 Hey everyone, my name is Raif Derrazy and this is another weekly roundup of the latest HIV news for the week of June 19th through 25th 2023. This week I'll be going through 14 articles covering topics ranging from the military, pregnancy, late reservoirs, HIV AIDS denialism, and more. If you saw my last news update, you know I won't be reading the articles. Some of them are very long, but I will give you a brief summary of each. If you want access to the complete article, all the links will be available in the description box below this video. Alright, so let's jump in. Our first article is Lambda Legal asks court to allow people with HIV to join the military. Lambda Legal, an organization advocating for LGBTQ and HIV causes, has filed a motion for summary judgment to end the Pentagon's policy that prohibits individuals with HIV from joining the military. The lawsuit Wilkins v. Austin was filed on behalf of three individuals who were denied enlistment due to their HIV status. Lambda Legal argues that people living with HIV can perform all job duties associated with military service, including worldwide deployment and the discriminatory policies should be struck down. The plaintiffs, including Isaiah Wilkins, emphasize their desire to serve their country and urge the court to take action. While the Department of Defense updated its policy to allow service members with an undetectable viral load to serve, the ban on enlisting individuals with HIV remains. Okay, nice little update there. I actually did an interview with a friend of mine. I'll put a card up here so you can watch that with a former active Air Force military guy who has HIV and was kind of briefing me on some of these updates. It might have been for the initial allowing folks who are already in the military and have an HIV diagnosis to remain in the military. So I think this is taking it one step further. Okay, next article. Are patients hard to treat or do we just need to rethink how we treat them? Ward 86, the oldest HIV care facility in the U.S. Is leading the way in comprehensive care and research for individuals living with HIV and that Ward 86 is in San Francisco. Dr. Monica Gandhi, the medical director, discusses innovative programs like wraparound care, clinical trials and long-acting antiretroviral therapy. A recent study at Ward 86 showed promising results achieving viral suppression for many patients for the first time. These groundbreaking approaches and findings have the potential to become a model for HIV clinics nationwide. The article also highlights the success of wraparound services and the importance of dedicated outreach and relationship building in the HIV care. Ultimately it emphasizes the need to view patients as unique individuals and the optimism required in this field. Dr. Monica Gandhi is also involved with the HOPE Collaboratory where I'm co-chair for the CAB. I'll be seeing her in September for our annual meeting and I can work on bringing her on for an interview to discuss the history and the significance of Ward 86 as well as dive in deeper into her findings. If you guys want, let me know in the comments down below. Love to have that interview. Okay, next article. Dal-Utegravir, safe and effective postpartum when started during pregnancy indicates global study. So a recent study published in the Lancet HIV highlights the benefits of starting Dal-Utegravir DTG combined with Tinofevir Alephenamide TAF for pregnant women living with HIV. The randomized controlled trial compared three antiretroviral therapies, ARTs, regimen and found that DTG plus TAF showed greater virological efficacy and improved safety outcomes compared to alfavorans EFV plus TDF. So the study also noted a lower infant mortality rate and fewer adverse events in the DTG arms. The findings suggest that starting DTG containing antiretroviral therapy during pregnancy is a safer and more effective option, emphasizing the importance of ART adherence and postpartum care for women living with HIV. The study encourages further research on supporting interventions and the safety of lung acting injectable ART during pregnancy and postpartum. Yeah, that's a good point because that combo DTG and TAF, that's a combination drug, all HIV ART is a combination of drugs. So that specific combo that they're saying is leading to lower infant mortality rates, fewer adverse events for those who are pregnant and their child injectable ART is a different combo. So and since that's becoming more prevalent and likely where medicine is moving towards, they need to do studies for injectables for sure. Right now this is just mainly talking about oral medication. All right, IFL science, I believe it stands for I fucking love science. And they usually have some cool science articles if you like this site, HIV discovered lying dormant in the human brain's immune cells. A groundbreaking study has revealed that the human immunodeficiency virus can lie dormant in the brain, specifically within microglia cells. These cells, part of the brain's immune system, serve as a persistent reservoir for the virus. While current HIV treatments can suppress the infection to an undetectable level in the blood, they are unable to target these dormant cells. The study conducted using brain tissue samples from HIV positive individuals who participated in the last gift research program discovered HIV DNA in microglia cells, confirming their role as a latent