problem, it also means being concerned with someone else besides you. You keep him or her from harm. As a woman living with HIV, the way I do my sisterly duty is by speaking for those women who have yet to find their voices. I take this charge seriously because I AM my Sister’s Keeper!

So looking forward, how do we take greater responsibility for one another in the Black community, as we recommit to ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic? First, EVERY Black American must know his or her HIV status.

Second, every person who tests HIV positive must have access and be linked to care, which helps to improve their health outcomes.

Third, partners and allies must work to ensure that all groups and individuals who are challenged by social determinants work to keep the Black community within reach of access to opportunities that limit poverty and social exclusion.

This focus is critical as we work together to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Since its inception, National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day provides a heightened opportunity for Black Americans to come together for education, testing, involvement and treatment, if necessary.

As our Brother’s and Sister’s Keeper in the Black community, on this National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, we are dedicated to ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic in America.

Keeping it Real and Out Loud

NAACP Partners Around HIV and AIDS

The NAACP and its partner, Gilead Sciences, announced a Clinton Global Initiative Commitment to Action to expand the unique program, The Black Church and HIV: The Social Justice Imperative, to reach 30 cities across the U.S. that comprise nearly two-thirds of the nation’s HIV epidemic.

African Americans continue to be the hardest hit by HIV. If Black America were its own country, it would rank 16th in the world in the number of people living with HIV — ahead of Ethiopia, Botswana, and Haiti.
The great poet Maya Angelou aptly captured the urgency to address the epidemic when she said:

"It's just a devastating dragon breathing flame that burns out whole neighborhoods, whole families."

The Black Church is the cornerstone of our community, and faith leaders will be the catalyst for social justice.  The conversation about HIV/AIDS must begin at the pulpit and reach the pew to underscore the prevalence of this disease. We have new tools and resources available to engage our community. The NAACP’s initiative, The Black Church and HIV: The Social Justice Imperative, draws upon the institutions already established in the community, using the power of the church in Black communities to fight the HIV epidemic.

Rev. Keron R. Sadler, serves as the NAACP National Health Program Manager (pictured)

The NAACP and pastors across the country have started the fight. One conversation at a time, we are changing the story of HIV in the Black community. Let’s observe World AIDS Day by having that conversation today. End the social injustices, combat the HIV epidemic and ensure that future generations of Black Americans grow up HIV-free.

 For the past 25 years, World AIDS Day has commemorated the lives of more than 35 million people who have died from the disease worldwide. Here in the United States, World AIDS Day raises awareness about the epidemic at home, where more than 1.1 million Americans are living with HIV.
The Living Affected Corporation commemorated the day with a community activity citing partners, service providers and agency volunteers who helped make a difference.

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The 2014 King Post

The Living Affected Corporation commemorates the iconic life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King for his dedication to be a force for change. His ideals, visions and non-violence approach to disrupt a segregationist system and gripping poverty across America continues to resonate in 2014 as our agency shares his passion to continue his work in dismantling social determinant barriers within  housing, education, food, treatment and employment in marginalized communities.

On this day of service we encourage individuals to consider volunteer opportunities with our organization or share your treasure in support of our programming such as policy educational outreach, HIV testing, youth assessments, Southern Women on Women initiative, STRILITE support group for gay men and HIV/AIDS Criminalization project. Thank you Dr. King for being a beacon for social justice in our country as well as demanding that we fully realize that we too are our brothers and sisters keepers then and now. In your honor we will keep on dreaming!!

Living Affected in New Frontiers

Business Card-Sized Chip Diagnoses HIV and T-Cell Counts

 

You're looking what could become the next frontier in global health and medicine across the developing world: A credit-card sized "microfluidic" biochip that scans blood to detect HIV and accurate T-cell counts.

 

The test takes less than 20 minutes and costs about ten dollars, according to new research from scientists at the University of Illinois and Daktari Diagnostics.

