hiv/aids
World AIDS Day 2019 around Australia and the world
On 1 December every year, people around the world stop to mark World AIDS Day. People from different cultures, faiths and political persuasions all put aside their differences to raise awareness of the AIDS pandemic and mourn those lost to it. Here are some images from World AIDS Day 2019 events across the globe. Participants …
QuAC President Peter Black on declining HIV rates
QuAC President Peter Black spoke yesterday afternoon with Sarah Howells on ABC Radio’s ‘Afternoons with Katherine Feeney’ about declining rates of HIV transmission in Australia. New research from the Kirby Institute at the University of NSW released yesterday shows, in 2018, Australia recorded the lowest number of HIV diagnoses since 2001. Rates declined substantially over …
Kirby Institute: Overall HIV diagnoses down
Australia recorded the lowest number of HIV diagnoses in 2018 since 2001. The Kirby Institute reports only 835 new cases. However, the figures leave no room for celebration with no decline in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations. Rates of infection in heterosexuals also remained static. The Kirby Institute at UNSW Sydney released the …
Lipstick raises $721 million over 25 years to fight AIDS
Originally founded by Frank Angelo and Frank Toskan, MAC Cosmetics markets a wide range of cosmetics. In 1994, they launched Viva Glam lipsticks. They decided then to dedicate all sales of Viva Glam lipsticks to the fight against HIV/AIDS. They’ve done so ever since, as MAC Cosmetics states on their website. “Every cent of the …
Watch: Drag Queen Jade Elektra change one word
Toronto drag queen Jade Elektra brought down the house at the 2019 Toronto AIDS Vigil with her live performance of a Nat King Cole classic. As reported by author and activist Mark S. King at LGBTQ Nation, Jade changed the title word ‘Unforgettable’ to ‘Undetectable.’ Her performance encapsulated the U=U message perfectly. Jade Elektra, when …
REVIEW: Yen Tan’s ‘1985’ is a poignant AIDS-era family drama
Reminding us at once how far we’ve come in terms of society’s view on sexuality yet that there is still change to be integrated, writer-director Yen Tan’s 1985 is a beautiful, poignant drama set during the early years of the AIDS epidemic. Slow burning, tonally and texturally stunning (the black-and-white palette evokes memories of the …
AskDocQ: Keep calm and stay PrEP’d
Australian Steve Spencer has become the seventh person worldwide known to have contracted HIV while taking prevention drug PrEP, out of an estimated 450,000 users around the globe. The medication has proved to be a highly effective HIV prevention strategy and has dramatically reduced rates of infection, writes Brisbane LGBTIQ health specialist Dr Fiona Bisshop. …
Sydney man who contracted HIV while taking PrEP opens up about diagnosis
A Sydney man has become the second gay Australian to contract HIV while taking prevention medication PrEP. Steve Spencer returned a positive diagnosis in December during one of his regular sexual health tests, a requirement for people taking the pre-exposure prophylaxis pills. “It was a surprise and a shock,” the 27-year-old told ABC News. “I …
Doctors say second HIV patient is in ‘long-term remission’
An HIV-positive patient in London has become the second known adult in the world to be cleared of the virus after receiving a bone marrow transplant from an HIV-resistant donor, his doctors have announced. The man began antiretroviral therapy for HIV in 2012 and that same year was diagnosed with advanced Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a blood …
OPINION: The Freddie Mercury Story That Goes Untold In ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’
By Laurie Marhoefer, University of Washington Millions of people will tune in to the Oscars to see Bohemian Rhapsody, the biopic of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, compete for best picture. There are already a lot of people cheering against it. Bohemian Rhapsody has been dogged by accusations of homophobia, and the film’s director, Bryan Singer, …