International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia

From the International Gay and Lesbian Youth Listserv:

2 months ahead of the International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia, news are coming in from around the world about exciting projects that we thought would be interesting to share with you. You will find more details about each project on our site www.dayagainsthomophobia.org or by clicking on the respective links.

• Brazil will hold its second national march against homophobia and transphobia on May 17th again this year.
• In Cuba, Cenesex organises the first ever Cuba LGBT Tour
• IGLHRC and Filipino organisation LEAP! announce the launch of the “Courage unfolds” video project on implementing the Yogyakarta Principles in Asia
• In Spain, FELGBT will host a movie festival, while in Andalucia, Colegas will also host a series of events
• In Sri Lanka, rainbow flags will again be raised by diplomatic missions and allies as Equal Ground prepares to reiterate last year’s action.
• LGBT activists in Venezuela will again organise a march through Caracas, while in Italy, the “Progetto Gionata” calls for vigils for victims from around the world of homophobia and transphobia.
• As in previous years, the Cambodian LGBT community will celebrate its Pr ide Festival around May 17th. But this year’s celebrations will reach out beyond Phnomh Penh.
• Czech activists will once more run against homophobia and transphobia.
• In Australia, the Day will once more see a whole range of activities ranging from a rainbow flag raising ceremony in the Blue Mountains to an international photo exhibit in Sydney.
• In Cameroon, where homosexuality is criminalised and homosexuals and transgender people are strongly stigmatized, IDAHO activities will include trainings to legal professions on LGBT rights and a public debate on ‘Homosexuality and Religion’.
• Activists in Belarus will mark the day with a Festival and a March for Equality., despite strong public opposition and foreseeable Police crackdown.
• In Belgium, advocates from Arc-en-ciel Wallonie will continue their efforts to help educate community members through an extensive information campaign

To be kept updated on other campaign news around the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, register for our newsletter and follow the Day on Facebook and Twitter

Changing Health Policies For Effective HIV Prevention Public Health Interventions Should Reflect Sexual Behaviour Trends–DUH!

There are times when I just want to smack someone in the forehead for stating the obvious…and shaking their hand for providing (some sort of) data to back it up.

Nathalie Bajos recently published in AIDS a study that determined trends in age of sexual debut, number of sexual partners, and perceptions of sexual intercourse of men and women who completed the French national sexual behavior surveys (do we have that in the US?).  What was found was the following:

Over the last decades, median age at first intercourse has decreased by 4 years for women (22.0 in the 1930s vs. 17.6 in the 2000s) and 1 year for men (18.1 vs. 17.2). Lifetime number of sexual partners increased for women (1.8 in 1970 vs. 4.4 in 2006), but not for men (11.8 vs. 11.6). At the same time, the proportion of respondents, especially women, who reported nonpenetrative sexual practices and considered sexual intercourse essential to well being was on the increase.

…

A marked increase in condom use was observed following the first AIDS/HIV prevention campaigns in the 1980s.

A rare diachronic study in a sea of cross-cultural comparisons of sexual behaviors!

Bajos et al. believe that the likely reason for much of these results is the increased social status of women, though they make no causal connection between the data and this conclusion–a little post hoc ergo propter hoc.

Additionally, again with only a suggestion of a causal link, Bajos et al. concludes that the increase in condom use following the first HIV/AIDS campaign (there are several and we need another) is due to a synergy of health interventions and trends in social norms. And though I only have a pittance of understanding of the literature on this matter, I can only agree that a wonderful consequence of Bajos and her colleagues’ conclusion is that by understanding the greater breadth and depth of sexual practices offers potential avenues to develop more effective safer sex messages to be used in future public health campaigns.

Perhaps the most useful part of this study is the (all too obvious) conclusion that when you narrow debate about sexual behavior, you narrow recommendations on HIV prevention messages (see ABC campaign). Narrowing the possibilities of interventions to fight HIV can only narrow your success. That we’ve been boxed into the ABCs is a shame,  and though the causal connections could be strengthened, Bajos and colleagues are starting to pull back the veil of the ABCs to shed some much needed light on the importance of understanding social trends to craft safer sex messages.

