Category Archives: Education

Sexual health education for men who have sex with men

PA Dept of Health: What You Need to Know About Monkeypox

Posted on by

From the PA Department of Health…

Monkeypox is not a sexually transmitted disease and does not spread easilyOpens In A New Window between people. However, anyone who has extremely close personal contact — mostly skin-to-skin — including direct contact with monkeypox rash, scabs, or body fluid from a person with monkeypox, can get it and should take steps to protect themselvesOpens In A New Window.  

Take the following steps to prevent getting monkeypox: 

  • Avoid close, skin-to-skin contact with people who have a rash that looks like pimples or blisters. 
  • Do not touch the rash or scabs of a person with monkeypox. 
  • Do not kiss, hug, cuddle or have sex with someone with monkeypox. 
  • Do not handle or touch the unwashed bedding, towels, or clothing of a person with monkeypox. 
  • Wash your hands often with soap and water or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer, especially before eating or touching your face and after you use the bathroom. 
  • Do not share eating utensils or cups with a person with monkeypox. 
  • If you have symptoms or test positive, isolate yourself until the rash heals to avoid transmitting monkeypox to others.

If you think you have developed monkeypox (if you have symptoms), please talk to your healthcare provider or contact 877-PA-HEALTH. Providers can help ensure you are tested if appropriate, and if necessary, receive treatment for monkeypox. If you test positive you will need to isolate (avoid contact with others) until the rash heals. 

If you have been exposed to someone who has monkeypox, you may need to receive the vaccine, although not everyone will need a monkeypox vaccine.

Read the full article.

For more information on monkeypox, the Pennsylvania Department of Health also provides a monkeypox FAQ sheet.

14 Things I Wish Queer Men Were Taught in Sex Ed By Zachary Zane

Posted on by

From Pride.com (By Zachary Zane)…

Oh, sex ed. A decade later, and the only thing I remember “learning” from it is “wear a condom.” I honestly don’t think I could tell you another single bit of information they “taught” me except for that men have a vas deferens, which is somewhere in the penis. (Testicles, maybe?)

Imagine how nice it would have been if they actually taught us something useful! Imagine if instead of scaring us and making us fear our own sexuality, sex ed courses taught us how to embrace and explore our sexuality safely! Can you imagine??

So here are 14 things I wish sex ed courses taught me! (And all queer men and queer folks, for that matter. Screw it—everyone can benefit from this!)

Why are we so coy about sex education for gay teens?

Posted on by

From theguardian.com…

Society likes to keep gay teens sexless. It likes to maintain that gay content (even something non-sexual, like the representation of gay parents) is inappropriate for children’s TV or books. Those who complain say it’s too adult – implying that queerness, essentially, is all about sex, while straightness is just what a normal relationship looks like. It’s a weird dichotomy: straight people holding hands are non-sexual, while queer people holding hands is somehow the same as broadcasting pornography. The message is clear across all media: gays have to be kept sexless because they’re already too much about sex.

Read the full article by novelist Lev Rosen.

Who we are… 

Posted on by

m4mHealthySex.org is a joint effort between the HIV Prevention and Care Project and the Pitt Men’s Study at the Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh. Our goal is to provide up-to-date sexual health information for men who have sex with men. Click on the menu or the page links above to find testing and care resources, including information about PrEP.

You can also scroll down for the latest blog posts as part of our archive of sexual health information…

HIV activist learning modules: engaging our community in HIV prevention policy advocacy

Posted on by

From thebody.com and the Treatment Action Group…

While many of us who come from communities highly impacted by HIV have the lived experiences and the passion required for HIV prevention advocacy, developing an advocacy agenda and getting up to speed on the current state of HIV prevention science is not always easy. In order to support the efforts of prevention advocates across the United States, Treatment Action Group has developed a series of modules to help support activists’ capacity needs and to develop advocacy action plans. The slides, handouts, and webinars in each module focus on how to identify and change the governmental, organizational, and institutional policies that create roadblocks to comprehensive HIV prevention in our communities. The materials are useful for personal education or group discussion on HIV prevention and policy advocacy.

Go to thebody.com to find links to each of the learning modules.

Optimal Care Checklist available for men who have sex with men

Posted on by

for men onlyWhether you are gay, bisexual or any man who has sex with other men (MSM), there are certain health issues that are important for you to talk about with your doctor. This brochure entitled Your Sexual Health, published by the National Coalition of STD Directors and the National Alliance of State & Territorial AIDS Directors, is designed to help you get important health care specific to the wellbeing of gay and bi men.

Issues such as Pre-Exposure Prophylactics (PrEP), rising STD rates in the community, getting vaccinated for Hepatitis A & B and for Human Papillomavirus (HPV) are just a few of the topics you might want to discuss with your health care provider. Your Sexual Health can help you break the ice. Being informed is an important first step in protecting yourself and your community.

National Youth HIV & AIDS Awareness Day: The realities of our lives

Posted on by

From the HRC blog…

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention caused a media firestorm when it announced that Black men who have sex with men in the United States now have a 50 percent chance of being diagnosed with HIV in their lifetime.

Youth and HIVBut for us, this is not some abstract statistic. It is the reality of our lives. And it is not the whole story either. Often lost in mainstream coverage of HIV are the ways stigma and discrimination put young people like us at increased risk for HIV – while also limiting our ability to get tested or seek treatment.

