HIV
Huge change to allow more gay blood donors in the UK
A major change to blood donation rules for gay and bisexual men across the UK will allow more of them to qualify to donate blood. Currently, UK men who have sex with men can only donate blood if they’ve been celibate for three months, even while in a monogamous relationship. However the new criteria focus …
Stonewall offers Tele-Sexual Health to trans patients in remote areas
Brisbane’s Stonewall Medical Centre is offering patients in remote areas expert sexual health advice over video consultation with their specialists via their new Tele-Sexual Health service. Do you live in an area away from the big cities? Are you transgender or gender diverse and looking for medical care but wondering where to go? Is your …
World AIDS Day: Expanded Medicare access to fight HIV in Australia
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt has announced all Australians with HIV will get access to their life-saving antiretroviral medicine, regardless of their Medicare eligibility. Hunt announced the initiative this morning at a virtual parliamentary breakfast to mark World AIDS Day today. “Today, more than 28,000 Australians are living with HIV. It is very pleasing that …
Australian gay blood donor restrictions to ease in early 2021
Australia’s Red Cross Lifeblood donation service says long-standing restrictions on gay and bi blood donors will be eased early next year. Currently, the Lifeblood donation service refuses gay and bi blood donors who have had sex with men in the past 12 months. In April, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) approved a proposal to lower …
Gay Aussies’ PrEP use plunges during COVID-19 pandemic
Almost half of the gay and bisexual Australian men using PrEP have stopped using it during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Kirby Institute. PrEP, or pre-exposure prophylaxis, is a once-daily pill that dramatically reduces the risk of HIV transmission in HIV-negative people. The study, led by the Institute’s Dr Mohamed A Hammoud and Associate …
Timothy Ray Brown, first man cured of HIV, sadly dies of cancer
Timothy Ray Brown, the first person to be cured of HIV, has died after battling leukemia for five months. In 2006 doctors diagnosed Brown with leukaemia but a complicated and life-threatening bone marrow transplant cured him of HIV in 2007. Known as the “Berlin patient”, the 54-year-old remained clear of HIV for more than a …
First person cured of HIV shares devastating news
Timothy Ray Brown, the first person ever cured of HIV, is sadly terminally ill after the return of the cancer that led to his history-making treatment. Brown, a US citizen who previously lived in Berlin, found out he had HIV in 1995. Then in 2006, doctors diagnosed him with leukaemia while in Germany. Doctors performed …
QC offers new sexual health clinics in Brisbane and Hervey Bay
The Queensland Council for LGBTI Health (QC) has begun new weekend sexual health clinics as Queenslanders are urged to keep up their health checks during COVID-19. QC holds its Clinic 30 Testing Point in Brisbane every second Tuesday, and that service has now resumed and is taking bookings. Lance Schema, State Manager of QC’s Client …
Perth man jailed after lying about HIV status to sex partners
A Perth man living with HIV has been jailed after failing to disclose his HIV status to four men and having “reckless” unprotected sex. The 30-year-old, who can’t be named to protect the victims, told the men that he didn’t have the virus despite testing positive some years earlier. All four subsequently tested positive, The …
ComePrEPd: Living in regional Qld doesn’t stop Sean accessing PrEP
PrEP is a prevention strategy where HIV negative people take medication to prevent HIV infection. Taking PrEP is as simple as taking one oral pill a day. ComePrEPd is a community-driven HIV prevention campaign by the Queensland Council for LGBTI Health to increase awareness of PrEP. To find out more, visit the ComePrEPd website here. …