A welcome change in social behavior research and a promising future for policy initiatives.

Microbicides–When will they deliver?

The AP recently reviewed current research on the effectiveness of vaginal microbicides, gels that provide prophylactic protection from HIV infection.

These gels promise to be an amazing tool in the fight against HIV, especially in areas of the world where condoms are 1) not easily accessible/available 2) not allowed to be used for a variety of reasons (religious edict, cultural taboo/condemnation, et cetera). Consequently, vaginal microbicides, like the female condom, have promised to provide a “women-controlled protection” believed to be key in fighting the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

However, trials of numerous microbicide continue to end in disappointment, baffling researchers and frustrating activists looking for another preventive measure in their armamentarium against HIV:

“Frankly, blocking transmission of the virus appears to be a lot harder than anyone understood it would be at the beginning,” says meeting co-chair Dr. Sharon Hillier of the University of Pittsburgh and a principal investigator of the Microbicide Trials Network.

Similar trials looking at rectal microbicides have been equally disappointing.

As things stand now, I cannot help but ask “when will the research deliver?” On the Global Campaign for Microbicides website, they have a section describing how microbicides work. Yet, as you read, you get the impression no one knows how they work…because they don’t. There have been no proof-of-concept studies, there has been little date supporting the effectiveness of any of the trials. Essentially, the research seems to be driven by the ideal of a microbicide, by the idea of “how great it would be if we had a preventive gel.” I can’t help but be a little cynical as more and more research dollars are pumped into a preventive measure that continues to not only prove ineffective but also puts people at increased risk of HIV infection.

So, again, I ask, “when will they deliver?” Or perhaps a better question is to ask, “will they ever deliver?”

At some point, we will need to step back, look at the basic science of the immune response and that data that continues to pour in from microbicide trials and see that maybe microbicides won’t be the next magic bullet against HIV. We need to package HIV prevention and not hope for one great prevention.

Nothing But Nets

While walking through DC’s Dupont circle, I got accosted by some young activist in a mosquito outfit. Surreal. I quickly took whatever they were handing out and went on my way–I try to keep my conversations with Anopheles to a minimum.

I’ve finally had a chance to look at the little card my arthropod-friend gave me:

156 of ‘em per inch, to be exact. These holes are part of a bed net–one of the most effective ways to prevent malaria, a leading killer of children in Africa.  The holes are so tiny that mosquitoes can’t get through to bite and spread malaria. It’s a simple, life-saving solution, and all it takes is $10 to buy a bed net, distribute it to a family, and explain its use.

Malaria kills. Send a net. Save a life

NothingButNets.net

Nothing But Nets is a campaign working diligently to prevent malaria infections in at risk populations:

Malaria is a disease caused by the blood parasite Plasmodium, which is transmitted by mosquitoes. Malaria, from the Medieval Italian words mala aria or “bad air,” causes 350 million to 500 million illnesses per year and kills more than one million people – mostly children under the age of five. Malaria is particularly devastating in Africa, where it is a leading killer of children. In fact, there are 10 new cases of malaria every second. Every 30 seconds, a child in Africa dies from a malaria infection.

Consequently, Nothing But Nets is working with the United Nations to provide insecticide-treated bed nets to those living in malaria risk areas:

Studies show that use of long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets can reduce transmission as much as 90 percent in areas with high coverage rates.

Bed nets prevent malaria transmission by creating a protective barrier against mosquitoes at night, when the vast majority of transmissions occur. Malaria-carrying mosquitoes generally bite between 10:00 p.m. and 4:00 a.m. A bed net is typically hung above the center of a bed or sleeping space so that it completely covers the sleeping person. One bed net can safely last a family for about four years, thanks to a long-lasting insecticide woven into the net fabric.

A net treated with insecticide offers about twice the protection of an untreated bed net and can reduce the number of mosquitoes that enter the house and inhabit the surrounding areas. Currently, bed nets are treated with pyrethroid insecticides. These insecticides have very low levels of toxicity to humans, but are highly toxic to insects.

And the most amazing thing is that it only takes a $10 donation to provide a bed net…from manufacture to bedside, just $10.

So, if you want to prevent malaria infections, please donate at NothingButNets.net