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April 2007 Monthly Monitor
Advocates for Youth's Youth of Color Initiative
Feature: HIV testing
At the end of 2003, an estimated 1,039,000 to 1,185,000 persons in the United States were living with HIV/AIDS.[1] Each year, approximately 16-22 million persons in the United States are tested for HIV.[2] However, at the end of 2003, approximately 252,000-320,000 persons infected with HIV were unaware of their infection.[3]
HIV testing is entering a new era in this country. Lawmakers, health-care and insurance executives, and public health officials are making changes in their respective fields to ensure that more people will know their HIV status - an important consideration for maintaining health and reducing the spread of the virus.
In September 2006, CDC released Revised Recommendations for HIV Testing, which replace CDC's 1993 Recommendations and advises routine HIV screening of adults, adolescents, and pregnant women in healthcare settings in the United States. They also recommend reducing barriers to HIV testing.
People who are infected with HIV but not aware of it are not able to take advantage of the therapies that can keep them healthy and extend their lives, nor do they have the knowledge to protect their sex or drug-use partners from becoming infected. Knowing whether one is positive or negative for HIV is vital information.
Cohort studies have demonstrated that many infected persons decrease behaviors that transmit infection to sex or needle-sharing partners once they are aware of their positive HIV status.[4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11] HIV-infected persons who are unaware of their infection do not reduce risk behaviors.[12,13,14] Persons tested for HIV who do not return for test results might even increase their risk for transmitting HIV to partners.[15] Because medical treatment that lowers HIV viral load might also reduce risk for transmission to others[16], early referral to medical care could prevent HIV transmission in communities, while reducing a person's risk for HIV-related illness and death.
While routine testing will help ensure that more Americans know their HIV status, anonymous testing should still be available to patients who desire it; and health care providers must provide all those they test for HIV with counseling appropriate to the results of their test.
For more information, please visit: http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/testing/index.htm
References
- Glynn M, Rhodes P. Estimated HIV prevalence in the United States at the end of 2003. National HIV Prevention Conference; June 2005; Atlanta. Abstract T1-B1101.
- CDC. Guidelines for national human immunodeficiency virus case surveillance, including monitoring for human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. MMWR 1999;48(RR-13):1-28.
- CDC. Number of persons tested for HIV United States, 2002. MMWR 2004;53:1110-3.
- Rietmeijer CA , Kane MS, Simons PZ, et al. Increasing the use of bleach and condoms among injecting drug users in Denver : outcomes of a targeted, community-level HIV prevention program. AIDS 1996;10:291--8.
- Rhodes F, Malotte CK. HIV risk interventions for active drug users. In: S.Oskamp, S.Thompson, eds. Understanding HIV risk behavior: safer sex and drug use. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1996:297--36.
- Gibson DR, Lovelle-Drache J, Young M, Hudes ES, Sorensen JL. Effectiveness of brief counseling in reducing HIV risk behavior in injecting drug users: final results of randomized trials of counseling with and without HIV testing. AIDS and Behavior 1999;3:3--12.
- Doll LS, O'Malley PM, Pershing AL, Darrow WW, Hessol NA, Lifson AR. High-risk sexual behavior and knowledge of HIV antibody status in the San Francisco City Clinic Cohort. Health Psychol 1990;9:253--65.
- Cleary PD, Van Devanter N, Rogers TF, et al. Behavior changes after notification of HIV infection. Am J Pub Health 1991;81:1586--90.
- Fox R, Odaka NJ, Brookmeyer R, Polk BF. Effect of HIV antibody disclosure on subsequent sexual activity in homosexual men. AIDS 1987;1:241--6.
- van Griensven GJP, de Vroome EMM, Tielman RAP, et al. Effect of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) antibody knowledge on high-risk sexual behavior with steady and nonsteady sexual partners among homosexual men. Am J Epidemiol 1989;129:596--603.
- Coates TJ, Morin SF, McKusick L. Behavioral consequences of AIDS antibody testing among gay men [Letter]. JAMA 1987;258:1889.
- Wenger NS, Kusseling FS, Beck K, Shapiro MF. Sexual behavior of individuals infected with the human immunodeficiency virus: the need for intervention. Arch Intern Med 1994;154:1849--54.