The chip is designed to work in a battery-powered handheld device that would “deliver simple HIV diagnostics to patients anywhere in the world, regardless of geography or socioeconomic status,” the researchers say in the paper.

The chip, developed by researchers at the University of Illinois and Daktari Diagnostics, is enclosed in a small chamber. Because cells block electric current, passing a current through a tiny microfluidic pore causes the cells to essentially announce their size and shape. That’s enough to identify the cell by type, so the test can count CD4 and CD8 cells, types of T cells that indicate how healthy the patient’s immune system is.

Once in wide use, the reader would cost less than $1,000 and each test would run less than $10, according to project lead Rashid Bashir.

The microfluidic chip could become a tremendous asset in frontier medicine across Sub Saharan Africa. That region is home to about 70 percent of all people living with HIV/AIDS, according to AVERT. Many areas are without electrical power, telephone service, adequate roads, hospitals or clinics ... which severely impacts conventional testing and treatment strategies.

 

Criminalization Laws Fuel Stigma Against People Living with HIV

Always on the grind. My latest article is the first in a series for the Black AIDS Institute on the impact of stigma on HIV prevention and treatment: "Criminalization Laws Fuel Stigma Against People Living with HIV/AIDS."

 

With 32 states and two territories criminalizing exposure to and/or transmission of HIV, the United States leads the world with "thousands of prosecutions," according to the United Nations-backed Global Commission on HIV and the Law. Some states penalize people for having sex without revealing their serostatus—regardless of whether a condom was used, the person's viral load was undetectable or if the virus was transmitted.

 

"There is already a huge stigma associated with being HIV positive—and these laws do not encourage people to get tested and seek treatment," says Robert Suttle, assistant director of the Sero Project, the Washington, D.C.-based advocacy organization fighting HIV criminalization laws nationwide.
Suttle discovered that he was HIV positive while trying to enlist in the Air Force. Later, following the end of a contentious relationship, a former partner filed charges that Suttle never revealed his serostatus—which Suttle says is not true. He was sentenced to six months in prison under the Louisiana law that criminalizes HIV exposure and subsequently was required to register as a sex offender. 

"One of my concerns around the many HIV-criminalization laws is around interpretation," saysKimberly A. Parker, Ph.D., assistant professor of health studies at Texas Woman's University. "Were they on treatment? Did they use condoms? Did they actually disclose? The implication is that whatever you do, you will be criminalized." 

"Criminalization also has a significant impact on a person's ability to seek treatment," says Suttle. "Many people are not aware that they are HIV positive—and that is especially true among Black people and Black gay men." Notably, African Americans make up some 56 percent of "late testers" diagnosed with AIDS within one year of learning they have HIV. "Sometimes we could be prosecuted for something that we didn't know we had," Suttle adds.

Read the full report HERE.

 

A Monday Refresher and Update

Editors Special Report from Medscape

Syphilis Spike in 2012 'Troubling,' CDC Says

Robert Lowes

The number of cases of primary and secondary syphilis in the United States increased 11.1% in 2012 with men — particularly gay and bisexual men —accounting for the spike entirely, according to the latest surveillance report on sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) from the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC).

Published online today, the annual report contains other discouraging news about STDs, as well as a few bright spots. Gonorrhea posted a 4% increase in 2012, most of that among men. In contrast, the number of reported chlamydia cases grew by a mere 0.7% in 2012, the smallest annual increase since nationwide reporting on this STD began. As with syphilis, the rise in chlamydia cases was exclusively a guy thing.

The incidence of congenital syphilis decreased 10% in 2012 to 322 reported cases.
The CDC review concentrates on syphilis, chlamydia, and gonorrhea because other STDs, such as human papillomavirus infection, herpes simplex virus infection, and trichomoniasis, are not routinely reported to the CDC.

