Category Archives: HIV

CDC Backs Twice-Yearly Injectable for HIV Prevention

September 25, 2025 administrator Leave a comment

The CDC made a strong recommendation based on a high certainty of evidence to use the long-acting injectable lenacapavir (Yeztugo) for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), but will that ensure the treatment’s place in the nation’s health plan formularies?

“[Lenacapavir] is a highly effective and safe PrEP option administered every 6 months, which provides the potential to improve PrEP adherence and thus enhance HIV prevention in the United States,” the CDC’s PrEP Guidelines Work Group stated in its clinical recommendation, published last week in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reportopens in a new tab or window.

Even so, the CDC’s new position on lenacapavir won’t necessarily convince all U.S. private and public health insurers to cover the PrEP drug. “Just because an injectable is in the CDC clinical guidelines doesn’t mean all insurance companies have to pay for it,” Monica Gandhi, MD, of the University of California San Francisco and the HIV Clinic at Ward 86, told MedPage Today.

Read the full article.

HIV, News and Information, Prevention

NIH ponders overhauling HIV budget to capitalize on prevention breakthrough

August 13, 2025 administrator Leave a comment

From Science.org…

In a push to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States, leaders at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are discussing the possibility of a massive shift in investment away from basic research and toward “implementation science”—studies of the most effective way to use existing treatment and prevention tools, such as the breakthrough drug lenacapavir. Science has learned the agency may devote $1 billion—roughly one-third of the agency’s budget for HIV—to the approach. NIH Director Jayanta “Jay” Bhattacharya has said a major push is needed to exploit the promise of lenacapavir, which provides 6 months of protection with a single shot.

The idea has alarmed scientists both inside and outside NIH because basic research that drives HIV treatment, prevention, and cure advances would lose about $800 million annually. Scientists also question whether so much money can be spent responsibly on HIV-related implementation science. The proposal received a critical reception at an ad hoc meeting of the NIH HIV/AIDS Executive Committee (NAEC), which advises the agency’s Office of AIDS Research (OAR), according to the minutes of a 30 July meeting of the committee that Science obtained.

Read the full article on Science.org.

HIV, HIV Activism, HIV care, News and Information

HIV, Queer Identity and the Politics of Health Care

June 2, 2025 administrator Leave a comment

From Poz.com…

There’s so much chaos and confusion in our government today, and the queer community is once again being otherized and demonized. Marking the queer community as evil makes it much easier to dismiss our self-evident rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Moreover, proposed cuts to Medicaid will leave millions of Americans without health insurance. According to a recent study by the Williams Institute at the School of Law at the University of California, Los Angeles, LGBTQ adults are almost twice as likely to be on Medicaid due to disproportionately higher rates of disability and poverty among queer people. These proposed cuts will hurt our community, rendering LGBTQ folks more vulnerable to health problems and preventable diseases, among them HIV. This puts a lot of pressure on HIV service providers to step up and take care of people that the government won’t.

POZ speaks with David Munar, president and CEO of Equitas Health, one of the largest LGBTQ and HIV service providers in the country, and Mardrequs Harris, deputy director for the Southern AIDS Coalition, for their perspective and insight.

Read the interview.

HIV, Prevention

CDC Updates Post-Exposure Prophylaxis Guidelines

May 13, 2025 administrator Leave a comment

From Poz online…

In a long-awaited update, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued new guidelines for HIV post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) on May 6. The new guidance—the first revision since 2016—now includes more modern antiretrovirals taken for a month after non-occupational exposure, such as sex or injection drug use.

Unlike pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), which involves taking antiretroviral pills every day or injections every other month prior to HIV exposure, post-exposure prophylaxis is a month-long course of antiretrovirals started as soon as possible after sex or another type of exposure that presents substantial risk.

Non-occupational PEP should be started within 72 hours after exposure, but the sooner the better. In the new guidance, the CDC emphasizes the importance of starting PEP within 24 hours, if possible. Recommendations are similar for PEP after occupational exposure, for example, a health care provider who sustains a needlestick when caring for an HIV-positive patient.

Read the full article.

HIV, HIV care, Research

Treatment: Highly Resistant HIV

March 26, 2025 administrator Leave a comment

From Poz.com…

An experimental regimen containing lenacapavir and a monoclonal antibody was able to control HIV replication in a person with multidrug-resistant virus, according to researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Standard antiretroviral regimens are usually effective, but they don’t always work against highly resistant virus. This case study involved a 58-year-old man with Kaposi sarcoma (KS), an indicator of advanced immune suppression.

He had used several regimens over three decades and developed resistance to all available antiretrovirals and most HIV antibodies. Over 70 weeks, he was treated with the HIV capsid inhibitor lenacapavir (Sunlenca), two other antiretrovirals (tenofovir and emtricitabine), the mono-clonal antibody semzuvolimab (UB-421), antibiotics (trimethoprim/ sulfamethoxazole and azithromycin) and chemotherapy and immunotherapy for KS. Within two weeks, his viral load rapidly declined, becoming undetectable after a year of treatment. What’s more, his CD4 T-cell count rose, indicating immune system recovery.

Read the full article.