reservoir. Understanding this mechanism brings hope for developing strategies to eliminate latent HIV and potentially finding a cure for the infection. Although it remains a challenging task, as we all know, I already heard this before. Last year, actually, when I was in San Francisco for the annual hope cab beading, I was sitting down, I think it was at lunch. And one of the scientists was talking about the HIV latent reservoirs in the brain and how, even when the HIV is latent, it is still releasing proteins into your body. And those proteins, they were able to determine are leading to an increased risk of dementia. Not everyone has latent reservoirs in their brain. Not everyone has them the same quantity, but they were able to determine that it does lead to an increased risk of dementia, which I never knew before that no one ever talked about it. I never heard it from a doctor or anything like that. Those are the things we should be talking about. And so I found it interesting that this was like a big headline because I thought it was already like well known established news, but maybe not. Anyway, interesting to note. Next, Alabama inmates HIV rates triple rest of population. A recent report reveals that inmates in Alabama prisons are three times more likely to have HIV compared to the general population. A recent report reveals that inmates in Alabama prisons are three times more likely to have HIV compared to the general population. While HIV rates have been declining nationwide, incarcerated individuals remain at high risk due to factors like mass incarceration and vulnerability. The southern states, including Alabama, have the highest HIV rates in prisons, primarily affecting black men. Alabama's HIV rates in prisons align with the national average, but efforts such as routine HIV testing during medical exams are in place. The report suggests that incarcerated individuals with HIV should be considered for release, considering their vulnerability to health crises like COVID-19. It also highlights that 35 states, including Alabama, have laws criminalizing HIV exposure. The contrast between declining HIV rates in the general population and the persisting crisis within the prison population underscores the need for further attention and support. I mean, it makes sense if you think about it. I mean, you have a prison system with all men together, they of course are going to have sex regardless. And so if there aren't precautions in place, like prep or like making sure people have access to condoms like PEP for if someone thinks that they were exposed, they can take that after. Things like that, treating people with HIV to make sure that they're undetectable in that ecosystem of the prison system, then you're going to have a huge explosion of HIV transmission. It's like, duh. And also criminalizing, what was it? Criminalizing HIV exposure? Also, things like that never help. They don't help. It's been proven time and time again. Criminalizing having HIV, criminalizing HIV exposure, criminalizing disclosure, all those things, they just create more fear and more stigma. And when people are operating from fear and stigma, they don't make the most health conscious health forward decisions, right? They are in survival mode. And a lot of times that means people hide and they lie and stuff like that. My two cents. Next article. U equals U national task force launches to promote HIV prevention. The human rights campaign foundation has joined the U equals U national task force to promote modern HIV prevention during pride season. The U equals U campaign emphasizes that individuals with HIV who take medication and maintain an undetectable viral mode cannot transmit the virus sexually. That's U equals U. It's undetectable equals untransmittable. The task force aims to educate policymakers, congress members and the public about U equals U and pre exposure prophylaxis or PREP, which helps prevent HIV transmission. The human rights campaign foundation will work alongside partner organizations to advocate for the full implementation of U equals U and address barriers, particularly for black and brown LGBTQ plus individuals living with HIV. The U equals U national task force seeks to transform lives and the epidemic and promote access to HIV treatment, care and services. And let's hope that this is just for Pride month, but that they're going to extend the campaign so that it's year round because we don't just need it for Pride month. We need it all year. Okay, here we go. Robert F. Kennedy blames AIDS on poppers and claims chemicals turn kids trans. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a presidential hopeful in the 2024 US election, has made controversial claims in recently surfaced video. In one video, Kennedy falsely asserts that poppers and inhalant were a pathway to AIDS and blames their use for deaths during the early years of the epidemic. However, scientific studies have disproven any link between poppers and the virus. In another video, Kennedy discusses his belief that chemical exposure is turning children transgender and causing issues like depression and sexual dysphoria. HIV AIDS denialism is something I have been resistant to addressing directly on this channel because I feel like it's so it's so bogus. It's so out there outlandish conspiracy theory. And I hate to give oxygen to something to fuel something like that and, you know, give a platform to something