 Hey friends and fam, Raif Derrazy here and this is another weekly roundup of the latest HIV news for the week of July 10th through July 16th. Today I'll be going through nine articles covering topics ranging from the passing of Stephen Peters, Canadian immigration policy, Namibia's progress to fight the AIDS epidemic, reducing viral reservoirs in infants, HIV decriminalization and more. I won't be reading the articles but I will give you a brief summary if you want to access the complete article. All links will be available in the description box below this video. Alright, let's jump right in. This first article by the advocate, Stephen Peters, longtime HIV activist, interviewed by Tammy Faye Baker, dies at 71. I have to admit, I recognize his face. I didn't recognize his name and I wasn't sure exactly who this person was or what their contribution was. But here's the summary. Reverend Stephen Peters, a well known HIV survivor and activist, has passed away at the age of 71 due to complications from cancer. Peters, who gained fame for his interview with televangelist Tammy Faye Baker in 1985, the year I was born, was a minister and administrator in the Metropolitan Community Church. He was diagnosed with AIDS and two forms of cancer in the 1980s but became the first patient in a clinical trial for Suramen, an anti-HIV drug that sent his cancers into remission. Peters' interview with Baker was significant as it highlighted acceptance and support for the LGBTQ plus community and people with AIDS at a time when many evangelical Christian leaders ignored or stigmatized the disease. Peters continued his AIDS activism throughout his life teaching and preaching about hope and survival. His legacy as a compassionate advocate will be remembered. Alright, it's good to know about the people who came before us who fought the good fight and helped to reduce stigma and increase education when it comes to LGBTQ plus and HIV AIDS. This one is by The Telegraph. New HIV infections quadrupled in parts of Asia in the Pacific. UN AIDS has issued a warning that new HIV infections have quadrupled, that's 4x, in parts of Asia and the Pacific due to complacency, stigma and policy changes undermining efforts to combat the virus. Reductions in new infections have stalled in the region with transmission actually increasing in five countries, most drastically in the Philippines where new HIV infections have surged by 418% since 2010. The report also highlights a lack of full scale HIV prevention services, limited access to antiretrovirals and pre-exposure prophylaxis, PrEP, and a growing epidemic among young people. Policy changes such as Thailand's recent shift in PrEP access have further hampered progress in the fight against HIV. UN AIDS stresses the need for a modernizing approach, sustained government funding, and addressing stigma and inequality to improve access to services and prevent future infections. Regarding Thailand, about 80% of people using PrEP receive it from a clinic led by and staffed by members of the community it serves, a strategy that has proven to be very effective. Well, under new rules, only government doctors can prescribe PrEP. That's in complete contrast and completely contradictory to what has been shown and proven to be effective in fighting against HIV. They have basically shot themselves in the foot. Why? I don't know, that's a topic for another time, but there you go. Toronto Star says, Canada ends policy that forced immigration applicants and refugees to disclose HIV status to sponsors. The Canadian federal government has ended a policy that required immigration applicants or refugees to disclose their HIV status to their sponsor. The policy, which had been in place since 2003, was criticized for being discriminatory and outdated as medical advancements have transformed HIV into a manageable condition. Advocacy groups had demanded the policy's revocation and the government responded by discontinuing it. While HIV positive applicants still need to undergo an HIV test as part of their medical screening, being HIV positive does not automatically make someone inadmissible unless their anticipated healthcare exceeds a certain threshold. The move was welcomed by advocates, although concerns remain about the medical inadmissibility provision and its impact on applicants with medical needs. And that's exactly what my first thought was that part that says unless their anticipated healthcare exceeds a certain threshold. What is that threshold? So I looked it up. The threshold is $128,445 over five years or $25,689 per year. For those of us living with HIV or know someone who lives with HIV, we understand that that threshold is quite low. I wouldn't qualify under that. With taking Victoria, it's about $3,000 a month through insurance that that exceeds the threshold. I would not be eligible. To me, that's concerning HIV medication in general is quite expensive and can put people past that threshold. So I'm curious if anyone can shed some insight into this, I'd be happy to follow up to this with an update video. I know that there's exceptions. Also, I saw on the site to this rule, including refugees and their dependents, protected persons, which appears to mean people who are under threat of torture, risk of life or risk of cruel and unusual treatment or punishment in their country of nationality. So yeah, those people would be protected regardless of their perceived future healthcare needs. And I guess if anti HIV or anti LGBTQ plus laws in your home country original nationality are bad enough, a case could be made for exemption based on that alone. UN AIDS just released their fact sheet for 2023. It's actually detailing statistics and data in 2022. And so some statistics of note and these are just estimates include 39 million people globally 39 million were living with HIV in 2022. 