HIV, Research, Stigma

Study: Stigma Remains Primary Health Concern in Patients With HIV/AIDS

December 20, 2024 administrator Leave a comment

From ajmc.com…

HIV stigma comes in many forms. HIV.gov defines stigma as any “irrational or negative attitudes, behaviors, and judgements toward people living with or at risk of HIV.”³ This can include people refusing contact with someone living with HIV, refusing care to those who have HIV, or socially isolating someone who is living with HIV. Those who are at a higher risk of HIV may be affected by stigma due to their gender identity, sexual orientation, drug use, race/ethnicity, or sex work. On top of this, internalized stigma is prevalent in people living with HIV, as they may have negative feelings or thoughts based on their status. About 80% of people receiving care for HIV reported feeling internalized stigma.³ Depression, anxiety, isolation, and feelings of shame are all results of this.

Read the full article on the AJMC website.

HIV, News and Information, Research

40 years later, the Pitt Men’s Study is still breaking ground in the fight against AIDS

December 20, 2024 administrator Leave a comment

From the Universtiy of Pittsburgh’s Pittwire…

In 1984, Charles Rinaldo launched a study to learn more about a mysterious illness befalling gay men across the U.S. He was 37 years old, only 6 years into his appointment as an assistant professor in the Pitt School of Medicine and School of Public Health, when he put the University on the map for groundbreaking AIDS research.

Newspaper headlines from the early days of the AIDS epidemic and the Pitt Men's Study. — Newspaper headlines from the early days of the AIDS epidemic and the Pitt Men’s Study.

With the backing of a $4.2 million, four-year National Institutes of Health (NIH) contract, Rinaldo set out to recruit several thousands of gay men in the Pittsburgh tristate area to donate blood and other clinical specimens. It was the beginning of the Pitt Men’s Study, which aimed to uncover the process by which a virus leads to AIDS and the development of the disease post-diagnosis.

The Pitt Men’s Study recently commemorated 40 years of trailblazing research, including contributions to more than 1,700 scientific articles. The study is behind breakthroughs in understanding the transmission and treatment of HIV and AIDS and continues to impact the lives and careers of study participants and scientists alike.

Read the full article on Pittwire.

HIV, HIV care, Research

The Needs of Older People With HIV Are Going Unmet

October 9, 2024 administrator Leave a comment

From POZ.com…

The needs of older people living with HIV are going unmet, and the United States is unlikely to reach five goals for improving quality of life for those ages 50 and older by 2025, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) analysis published in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Thanks to effective treatment, people with HIV in the United States are living longer, and more than half are now ages 50 and older. Like the general population, HIV-positive people are more prone to comorbidities as they age, and they may face challenges such as cognitive decline, reduced mobility and financial instability. Needs may also change as people transition to Medicare.

The U.S. National HIV/AIDS Strategy has set goals for improving the quality of life of people with HIV by 2025, with indicators for self-rated health, unmet need for mental health services, unemployment, hunger or food insecurity and unstable housing or homelessness. These indicators were adopted in late 2022, leaving less than two years to implement changes.

Linda Beer, PhD, of the CDC’s Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, and colleagues assessed progress toward these goals specifically for older individuals living with HIV. They analyzed data collected through the CDC’s Medical Monitoring Project, an annual survey of a sample of U.S. adults diagnosed with HIV. Data were obtained from interviews and medical records, and progress was evaluated both overall and by age group. Nearly 13,500 people ages 50 and older participated between 2017 and 2022.

Read the full article.

HIV, HIV Housing, Research

Issue Brief: The Role of Housing in Ending the HIV Epidemic

August 12, 2024 administrator Leave a comment

A CDC Issue Brief:

Powerful HIV prevention and treatment tools help keep people healthy and prevent HIV transmission, but nonmedical factors, known as social determinants of health, also influence HIV-related health outcomes. Social determinants of health are the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age, and the broader set of forces and systems that shape conditions of daily life. Housing acts as a social determinant of health; research tells us that where someone lives influences their health and wellbeing, and that stable housing is associated with better health outcomes.

You can read the full brief and download a pdf here.

HIV, Stigma

AIDSVu Adds Visualized Data on Stigma

June 14, 2024 administrator Leave a comment

From poz.com…

With a goal of reducing and tracking the stigmas that act as a barrier to HIV prevention, treatment and care—as well as a hindrance to better overall health outcomes—AIDSVu recently added a new online feature, the JHU Stigma Dashboard that offers visualized stigma-related data. Currently, the dashboard tracks sexual behavior stigma in Georgia, New York and Maryland. Specifically, it includes data on men who have sex with men in those states. Additional data and geographic areas will be added to the dashboard in future phases.

AIDSVu map tracks HIV in the U.S.

Johns Hopkins University (JHU) researchers Amrita Rao, PhD, and Stefan Baral, MD, created the Stigma Dashboard to showcase progress to eliminating stigmas across different geographic regions in a tangible way.

Stigma comes in many forms and can negatively affect the way people living with and at risk for HIV interact with medical professionals and adhere to HIV treatment and prevention. What’s more, there are many types of stigma that affect a person’s wellbeing and engagement in care. Racism, homophobia, transphobia and HIV stigma are but a few examples.

Read the full article.