like that. But the reality is, when you have a presidential hopeful, and on a platform like Joe Rogan's podcast, et cetera, and now becoming more mainstream, he's on all over Twitter and you have Elon Musk retweeting and things like that. It's becoming a lot more mainstream. And the reality is in that environment, if you're not directly addressing these types of claims, then most folks out in the world are only hearing that one side. And so if there's no counter information, countering the disinformation, the misinformation, then that's all the people are getting here. And you're gonna have a lot of people go, Oh, wow, I didn't know that. That's crazy. Oh, AIDS doesn't really exist. And that can't happen, right? There's no way that we're gonna be able to push you equals you and to decrease stigma and to get people on proper healthcare without people having accurate knowledge. So I am going to look into this people have, you know, people who believe that HIV is a hoax or AIDS is a hoax, et cetera, have commented, DMed and said all kinds of things. I need to watch this documentary in that, in that video. And what what have you. So when I have the time, I will look into all those things. And I will do my best to objectively be able to compile studies and research to show why all of that is BS. Okay, moving on breastfeeding and HIV in the US and Canada, no transmissions, no consistency. Two studies conducted in the US and Canada have found no cases of HIV transmission from parents living with HIV who breastfed their infants. The studies were conducted between 2014 and 2022 and included a total of 72 mother baby pairs. The findings highlight the benefits of breast feeding and support the shift in guidelines that promote shared decision making and support for individuals with well managed HIV who choose to breastfeed. The studies also emphasize the need for comprehensive support and policies involving a multidisciplinary approach. Healthcare providers can seek guidance from the National Clinician Consultation Center Perinatal HIV AIDS Hotline for expert clinical consultation. It is important to respect individual choices in infant feeding and avoid inappropriate responses such as reporting to child protective services. I didn't know that was a thing. I'm sorry for those mothers living with HIV who have had child protective services called on them for breastfeeding their children. And it's good to know and to be able to have more studies that show that women, pregnant women with well managed HIV treatment are not going to pass on HIV to their children in uterus and then also through breastfeeding. So that's good news. And it's just more options. Obamacare will still cover prevention for HIV other illnesses amid court battle. Okay, here's context. A court agreement has allowed the government to continue enforcing the preventative care requirements of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, while legal battle over the mandates unfolds. The agreement approved by the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ensures that millions of Americans will still have cost-free coverage for preventive care, including HIV prevention and certain cancer screenings. The agreement comes in response to a ruling by a federal judge in Texas who deemed some of the preventive care requirements unconstitutional. Why, you say? Under the agreement, the plaintiffs in the case, including a dentist opposed to contraception and HIV prevention coverage on religious grounds, can temporarily exclude the coverage during the appeals process. If the ruling is reversed, they would need to reinstate the coverage. And I don't think I, correct me if I'm wrong, maybe my memory doesn't serve me correctly, but I thought there was another state at least, at least one that was also pushing back against healthcare requirements, stating that they need to provide things like PrEP and other HIV services on the grounds of religious freedom, that it was impinging on their religious rights. That is such a stretch. And frankly, it's so harmful to us being able to fight and stop the HIV epidemic. And for me, it feels like it's really just about making sure that we're not providing healthcare and services to the LGBTQ plus community because, and that just goes to show you how much stigma is there is in the US because for people like a dentist, et cetera, to argue, they don't want to provide these services because they're providing services to LGBTQ plus community is wrong because HIV doesn't just affect the LGBTQ plus community. Hello. That's like square one people. And if, if they knew that, then the religious grounds argument doesn't make sense. But I'm seeing more and more and more legislations being enacted that indirectly affects a disproportionate amount of LGBTQ plus. And so in their minds, it's like, if, if, if we're, yeah, we're using a blunt blade, but if we're getting mostly LGBTQ plus people, and maybe some people who don't fit into that, but they're a smaller portion, then great, we're, that's a win for the, in their eyes, right? Worldwide, LGBTQ plus isn't the main demographic of HIV positive people. So it just speaks to the stigma, the lack of education, misinformation and then the general stigma and hate and discrimination against LGBTQ plus people here in the States. So fingers crossed that judicial will, you know, have a sane mind about it and be able to, to create a judgment that makes