HIV / AIDS News – 2019
HIV / AIDS News
February
Federal judge temporarily blocks military from forcing out HIV-positive airmen
Fury at HIV data leak in conservative Singapore
Rico has lived with HIV for almost a decade, confiding in only a small number of people in socially conservative Singapore, fearful of the reaction. Last month, he got a phone call saying information about his condition had been published online.
Rico was one of 14,200 people whose HIV status, name and address were dumped on the internet by an American man who is believed to have obtained the confidential data from his partner — a senior Singaporean doctor.
“The LGBT community is angry and frustrated with the entire ordeal,” said Rico, who did not want to be identified by his full name.
https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/02/10/19/fury-at-hiv-data-leak-in-conservative-singapore
January
How stigma prevents Delhi’s gay men from getting tested for HIV
Societal pressures, stigma and ‘a lot of shame’ push gay sex underground, meaning NGOs must come up with innovative ways to reach members of at-risk community
When the news broke that India’s Supreme Court had struck down a colonial-era law making gay sex illegal, the reaction in Delhi was jubilant, with public celebrations erupting across the capital.
Fast forward four months, and HIV/Aids charities are finding the old stigma and prejudice against members of the LGBT+ community are stubbornly refusing to go away.
Although attitudes towards gay relationships have softened in the past two decades, a 2016 survey found that even among young people more than 60 per cent of respondents believed homosexuality was wrong.
The Alliance has identified MSM as a key at-risk group being left behind in the country’s response to HIV, threatening India’s goal of meeting the UN’s “90-90-90” pledge by 2020. HIV prevalence rates are around 16 times higher in this group compared to the general public.
Intense societal pressure to get married at a young age makes the matter worse, Ms Aher says. Alliance estimates that 60 per cent of their MSM clients also have wives, making it very difficult to get them to open up about unsafe sex practices.
Continue Reading & Watch Video:
https://www.independent.co.uk/aidsfree/dehli-gay-men-hiv-testing-aidsfree-india-lgbt-a8720721.html