POZ

Millions of Americans have hepatitis, but most of them do not know they have it & many people with HIV also are coinfected with hepatitis.

For more information, or to find a testing center near you, click here.

National Hepatitis Awareness Month 2013

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 4 million Americans are living with chronic hepatitis B or hepatitis C and more than 15,000 die each year from liver cancer or diseases associated with the infections. Most do not know they have the virus.

To read more, click here.

CDC: Most New HIV Cases Among Youth Are MSM, Blacks

Among youth ages 13 to 24, new data shows that 72 percent of new HIV cases in 2010 were among men who have sex with men (MSM) and 57 percent were among African Americans.

Read more: http://www.poz.com/articles/cdc_young_black_msm_1_23199.shtml

CDC Launches Campaign for Black Women to Get HIV Tests

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has launched “Take Charge. Take the Test,” an HIV awareness and testing campaign to empower African-American women to practice safer sex and get tested for HIV. According to the CDC, the rate of new HIV cases among black women is 15 times higher than among white women; in addition, nearly 1 in 30 African-American women will be diagnosed with HIV in their lifetimes if current rates continue. The campaign includes advertisements that will appear in 10 U.S. cities with high HIV prevalence rates.

On World AIDS Day, December 1, 2012, President Barack Obama publicly pledged to make an “AIDS-free generation” part of his administration’s legacy.

This past Monday, the president released his proposed Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 federal budget. In light of his recent promise, I hoped his proposed spending levels for both domestic and global HIV/AIDS would be sufficient to begin to end the pandemic.

They are not. 

In fact, the president’s proposed spending levels and the reallocation of funds for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) endanger the lives of people living with HIV—both at home and abroad. 

At first brush, the president’s budget suggested good news for people living with the virus stateside. Obama requested an additional $75 million in funding for Ryan White programs, including $67 million for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP); $30 million in HIV/AIDS prevention funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and $20 million to support care provided by HIV clinics across the country.

The president included a provision in the budget that if enacted into law would allow local communities the power to use federal funds for syringe exchange, a smart move that will help stop the spread of HIV and hepatitis among injection drug users. And, the budget rejects discretionary funding of failed abstinence-only-until-marriage sex education programs.
 
The president also proposed a $1.65 billion funding level for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; the increase of 26.9% would allow the U.S. to make good on its Global Fund pledge of $4 billion over 3 years. Click here for more.

(Source: poz.com)

From the Newsfeed: Massachusetts Cuts $4.3M From HIV Prevention

Federal funding cuts forced the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to cut $4.3 million from its annual HIV prevention budget. The reduction accounts for approximately one-quarter of the yearly funding dedicated to programs such as distribution of free condoms and clean needles to injection drug users. Over the past decade, Massachusetts has decreased new HIV cases from about 1,000 a year to below 500. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is redirecting money from states like Massachusetts with low HIV rates to more highly affected regions such as the South. Click here for more.

From the Newsfeed - CDC: New HIV Cases Among Young Black MSM Up 48%

New HIV cases between 2006 and 2009 remained relatively stable at about 50,000 per year. These new data come from the CDC’s first multiyear estimate from its national HIV incidence surveillance. New HIV cases among young black men who have sex with men (MSM) increased by 48 percent—from 4,400 cases in 2006 to 6,500 cases in 2009. All racial and ethnic groups of MSM and black women faced the highest HIV rates. Click here for more.