- Desenclos J-C, Papaevangelou G, Ancelle-Park R, for the European Community Study Group on HIV in Injecting Drug Users. Knowledge of HIV serostatus and preventive behaviour among European injecting drug users. AIDS 1993;7:1371--7.
- Dawson J, Fitzpatrick R, McLean J, Hart G, Boulton M. The HIV test and sexual behavior in a sample of homosexually active men. Soc Sci Med 1991;32:683--8.
- Otten MW Jr, Zaidi AA, Wroten JE, Witte J, Peterman TA. Changes in sexually transmitted disease rates after HIV testing and posttest counseling, Miami, 1988 to 1989. Am J Pub Health 1993;83:529--33.
- Quinn TC, Wawer MJ, Sewankambo N, et al. Viral load and heterosexual transmission of human immunodeficiency virus type 1. N Eng J Med 2000;342:921--9.
Capacity Building & Professional Development
The HIV Prevention Leadership Summit 2007 agenda has been announced. HPLS will take place in New Orleans, LA from May 20-23. The deadline for sponsors and exhibitors is March 15, 2007, and the deadline for participant registration is April 20, 2007.
Continue to visit http://www.nmac.org/conferences___trainings/HPLS/ online for the latest news and updates on this year's meeting.
The United States Conference on AIDS 2007 will take place in Palm Springs, CA from November 7-10. The largest AIDS-related gathering in the United States, USCA brings together over 3,000 workers from all fronts of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, from case managers and physicians, to public health workers and advocates, at this meeting to build national support networks, exchange the latest information, and learn cutting-edge tools to address the challenges of HIV/AIDS.
For more information please visit http://www.nmac.org/conferences___trainings/USCA/ or send an e-mail to conferences@nmac.org.
Funding Opportunities
Grants to Fund Participation in High-Quality Professional Development: The National Education Association Foundation's Learning & Leadership Grants support public school teachers, public education support professionals, and/or faculty and staff in public institutions of higher education for one of two purposes: grants to individuals fund participation in high-quality professional development experiences, such as summer institutes or action research; and grants to fund collegial study, including study groups, action research, lesson study, or mentoring experiences for faculty or staff new to an assignment. Maximum Award: $5,000. Eligibility: public school teachers grades K–12; public school education support professionals; or faculty and staff at public higher education institutions. Deadline: June 1, 2007.
http://www.neafoundation.org/programs/Learning&Leadership_Guidelines.htm
Announcements
The Centers for Disease Control augments response to African-American HIV/AIDS crisis: The CDC recently announced that they are augmenting their response to the intensifying African-American HIV/AIDS crisis. Recognizing that any effective solution must address the disparities in African-American communities, the CDC effort is a collaboration between federal agencies, public health officials, and African-American community members and influential leaders. For more information, please visit http://www.cdc.gov/about/news/2007/03/hiv_african_americans.htm
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) joins other governmental and non-governmental prevention partners to announce the 2007 National HIV Prevention Conference call for abstracts concerning HIV prevention. The deadline for online abstract submission is April 16th. Abstracts submitted via postal mail must be postmarked by April 9, 2007.
For more information about abstract submission or other questions regarding the conference, please visit http://www.2007nhpc.org/backgroundinfo.asp or call the conference hotline at 800.772.8232. You may also contact info@2007NHPC.org for more information.
Internships
Advocates for Youth has an intern position available for its Young Women of Color Initiative. The Young Women of Color Initiative is a program for community-based, minority, youth-serving organizations and institutions to raise awareness of HIV among young women of color and to empower young women of color to get involved in local prevention programming. Each year we partner with four organizations that will implement programs for young women of color on HIV prevention, as well as develop local young women of color leadership councils, modeled after Advocates for Youth’s national Young Women of Color Leadership Council (YWOC LC).
For the full description please click here.
Advocates for Youth has an intern position available for its GLBTQ Initiatives, a project of Advocates for Youth. Through the GLBTQ Initiatives Advocates for Youth works to provide sexual health information and reduce isolation among gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (GLBTQ) young people, in particular African American/black and Latino/Hispanic youth. Advocates for Youth conducts an "internet intervention" by and for GLBTQ youth, produces information and materials for youth service providers, conducts trainings and workshops around GLBTQ sensitivity issues; and develops advocacy campaigns which are inclusive of GLBTQ youth issues.
For the full description please click here.
Resources
You can help Advocates for Youth with a contribution today. To donate, visit http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/about/donatetoday.htm
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