Category Archives: Resources

A more convenient, monthly treatment for HIV cleared a key hurdle

Once-a-month injection of antiretrovirals works just as well as a daily pill regimen, trials show

In two clinical trials, a monthly injection of antiretroviral drugs was shown to be just as effective as a daily pill regimen at controlling HIV.
SERGII PETRUK/ISTOCK /GETTY IMAGES PLUS

By Jonathan Lambert
MARCH 4, 2020 AT 5:00 PM

People living with HIV are one step closer to having a once-a-month treatment alternative to downing two or more pills a day.

There is no cure for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. But combination antiretroviral therapy, or ART, can effectively halt the replication of the virus, nearly eliminating it from the bloodstream and prolonging life expectancy (SN: 11/15/19). For the therapy to work, though, people must stick to a daily regimen of two or more pills, which experts say can be a challenge for many.

Now, the results of two phase III clinical trials suggest that a monthly shot of antiretroviral drugs works just as well as daily pills, researchers report March 4 in two studies in the New England Journal of Medicine. If approved by regulators, the therapy could be a more convenient treatment for the estimated 1.1 million people living with HIV in the United States.

“From a patient perspective, these results are very positive,” says Elizabeth Tolley, an epidemiologist at FHI 360, a public health nonprofit based… click here to read more.

You are Invited to be a part of Let’s Talk About It

We meet monthly as peers to talk, share experiences, and just to educate each other. We strengthen our skills as we reach out to make the road easier for others. All of the LTAI women are dealing with the same issues and we talk about how to overcome barriers and obstacles in life.

We develop posters, magazines and participate in activities to share our stories, so that others can learn from our experiences. 

What can women gain from joining LTAI?
They get to know how other people relate to us, they can relate to each other and they can understand each other. 

What skills can you learn at LTAI?
We talk about our eating habits, how to best take our meds, how we can deal with life itself. We learn how to love one another and how to reach out to each other.

Can you give an example of how LTAI has been helpful for you?
I have learned how to not be so aggressive; I have a lot of anger. I have learned how to call on other people for ideas about how to handle a situation or certain resources that might help me.

I think more women need to get involved in LTAI because we get to express our feelings, we get to talk about anything and everything that we want to talk about… and it does not go any further than our group. We don’t have anyone pre-judging us because of our illness.
We can make a difference in the lives of other women!!

By  “L. H.”

8 minutes, 46 seconds: A love letter to our people

*** Content warnings: anti-Black racism, violence, pain, killing of Black people by the police, lack of accountability by the State, KKK *** 

June 2, 2020

PWN family,

We love you.

We have been rocked and our hearts are broken by the footage of George Floyd, murdered by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who held Floyd under his knee for a full 8 minutes and 46 seconds. George Floyd cried out for his mama as he was dying.

Eight. Minutes. And. Forty. Six. Seconds.

We are breathless with grief, rage, pain, and despair.

But Derek Chauvin did not act alone. Officer Thomas Lane pulled… Click here to read more.

From HIV/ AIDS to COVID-19

This pandemic brings me back 37 plus years to the dark days of HIV. As a woman living with HIV little was known back then, as little is known about the coronavirus, except we all know how we can stay safe from contracting this deadly virus! The scientists are making great strides on a vaccine.

We must all do our part by keeping safe and educating as many people as possible.
So, sisters, let’s do this ! We are all in this together and much better equipped with knowledge.
“Again, stay in and educate”

Read more…

IRS Launches New Way For People To Get Coronavirus Rebates

Arthur Delaney
HuffPost April 10, 2020

The Internal Revenue Service unveiled a new website Friday where people who don’t normally file tax returns can enter bank account information so they can receive coronavirus payments.

The new site is on IRS.gov. There’s a big blue button that says “Non Filers: Enter Payment Info Here.”

Since Congress passed a law calling for cash payments to most households in the U.S., people with low incomes… Click here to keep reading.

Interim Guidance for COVID-19 and Persons with HIV

Last Updated: March 20, 2020; Last Reviewed: March 20, 2020

This interim guidance reviews special considerations for persons with HIV and their health care providers in the United States regarding COVID-19. Information and data on COVID-19 are rapidly evolving. This guidance includes general information to consider. Clinicians should refer to updated sources for more specific recommendations regarding COVID-19.

Click here to continue reading.

At Let’s At Let’s Talk About It- we stand up and speak out against gender-based abuse!

reprinted from:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/shannon-weber/women-hiv-and-trauma-towa_b_10489298.html

Women, HIV and Trauma: Toward Resiliency & Healing

06/17/2016 02:52 pm ET | Updated Jun 18, 2016
  • Shannon Weber Love note writer + public displays of affection + mapping the end of HIV transmission
  • Co-authored by Karishma Oza, HIVE Program Coordinator. 2016-06-15-1466025254-1904082-LoveNoteHeal.jpg

    One in four U.S. women have experienced gender based violence. Among women living with HIV, one in two has experienced intimate partner violence, and more than 60% have been sexually abused – 5 times the rate of the general female population.

