Don't get me wrong: As I begin to drag this conversation out of the closet and take it with me to hang out with the boys, I plan on doing so with a healthy amount of self-tanner, copious doses of sarcasm and a shot of tequila every now and then.
We have the tools to curb the HIV/AIDS epidemic, but we continue to stumble in addressing the social and structural determinants that drive new infections. Only by confronting homophobia, racism, sexism and other social inequalities will we be able to fully implement our toolbox.
By some estimates, sexual health for minority teens is looking up. A survey released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in July reveale...
Before I left Chicago, I promised my friend that I would get tested once I got to New York. He said I shouldn't wait any longer. His insistence touched me, though I did wait three more months. My neurotic mind needed all that time to review every sexual encounter I'd ever had.
You have to ask yourself if you are truly committed to combatting stigma. If you aren't, if you want to wield stigma as a weapon to impose your point of view, then you are part of the problem. To stigmatize PrEP or the people who take it will only lead to more HIV infections.
I'm proud to say I spent some of the best years of my life being someone else. For ten years, I played Nandipha Sithole, an HIV-positive character on Isindingo, one of South Africa's most loved television dramas.
At some point in their life, one in 16 African-American men and one in 32 African-American women will receive a diagnosis of HIV. In 2000, Benita Terr...
In its now 31-year history, HIV has never faced the kind of threats to its existence as it has in 2012. From groundbreaking antiretroviral drugs to an...
Each of us can do something right now to help end the epidemic. Get tested, and urge your doctor to adopt HIV testing as a standard of care. Encourage others, especially young people, to get tested, too. Speak out for comprehensive sexual health programming in your schools.
Social stigma, whether it be homophobia in the world at large or HIV-related stigma within the gay community, limits our ability to tackle HIV/AIDS at all levels. This holds particularly true for LGBT Americans. Too often the LGBT community itself has reinforced AIDS-related stigma.
The progress made since those early days in Lesotho -- both here and around the world -- is worth celebrating on this 25th World AIDS Day. This day is a time of hope for the HIV community.
The stigma associated with HIV is only partially to blame. More problematic is the difficulty of reaching the most vulnerable members of the U.S. population who are living with HIV but unaware of their status: racial and ethnic minorities, the poor and disenfranchised, and people who are homeless.
We cannot do it alone, but together we can make an AIDS-free generation a reality. The blueprint is driven by five key principles that are the foundation of PEPFAR's work with partner countries.
Our report demonstrates that since 2008, Chicago men who have sex with men (MSM) are testing for HIV more frequently, have greater knowledge of their own HIV status and have greater access to HIV antiretroviral therapies. Results are particularly strong and promising for young black MSM.
More than two decades after the HIV/AIDS crisis began, the Millennial generation has its own stories to tell about what the disease has meant to them.
Beyond a discussion of cost savings and cost effectiveness, the real purpose behind World AIDS Day is saving human lives. The fight against HIV is far from over, but we can observe this World AIDS Day with optimism.
By combining funds, experience and infrastructure we can tackle and defeat some of the most deadly diseases in some of the most impoverished regions. We encourage others to join us, so we may all come together to save lives and promote healthy communities around the world.
Last year, we celebrated 30 years of progress in the fight against AIDS. This year, let's celebrate World AIDS Day by looking forward. We've challenged ourselves by setting an ambitious goal of an AIDS-free generation. Let's examine where we are on our way to that goal.
Female condoms are an opportunity to promote women's rights as much as they are an opportunity to fight HIV, because they can and they do generate important conversations within couples and communities about love, protection, trust and power.
The FDA has approved Truvada, an HIV treatment medication, to be taken by uninfected people to protect against HIV. For men who engage in unsafe sex with other men, is this just an excuse to continue to be irresponsible?
Truvada, a new drug which is said to "knock out the HIV virus before it can establish itself in the body" and is reportedly able to provide a roughly ...
I asked a young friend if he had heard of Truvada, the drug recently approved by the FDA for use as pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, against HIV. It's a pill to prevent HIV transmission. Like most people I know, he hadn't ever heard about PrEP. Sadly, I'm not surprised.
On Sept. 21, more than 170 people from around the world took photographs which, presented together, tell the collective story of the trials and triump...
Recently I wrote a blog about how HIV prevention should move beyond handing people condoms. My story wasn't that straightforward, and as I reveal how I became infected with HIV, hopefully you'll see my reasoning.
The best, most cost-effective model of integrated HIV care, training and research I've ever seen is Haitian.
