HIVE in the Media

Despite the threat of a nationwide blood shortage because of the pandemic, many gay and bisexual men are still being turned away when they volunteer to give blood, even if they meet federal donor criteria.

Recently, the New York Times published a feature about the racial and generational divide in the reproductive health and justice movements. The article focused on the ways in which Black and Brown women and non-binary people are excluded from prevailing narratives around the fight to protect Roe, while ignoring the very urgent and intersecting issues that affect their lives. I was one of the women interviewed and, after the piece was published, I found that much of the backlash was defensive; many people painted me and the young women of color interviewed as out of touch with the feminist movement, instead of embracing the opportunity in intersectional approaches.

Some Gen Z and millennial women said they viewed abortion rights as important but less urgent than other social justice causes. Others said racial disparities in reproductive health must be a focus.

More than 500 doctors, researchers and public health specialists are calling on the Food and Drug Administration to eliminate constraints on blood donations by gay and bisexual men, saying the agency did not go far enough when it relaxed its restrictions earlier this month.

Working remotely when your kids are home from school ain?t exactly a cakewalk. Whether you?re in school, or have a desk job, there?s work to be done and if you have one kid or many, it can feel batsh*t crazy trying to get anything done with them in the house.

Recent data reveals that San Francisco refers Black and Latino families to Child Protective Services (CPS) custody at a higher rate than Caucasian families. In the city of San Francisco, there are 208 allegations of child maltreatment per 1,000 children?with many referrals originating at Zuckerberg San Francisco General (SFGH). SFGH is the largest safety-net hospital in the area and about 1,000 babies are born there every year. Currently, there is no protocol in place within the hospital to provide guidance to clinicians or social workers around involving CPS in a patient?s case. Furthermore, there is no mechanism for departmental oversight of referrals to CPS and many patients perceive bias and racism to be at play in their CPS referrals.

Participants in a pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) trial comparing TDF/FTC (Truvada) with a look-alike dummy pill aimed to take two pills 2 to 24 hours before sex, one pill 24 hours after the first two pills, and one pill 24 hours after the third pill.

Dr. Monica Hahn co-authored a piece called “Special Considerations: The Care of Women and Gender Variant Patients Living with HIV” in the October 2018 issue of HIV Specialist Magazine.

In honor of Father’s Day, we sat down with Shannon Weber, M.S.W., executive director of HIVE and Guy Vandenberg, M.S.W., RN, with the Positive Reproduction Options for Men (PRO Men) project of HIVE and Ward 86 in San Francisco.

Although men who have sex with other men are still most susceptible to HIV in the U.S., women nonetheless made up 19 percent of new diagnoses in 2016. Black women specifically are disproportionately affected by HIV, accounting for 61 percent of women living with the disease and 19 percent of new diagnoses, while making up only about 7 percent of the population.

The Chancellor Award for Public Service in the staff category was awarded to Shannon Weber, who has worked steadfastly on HIV prevention, care and treatment projects.

The prescription of HIV-prevention pills has lagged, and negative biases towards patients could help explain why.

It’s good news for HIV-affected couples and those who treat them: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is, at long last, truly up-to-date on its HIV-affected conception guidance.

Caroline Watson, who serves as the social justice and communications coordinator for UCSF?s HIVE clinic and program, was honored as a 2018 recipient of the Heroes & Hearts Award during an event at AT&T Park.

The 2018 heroes are Karen Aguilar, Lead Patient Navigator of Gender Health SF at San Francisco Department of Public Health, and Caroline Watson, Social Justice and Communications Coordinator at ZSFG?s HIVE.

In a Rare Series of Candid Conversations, Three Women of Color Open Up About Their Decisions to Take PrEP, the Challenges They Faced Along the Way, and the Impact Their Stories are Having in Their Communities.

Today, for people living with HIV, treatment of the virus that causes AIDS with antiretroviral therapy allows individuals to live longer, healthier and fuller lives. Among mixed status, or serodifferent, couples ? where one partner has HIV and the other does not ? suppression of the virus also prevents transmission.
In fact, a recent CDC report published this month notes that three multinational studies following about 3,000 sexually active mixed status couples over many years ? where the partner living with HIV was virologically suppressed by ART, and condoms weren?t used ? found no cases of transmission of the virus to the partner who didn?t have HIV.

We’re in the middle of a revolution in our efforts to fight HIV. However, you wouldn’t know it from a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that advises providers about conception when one partner is living with HIV.

?Nobody thinks they?re at risk for HIV regardless of what they?re doing, and then you have these layers of shame,? Weber tells Teen Vogue. ?So it has to be integrated into a wellness package.?

Many know that digital tools have become indispensable for connecting with many audiences?but we also know that what?s available in the digital realm is always changing. So how do you know what tools are best for your purpose? And how do you plan for your organization?s digital future when the pace of change is so rapid? Recently, we asked colleagues what advice they would give for developing a digital media strategy.

For Caroline Watson, it’s that fear and misinformation that’s spurring her ride. Caroline, who works at a nonprofit that focuses on advancing reproductive and sexual wellness for people with HIV, is riding for her friend, Ryan, who recently began taking medication to treat the illness.

Straight or gay, aspiring parents who have HIV in the mix have numerous options for conceiving a child without transmitting the virus.

BETA wanted to distill some of these important findings by asking some prominent San Francisco Bay Area HIV experts to give us their take on the International AIDS Conference. We asked, ?What did you find interesting? What did you find exciting? And, what did you learn??