1.3 million were newly infected. 630,000 died from AIDS related illnesses. About 75% of people living with HIV were on anti retro viral therapy. A quarter 25% were not on anti retro viral therapy. 1.5 million were children ages zero to 14 years old. 53% of people living with HIV were women and girls. That's more than half. Definitely take a look at this one later. I've got I'll have the link below with everything else as there are some really interesting statistics there. According to stat news, right wing politicians are stoking renewed moral panic about HIV. Despite significant process in HIV prevention efforts and a decline in new HIV diagnoses, there are threats to this progress arising from moral panic and ideological beliefs cases like braidwood management versus Basera where self identified Christian business owners challenged their obligation to provide health insurance covering prep pose a threat to HIV prevention. In Florida legislation shields health care providers and insurance companies who refuse to provide or pay for care conflicting with their beliefs. Tennessee's refusal of federal funds for HIV testing and prevention undermines efforts and will cost more in the long run. These challenges jeopardize the effectiveness of prep a highly effective prevention method to protect public health. It is crucial to codify protections for preventive health care including prep and reject moral panic in judicial decisions. I did a little more digging on the plaintiffs in this braidwood management Inc versus Basera and they state it imposes a substantial burden on the religious freedom of those who oppose homosexual behavior on religious grounds. Continuing with the claim that prep drugs facilitate and encourage homosexual behavior, prostitution, sexual promiscuity and intravenous drug use. The stigma is real guys. Our educated community understands that HIV is not a gay disease nor is it limited to prostitution or what we would coin sex work, sexual promiscuity and or drug use. They've completely ignored the impact to people of color, women and pregnant and nursing mothers, sexually active youth and on and on. It appears like it's more important for the plaintiffs in this case to uphold their stigma driven discrimination on the basis of religious freedom than it is to ensure the health and safety of millions of people at risk of HIV here in the U.S. In good good good, Namibia is ahead of schedule and targets to end HIV AIDS epidemic. Some good news. Namibia has made significant progress in the fight against HIV AIDS and is on track to meet the UN AIDS 95 95 95 targets ahead of schedule. If you're unfamiliar with UN AIDS 95 95 95 targets, they are as follows 95% of people living with HIV know their status 95% of people diagnosed with HIV receive sustained ARV therapy antiretroviral therapy 95% of people receiving ARV therapy have viral suppression all of this by 2025. So Namibia has one of the highest HIV prevalence rates globally, but through investment and strategic response, the country has achieved impressive results. Currently 92% of people know their HIV status 99% of those living with HIV are on treatment and 94% of people on treatment have suppressed viral loads. New HIV infections have significantly declined and the number of deaths due to HIV has also decreased. This progress is attributed to the efforts of organizations like PEPFAR as well as local government agencies initiatives such as the DREAMS project which supports adolescent girls and young women. Namibia's success serves as an example for disease mitigation worldwide and offers hope for a future free from fear of HIV AIDS. In Medical Express, broadly neutralizing antibody treatment found to reduce viral reservoir in some infants with HIV one researchers at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health have discovered a potential alternative to standard antiretroviral treatment for controlling HIV one replication and targeting HIV one reservoirs. In a clinical trial conducted in Botswana, children with HIV one who have been on antiretroviral treatment received two broadly neutralizing antibodies, BNABS, intravenously every four weeks. The study found that 44% of the children maintained HIV one are in a suppression for 24 weeks with BNAB only treatment while the remaining 56% return to antiretroviral therapy. Although the therapy did not cure HIV one, it showed promising results in neutralizing the fortified viral load, reducing reinfection potential. Broadly neutralizing antibodies could offer a monthly treatment option and improve long-term compliance and reduce toxicity compared to daily antiretroviral treatment. Further research is needed to understand individual responses and develop more effective BNAB combinations. So there's that key term again that I mentioned in a video or two ago, BNABS, which means broadly neutralizing antibodies. And in that previous video, I actually misdefined what they are. Excuse me, apologies for that. So let me give you a clear definition which I pulled from Wikipedia. Broadly neutralizing HIV one antibodies are neutralizing antibodies, which neutralize multiple HIV one viral strains. BNABS are unique in that they target conserved epitopes of the virus, meaning the virus may mutate, but the targeted epitopes will still exist. In contrast, non-BNABS are specific for individual viral strains with unique epitopes. The discovery of BNABS has led to an important area of research, namely discovery of a vaccine, not only limited to HIV, but also other rapidly mutating viruses like influenza. And I'm