In an interview with Medscape Medical News, report coauthor and CDC epidemiologist Eloisa Llata, MD, said that turning STD upswings into downswings depends in part on clinicians adhering to screening recommendations from her agency and the US Preventive Services Task Force. That sometimes means asking questions about changes in a patient's sexual behavior — such as acquiring a new sexual partner.

"These are difficult conversations to have," said Dr. Llata. "It's easier to talk about diabetes. But we have to get past that. Sexual health is just as important to talk about as other aspects of health."

Syphilis and HIV: "A Twin Epidemic"
                   
Dr. Llata stresses that while everyone is at risk of contracting an STD, some groups are at greater risk. For example, men who have sex with men (MSM) account for 75% of all primary and secondary syphilis cases, according to the agency. In 2012, the number of cases in this population increased 15% compared with 4% for men who have sex with women. The total number of primary and secondary syphilis cases in 2012 was 15,667.

The CDC calls the spike in syphilis infections in MSM "troubling," especially because this and other STDs can put an individual at a higher risk of acquiring or transmitting HIV infection.
The syphilis statistics also alarm Brad Stoner, MD, the president of the American Sexually Transmitted Diseases Association.

"It's a worrisome trend," said Dr. Stoner, an associate professor of medicine and anthropology at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri. "The absolute numbers are low, but the rate increase is high. And so many MSM with syphilis also have HIV. It's a twin epidemic."
According to CDC surveillance data collected in several major cities, 4 in 10 MSM with syphilis are infected with HIV as well.

The anxiety about syphilis has been building for years. The rate of primary and secondary syphilis declined by almost 90% from 1990 to 2000 only to rise each year from 2001 to 2009. The number of cases decreased in 2010 and then plateaued in 2011 before resuming an upward trajectory in 2012.
The risk for syphilis varies by race and ethnicity as well as by sex and sexual orientation. The rate of primary and secondary syphilis in blacks was 6 times that in whites in 2012. For blacks and whites aged 15 to 19 years, the difference was 16-fold.

Gonorrhea Gaining Antibiotic Resistance

How do your skills fit in health care?

Hear how alumni found their fit in health care by combining the skills they had with a degree in Health Administration from the University of Phoenix College of Health Sciences and Nursing.

 

For gonorrhea and chlamydia, the most widespread of the 3 STDs examined in the new report, the disease burden falls mostly on adolescents and young adults. Of the 1.4 million cases of chlamydia reported in 2012, 69% occurred in individuals 14 to 24 years of age. Likewise, this age demographic accounted for 58% of the nearly 335,000 cases of gonorrhea.

As with syphilis, Dr. Stoner said the increase in gonorrhea is discouraging.

"The national experience with gonorrhea is that it has plateaued since the mid-1990s and it's been creeping up intermittently since then," Dr. Stoner told Medscape Medical News. "We have another opportunity to do more detection and prevention."

The CDC noted that treating gonorrhea is problematic because antimicrobial resistance has lessened the effectiveness of fluoroquinolones and cefixime. The only treatment that the agency now recommends for gonorrhea is dual therapy with ceftriaxone and either azithromycin or doxycycline. And ceftriaxone could be the next victim of antimicrobial resistance. For more information call The Living Affected Organization at 379-8203. Source: www.medscape.com

Currents and Trending News

Op-ed: Why The CDC’s Latest HIV Report Is So Alarming

And what the CDC is doing to offset high HIV transmission rates among transgender women.

BY Leela Ginelle

A December report by the Centers for Disease Control says that an estimated 27 percent of transgender women are HIV positive, and that HIV prevalence for transgender women is nearly 50 times as high as for other adults.

In a New York City study, more than 90 percent of newly diagnosed trans women were African-American or Latino, and more than half were in their 20s.

But what accounts for these catastrophic numbers?

For one, the behaviors the report lists are like an encyclopedia of oppression and its outcomes, including "drug and alcohol abuse, sex work, incarceration, homelessness, attempted suicide, unemployment, lack of familial support, violence, stigma, and discrimination, limited health care access, and negative health care encounters."