sense these days. I don't, I really don't know. So we'll just have to see how this plays out. And in the meantime, while there is a stay on this, they're allowed to discriminate in the interim. So we shall see, I'll update you once I have the verdict. Okay, moving on. A new promising weapon in the fight against HIV. What weapon is that? Pray tell. Researchers from Tokyo Medical and Dental University, TMDU have made significant progress in the treatment of HIV one, the virus causing AIDS. Current antiretroviral therapy, ART can inhibit viral replication, but fails to completely cure HIV one due to the virus forming latent infections in cells, as we all know, late reservoirs. The research team has identified a compound called YSE028, which activates a protein called protein kinase PKC and has shown the ability to reactivate latent HIV reservoirs. They have developed derivatives of YSE028 with compound two exhibiting 10 times higher latency reversing activity. These findings offer promising prospects for a cure for HIV one when combined with other treatments. Okay, if that just went over your head, basically what they're saying is that they have been able to activate HIV that has usually latent or silenced, not doing anything in the body. They've got, they've gotten that HIV to wake up. And the great thing about that is once that HIV has woken up, then things like ART can come in and kill it. It can locate it and find it and kill it. When it's silent, there's not a whole lot we can do at present. So that's really great. And they're saying that this combination, they were able to get them to wake up at 10 times the rate. So that's great news. And perhaps something like this plus combination with ART could be a functional cure in the making. Who knows? Endowment honors pioneering HIV doc conant. The Marcus Conant MD endowment for HIV dermatology and LGBTQ health has been established at the University of California Medical Center in San Francisco to honor Dr. Marcus Conant, a pioneering HIV physician. The endowment aims to support the education of future healthcare providers interested in caring for people living with HIV and LGBTQ individuals with a specific focus on HIV dermatology. Dr. Conant, who diagnosed and treated AIDS patients in San Francisco in the 1980s, had identified the prevalence of Kaposi's sarcoma among his patients. The endowment will fund research, training, and mentorship programs to increase awareness and treatment of skin diseases in the community. It is the first endowment of its kind that focuses on HIV dermatology. Fundraising efforts are ongoing to establish the endowment in perpetuity and provide support to students interested in the field. He now works at American Gene Technologies and I've spoken to their CEO, Jeff Galvin, about bringing him on for an interview. I just completed and launched the interview on Sunday the 25th. So you can watch that. I'll put a card here so you can watch that. And I just think it's so great that there is a full on movement to focus on specifically HIV dermatology. I also didn't realize until recently when I interviewed Adam Casigio, the London patient, or the second person to be cured of HIV via a bone marrow transplant, he informed me that those of us living with HIV are three times more likely to develop cancer. And I did know that again. I never heard that. No doctor had ever shared that with me or anything like that. So it's these things that I'm slowly starting to find out that we need to be talking about more and sharing with the community so that we're equipped because I believe that folks given the opportunity are able to handle more than we give them credit for. And we're at a point in the HIV epidemic and the advancement of medicine and the quality of life that we can now have that I think we can start to move past all the fear, the overwhelming fear of an HIV diagnosis and start to talk logistically as we have an aging population of long term survivors who need to be aware of these things so that we can take preventative measures so we can monitor things, have these conversations with our doctors. And so a whole segment focusing on HIV dermatology is very much needed, especially as we get older. Oh, and I'm also down to bring Dr. Conant on to my channel for an interview. I talked to Jeff about it. He said that we can definitely set that up. So I'm not sure exactly when I want to do that, but it'll happen. Next interview, we got three left. Walgreens across the US are offering free HIV testing for National HIV Testing Day. I just wanted to include this for obvious reasons. National HIV testing day is approaching on June 27. By the time I post this on Monday the 26th, it'll be tomorrow. And Walgreens is partnering with greater than HIV and local health organizations to offer free HIV testing at 400 of its stores across the US. The initiative aims to encourage regular testing for sexually active gay men and those on PrEP. Walgreens stores in areas disproportionately affected by HIV will host mobile testing units which with pharmacists and counselors available to provide information on treatment and prevention. The event hopes to combat HIV stigma and increase awareness about the importance of knowing one's HIV status. The testing is quick with results available in less than 30 minutes and no appointments are necessary. If you can't make it on National HIV Testing Day, Walgreens pharmacists can provide information