HIV expert and author Elizabeth Pisani has been on a mission for over a decade to get policymakers to understand how real-world behaviours influence HIV transmission and to overhaul antiquated, ineffective prevention strategies. She speaks to Fridae about her work in Indonesia, trends in gay Asia, and more.
Although they remain anonymous, some young gay men in Singapore are using social media to share their viewpoints on being HIV-positive. Fridae interviews “Zack”, a 24-year-old gay man who feels like he has been “given a second chance at life” after being disgnosed with HIV and a “full flush” of STDs.
Olympic diving icon Greg Louganis, who is openly gay, HIV positive and regarded to be one of the world's best divers will serve as a mentor for American divers for the first time since retiring from diving after the 1988 Olympics.
For the first time in 20 years, gay and bisexual men accounted for most of the new infections detected in the first half of 2011, according to statistics provided by the Ministry of Health.
According to a study of Australian gay men, HIV optimism remains a useful indicator of one's likelihood to take risks during sex and one's beliefs about HIV transmission risk in particular may reflect willingness to pursue pleasure over risk, or, alternatively, morbid fear of any risk.
"Is it not known that vulnerability to HIV/AIDS is heightened by the denial of rights, such as the right of transgender people to determine their own names and gender-identity?" asks Bakhtiar Talhah, a Malaysian living with HIV and former executive director of the Malaysian AIDS Council, after the council declined to support the late Aleesha Farhana publicly.
As China's gay population is hardest hit by HIV/AIDS, senior Chinese health officials, representatives from civil societies and other delegates met to discuss a new five-year strategy to scale-up HIV prevention programmes and treatment, and promote community-based organisation participation.
Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad stunned many on Monday by calling homosexuality "unnatural", and a "disease" which is "spreading fast" in the country.
The declaration is the first General Assembly statement on AIDS to explicitly include men who have sex with men (MSM), breaking a pervasive silence about this population at the official level and creating unprecedented opportunities for advocacy to promote MSM health and human rights.
The "Rip & Roll" safe sex campaign posters which feature a real-life gay male couple in an embrace will be reinstated across Brisbane bus shelters after it became clear the complaints were part of a concerted campaign by the Australian Christian Lobby.