It's a cycle that's been outlined by transgender activist Dean Spade and others: a young trans woman will be kicked out of her home by unaccepting parents, and, because her legal identity is still male, she would be barred by appropriate shelters and services. Experiencing homelessness and societal stigma, employment is often unattainable.

"When trans women aren’t able to find jobs because of direct or indirect discrimination,” Transgender Law Center attorney Sasha Buchert says, “they turn to street economies to feed themselves and to pay for the health care they need, and street work often places trans people at greater risk of contracting HIV and violence, especially for trans women of color who face racism, sexism and transphobia."

Societal prejudice toward trans women is still widespread, affecting access to housing, education and employment. The report notes that trans women are more likely to live in transient housing than other populations, and to be less educated.

The health care system itself can prove unwelcoming. While HIV-positive trans women are as likely to have health care coverage as other HIV-positive people, trans women are less likely to be on antiretroviral therapy. Buchert believes education on the part of care providers could improve this condition.
  
"Social service agencies could help by becoming more competent in working with transgender clients," she says. "Often, rather than enduring the stigmas they face at such places, trans women will simply forego the assistance, and miss the opportunity to check their HIV status or learn tools to reduce the likelihood of obtaining the virus."

This is, in part, because of the way that HIV prevention services are structured, according to Jaxon Mitchell, an HIV Prevention Specialist with the Cascade AIDS Project.

"Historically, HIV prevention and sexual/reproductive health services in general, have been organized by gender,” Mitchell says. “For trans folks, gendered spaces almost always carry social and structural barriers. HIV prevention and testing services geared toward women frequently fall under the greater umbrella of reproductive health, which lacks the cultural competency to attend to the needs of trans women and carries many additional barriers."

In an almost nauseating twist to all this terrible news, it seems that law enforcement is compounding the problems of young transgender women by profiling them as sex workers, and seeing possession of condoms on their part as evidence of criminal activity, rather than precaution against the disease that's crippling their community.
  
This practice, which is being carried out in New York City and elsewhere, contradicts legal precedent, says Buchert.

"This use of condoms as per se evidence of illegal activity has already been struck down by the Supreme Court as a violation of privacy in Griswold v. Connecticut, which involved the use of condoms as evidence to prosecute for using contraception in 1960," Buchert says. “[The practice] is likely a constitutional violation of privacy, and it is an unconscionable public health hazard to use condoms as the basis of evidence of illegal activity. The impact of prosecuting individuals based on possession of a condom can only have a chilling effect the use of protection, and will create a larger public health threat for everyone, and especially for transgender women."

The CDC's report also details a "high-impact prevention approach" to reverse the trends it found. Some of the work begins with providing support to community groups that distribute condoms, conduct HIV testing, and operate referral networks and services. The CDC also announced plans to update the National HIV Surveillance System, the program to which new diagnoses are reported, so that transgender people are better identified within it.

The CDC says it will also award grants to researchers to develop new HIV prevention interventions, like the Life Skills program aimed at trans women aged 16 to 24, and Girlfriends, which targets adult trans women. In addition, the organization gives financial rewards to groups that provide effective HIV prevention to "young transgender people of color and their partners" for more than five years.

Given the CDC's history of ignoring or misclassifying transgender women in its data, however, Mitchell is skeptical about these new programs' likelihood for success.

"For years, transgender women have been misclassified as MSM, or Men Who Have Sex With Men, which has created a situation where trans folks in general have not been counted,” Mitchell says.

The CDC’s funding relies on research, which can create a loop in which trans women are always excluded.

"Without broad research demonstrating what we all know empirically — that HIV infections among trans women, especially trans women of color, are unconscionably high — funding for programs designed to meet trans women’s unique needs will never be a priority."

LEELA GINELLE is the communications and development intern for TransActive Education and Advocacy. Content courtesy of www.advocate.com