about other times of the year when free testing will also be available. I just wanted to get this out there because it's important it's free testing. Any opportunity to take advantage of that is very much welcome. Now you know. Okay. Second to last article, Mumbai-based Invex Health to Soon Launch India's First Oral HIV Self-Test. I'm doing my best, by the way, I just want to put this out there. I'm doing my best to include news articles not just centered on the US and the Western countries because obviously HIV affects everyone around the world. It is difficult, I have to say, to find those articles. First of all, I would need to find it in English so that I can read it and locate it. But I think there's also other subtle things that get in the way of that like maybe the stigma in other parts of the world. It's not talked about as much. It's not reported on as much. There's not as many studies or initiatives happening in other places around the world. So I just want you to know that I am trying to look for news articles in other parts of the world because I know that I have a global audience. And so it's important that I can, you know, everybody can relate to the things that I'm talking about, not just people in the US and Europe. Okay. On to the article, Mumbai-based company Invex Health is preparing to launch Morchec India's First Oral HIV Test. Morchec is a saliva-based test that detects antibodies produced in response to HIV infection, allowing for early detection of the disease. Unlike blood tests, Morchec requires no syringes or denals, eliminating the risk of needle stick injuries. It is awaiting approval from the drug controller general of India and has undergone usability and performance studies. The test aims to improve participation rates and accessibility to HIV testing in India, where national policy on HIV self-testing is yet to be developed. Yeah, yeah, that's great. Any news like that where we can kind of further the whole HIV care spectrum and prevention HIV self-testing is fantastic. And the fact that this is the very first oral test is surprising to me. It's a little shocking, but it's needed, so better late than never. So I am happy to see that and I'm happy for you all in India to have that as an option now. Okay, final article from the Philippine news agency. HIV meds arriving soon amid shortage due to increased use. The Department of Health in the Philippines has acknowledged the unstable supply of antiretroviral drugs used in the treatment of HIV, aka a drug shortage, attributing it to a significant increase in their use. The DOH stated that the shortage primarily affects Tenafavir Lemevedin Dalyutegravir, excuse me if I didn't say that right, TLD, due to its growing popularity among people living with HIV. The increased awareness of the benefits of TLD through word of mouth, social media, and information sessions led to a higher uptake of the drug. To address the shortage, the DOH assured the public that the current and incoming stocks of antiretroviral would be able to cover all patients until April 2024. The agency is also planning early procurement for 2024 to avoid any supply gaps in the future. So good news, bad news, bad news, there's a shortage. Good news, it's because more people are on treatment. Maybe it's just specifically this kind of treatment because people have found out that it's really good that their bodies have tolerated it really well, but that's good news. And the fact that it's being shared via social media and word of mouth information sessions is really great that there's that communication going on in the community. All right, you all, thank you so much for watching. Again, I want to reiterate that I am trying to do these weekly, but there will come a time probably sooner than later where I just won't have the time to do it. So don't be surprised, don't be too sad if I have to skip a week here, two weeks here and there, or what have you, but I'm going to do my best to bring these out as often as possible so that we can all be on the same page and at least get a general sense of what's happening out in the world. I know it's, it's a lot and someone pointed out, you know, well, you're just reading what's in the article. What good is that? Thanks, commenter. But the reality is having the same information broadcasted via different mediums, there is value in that. There's audio, there's video and audio, and there's there's text. So to be able to have something that's not just text, not everybody wants to sit and like, you know, sift through articles to read things. So being able to go to one place, one source where a lot of key relevant headlines are aggregated and presented to you in a way where you can either, you can watch this if you want, or you can just, you know, put it in your ear and listen if you want. So those are two extra options bringing this info. I hope you find it valuable. It seemed like you guys really enjoyed the last one, 14,000 views so far. So I'm going to keep doing it as long as there is demand and appreciation for it. Please like this video if you liked it, subscribe if you haven't already, hit that bell so you get a notification every time a new video comes out. They're happening much more frequently these days. And please share this with whoever you may feel would find value in this content. It's the best way to support me in my channel to help it grow. All right, I'll see you soon. Cheers.