    For over twenty-five years, Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital & Trauma Center-based HIVE clinic, has provided compassionate, expert reproductive and sexual health care to women living with or affected by HIV. The impact and consequences of violence against women, particularly women living with HIV, is magnified through the lens of women’s reproductive health. Reproductive health highlights the intersection of violence and reproductive justice at the individual, community and institutional level.

    • Trauma is associated with: increased HIV vulnerability, higher HIV incidence, faster disease progression, more hospitalizations.
    • Unaddressed trauma is associated with twice the rate of death among women living with HIV.
    • The aftermath of violence and/or trauma ruptures women’s relationships with themselves, their partners, family members and the medical system.
    • Women living with HIV have higher rates of tubal regret – meaning more women second guess their decision to have a tubal ligation, for some this decision was made for them.
    • Partner contraception sabotage increases rates of unintended pregnancies.
    • 33 U.S. states with HIV criminalization laws enforce long histories of systemic oppression, further stigmatizing women.

    Pregnancy, contraception, trauma and HIV vulnerability intersect in ways that dramatically impact women’s lives. Even in the face of these overwhelming statistics and devastating outcomes, there is hope. Our collective resilience is cause for a standing ovation. We can seek solidarity in our advocacy efforts and heal through relationships even as we continue efforts to create systems-level change.

    Progress at the national level to integrate trauma-informed care into the primary care setting and specific references to trauma-informed care in the updatedNational HIV/AIDS Strategy, shifts institutional approaches. We share strategies for operationalizing these guidelines at the clinic and individual level with a lens toward healing and resiliency-oriented approaches for working with women living with HIV who’ve experienced trauma.

    1. Shift our focus from “What is wrong with you?” to “What happened?” Moving away from blame, allowing space for her story, staying curious, seeking to understand her worldview creates opportunity to meet women where they are and understand their lived experiences.

    2. Commit to self-care and resiliency oriented approaches to our work. More than just practicing what we preach, this integration of trauma-informed principles become the touchstone for truly becoming a trauma reducing, healing system. This begins with a commitment to heal ourselves.

    3. Include women. Ask women for feedback on provider and program approaches, integrate women’s lived experiences when designing new programs or crafting policies, hire women for important roles. Create space for women living with HIV to lead.

    4. Use trigger warnings at the beginning of emotionally intense meetings or online content. Those with primary or secondary trauma are among us. Invite self-care. Create awareness and respect with an overview of what to expect. Respect the self-care measures others take.

    5. Universal screening for intimate partner violence, with counseling and referrals. Preventative education about the intersection of intimate partner violence and health can be provided to all patients, not just those who have disclosed a history of violence. Ask questions in non-triggering, nonjudgmental language with the goal of patient empowerment and safety.

    6. Rape and other forms of violence remove women’s sense of power and control. The medical system is inherently hierarchal. However, medical visits should not create more pain, violence, or humiliation. Turn commands into questions, create space for her response, provide opportunities for women to be in control.

    7. “Difficult” patients may have experienced sexual trauma. She isn’t difficult; she’s had a difficult life or experienced traumas that are difficult to integrate. What might be difficult is the system she’s trying to navigate. Reframing allows space for the experience she is living, invites you to meet her where she is today.

    8. The body of a survivor remembers traumatic experiences. We are somatic creatures; this is our vulnerability and our strength. Through our interactions with survivors, we can change the way we see her, then change the way she sees herself.

    Toward resiliency and healing, we share this poem.

    beyond compassion
    By Silvi Alcivar, The Poetry Store

    the gates call you
    to move forward,
    to pass through thresholds
    that make you able to sustain you,
    the work,
    that make you able to sit in service,
    to model dignity,
    to recognize trauma,
    to take care of community,
    self,
    to live your intellect through your heart
    and be wise.

    the wise one asks:
    what’s the beauty of what we attract?
    what’s the beauty asking me to heal?

    the wise one remembers the breath.
    the wise one drinks the waters of nourishment and release.
    the wise one works with the shadow knowing the shadow means
    there’s always a source of light.

    the wise one asks:
    what are you teaching me?
    what isn’t being seen, held?

    oh, the gates call you, wise ones,
    to move forward, to attend
    to what needs attending, what wants attention
    in ourselves and our inheritance.

    call in your support. breathe.
    honor the spaces between.
    hold intention. clear. release.

    put on your golden cape.
    heal. and be healed.