taking the time to define BNABS as you are bound to hear more about them as time goes on. If that was a little confusing, a little wordy, basically there are certain markers within the virus that even when it mutates into different strains remains the same or remains constant in all the different strains. And so rather than trying to target a whole strain, they target that one marker that always remains constant so that when they have modified these antibodies, they'll target all the strains. This is in Taylor and Francis online, which hosts peer-reviewed journal articles. Decriminalization and the end of AIDS keep the promise, follow the science, and fulfill human rights. Criminalization of HIV is harmful and violates human rights on a global scale. To achieve the goal of ending the AIDS pandemic and promoting gender equality and inclusive societies, it is crucial to abolish punitive laws, policies, and practices targeting key populations affected by HIV. Such laws hinder access to HIV prevention, testing and treatment services, perpetuate stigma and discrimination, and impede the overall HIV response. Decriminalizing consensual same-sex conduct, gender identity expression, sex work, drug use, and HIV-related offenses is essential. International bodies and experts have consistently recognized that criminalization laws violate human rights and do not effectively reduce HIV transmission. It is imperative for states to take action and reform their laws in partnership with community-led organizations. Additionally, international, regional, and national stakeholders should support law reform efforts, involve community organizations, and promote policies aligned with decriminalization and human rights. From there, we go to IDSA, which is Infectious Diseases Society of America, and their article says, from prescription to patient, the life cycle of cabotegravir for PrEP. The use of long-acting injectable cabotegravir for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis has been improved by the FDA and endorsed in guidelines as a game changer for HIV prevention. However, the implementation of this medication has been slow due to various factors including low awareness and organizational capacity. One major challenge is the response of insurance companies to covering the cost of medication. The process of obtaining insurance coverage and reimbursement is complicated and often results in uncertainty and financial risks for health centers. Insurance companies have varying requirements and documentation criteria, making it difficult for clinics to navigate the reimbursement process. This poses a financial predicament for health centers and raises questions about who will bear the cost if reimbursement is not received. The complex insurance landscape and coverage challenges undermine the sustainability of long-acting injectable PrEP programs and create barriers to access for individuals at risk for HIV. Addressing these issues is crucial to scale up the use of this innovative intervention and ensures affordability and effectiveness in HIV prevention. Yeah, especially reimbursement, that's a huge barrier. The fact that a health clinic would have to front the costs and then take on the risk of whether or not they would get reimbursed either partially or fully is definitely not an incentive to want to promote cabotegravir as an option. All right, well that is all the articles for today. You can find as always all the links to these articles in the info description box below this video. You'll also find links to my socials where you can follow along other parts of my life on Instagram. You can see some of my personal life there. Engage in discussion with me on Twitter and now threads. And of course you can find me on Facebook, TikTok, and LinkedIn. Tomorrow I am excited to be interviewing Dr. Monica Gandhi. I covered her article in a recent video and it's about her experience working at Ward 86 in San Francisco as well as her latest findings on the effectiveness of wraparound care for otherwise difficult to treat people living with HIV. Also look out for a video soon announcing and giving you all access to my previously private telegram group for our HIV community. I've had this group for a while and there's about 185 members in there now. I wanted to take this really slow approach because I wanted to work out all the kinks and make sure that I had good rules and structure in place and moderators so that once I do open it up to the public, there's a better chance that it will go smoothly. So I'll be releasing that video soon, more details to follow, and I'm very excited to open up that door to have our community of people living with HIV join that as well. A big shout out to subscriber 10 Anderson for an amazing $28.98 sent super chat donation during the premiere of my last HIV news video though I never asked for money donations via stickers and super chats in YouTube's live chat box during my live video premieres is always welcome and very much appreciated. So thank you very much for that. It helps me do what I'm doing. You know, I spend my evenings, my nights and my weekends when I'm not working my full time job or other obligations to bring this content to you and I'm really pushing to do it more and more now. So any support in that sense helps as well. Please like this video if you liked it, subscribe if you haven't already and hit that bell so you get a notification every time a new video comes out which is a lot more frequently lately and please share this with anyone who might fight in value in this content. This is the best way that you can help support me and my channel and help it to grow. All right fam, take care and I'll see you soon. Cheers.