How can we take steps to reduce the spread of HIV if our schools failed to offer comprehensive sex education? How could we be expected to take advantage of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis – the once-daily pill regimen that can prevent HIV – if there were no providers in our communities willing to prescribe it? How could we be expected to adhere to our medication and reach an undetectable viral load if we were constantly worried about where were going to put our heads at night? Or, what food we were going to eat? These are the questions young people are grappling with as we continue to make-up more than 25 percent of all new HIV transmissions in the U.S. These are the questions that demand answers.

But rather than scaring young people into submission with reminders of how terrible things used to be, we should be empowering them to make smarter, healthier choices. Young people don’t need to be shielded from the truth about HIV and AIDS. What we need is love, compassion, and mentorship from the people around us. What we need are laws and policies that affirm all of who we are. Only then will an “AIDS-free generation” ever truly be in sight.

Continue reading on the HRC blog.

The gay sex questions you’re afraid to ask your doctor

Posted on by

From the Huffington Post…

No one likes going to the doctor. It’s scary.

But for gay men, it’s even scarier. For one, gay men experience a great deal of stigma and shaming, which makes difficult conversations even harder. Gay men, as a population, are also at higher risk for certain sexually transmitted diseases and conditions. That’s also scary. Lastly, predicting a health care provider’s response to gay-specific isn’t easy. Some doctors are totally comfortable talking about gay sex and gay men’s health; in other instances, doctors shut down entirely.

The reality is, gay men need to feel empowered to have difficult conversations with their doctor. After all, your life is literally on the line. And if your doctor doesn’t respond with professionalism and understanding, it’s time to find someone new.

To get the ball rolling, I asked the gay internet (i.e., my Facebook page) for questions that they’re afraid to ask their doctor — and walked the walk by asking my own doctor, Dr. Jay Gladstein. Here’s what he had to say:

Awareness of treatment’s impact on transmission is transforming the lives of couples of mixed HIV status

Posted on by

From aidsmap.com…

A greater understanding of the impact of HIV treatment on prevention is changing the experience of being in a relationship with a partner of a different HIV status, according to a qualitative Australian study published last week in the Sociology of Health and Illness. A biomedical intervention appears to be having unexpected effects – loosening the association of serodiscordant relationships with ‘risk’ and helping couples to experience their relationships as normal and safe.

Asha Persson of the University of New South Wales reports that people’s views about treatment as prevention have changed significantly in recent years. She previously researched the topic in 2009, soon after the ‘Swiss Statement’ was issued. At that time, people in a relationship with a partner of a different HIV status often expressed scepticism or uncertainty about the idea that HIV treatment could make a person non-infectious. They did not always see the relevance of the information to their own lives.

But in her more recent interviews, conducted in 2013 and 2014, couples readily discussed the implications of having an undetectable viral load. HIV treatment appears to be transforming the social and sexual lives of people living with HIV and their partners.

The research specifically focuses on so-called ‘serodiscordant couples’, in other words those in which one person has HIV and the other does not. The public health literature on serodiscordant relationships typically focuses on the risk of HIV transmission and tends to see such a relationship as inherently problematic. In contrast, Persson found that her interviewees wanted to stress how normal and positive their relationships were, with HIV being seen as ‘no big deal’.

Read the full article on aidsmap.com.

Lambda Legal launches “Know Your Rights: HIV”

Posted on by

From thebody.com…

On September 28, 2015, Lambda Legal launched the newest section of its Know Your Rights information hub. “Know Your Rights: HIV” provides information for people living with HIV people on topics such as disclosure and discrimination in housing, healthcare and employment.

Justice“Based on calls to our Legal Help Desk, people living with HIV still face, even in 2015, continued discrimination rooted in ignorance, unfounded fear, misconceptions and outdated science,” said Scott Schoettes, Senior Attorney and HIV Project National Director.

“When denied access to health care or fired from a job because they have HIV, people living with HIV will be able to turn to the “Know Your Rights: HIV” hub to provide much-needed information to help access and navigate the resources and protections that are available. This resource helps to further educate the public and end the stigma and discrimination that people with HIV encounter. Such stigma and discrimination hinder efforts to combat the epidemic.”

Launched the day after the 2015 National Gay Men’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, the “Know Your Rights: HIV” hub provides a wide range of information about the rights of all people living with HIV, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

“Though Lambda Legal is primarily an LGBT organization, our mission with respect to HIV covers all people living with HIV, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity,” said Kyle Palazzolo, HIV Project Staff Attorney. “We believe everyone living with HIV will find this information useful, and we hope that even more people will call our Legal Help Desk when seeking guidance.”

Read more.

HIV prevention pill a tough sell among Latinos

Posted on by

From NPR.org…

“It hasn’t really hit the Latino community yet,” Jesse Hinostroza, an HIV prevention specialist with AltaMed health clinics, says while sitting at a table with a bowl of condoms and a stack of bilingual pamphlets about the pill. “They aren’t educated about it.” In California, New York, Texas and elsewhere, health workers are trying to get more high-risk Latino men to use the drug, Truvada. AltaMed’s efforts are being paid for by Gilead, the pharmaceutical company that makes Truvada.

The medication, which is used for “pre-exposure prophylaxis,” or PrEP, was approved by the FDA in 2012 for HIV prevention and has been shown to be more than 90 percent effective when used correctly. But health workers are encountering barriers among Latinos. Those barriers include a lack of knowledge about the drug, and the stigmas attached to sleeping with men and to perceived promiscuity. Many Latinos also have concerns about costs and side effects.

Read the full article.

Human Rights Campaign (HRC) publishes updated guide to practicing safer sex

Posted on by

Press release from the HRC…

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation, in collaboration with Whitman-Walker Heath (WWH), released an updated guide to practicing safer sex that includes essential tips to minimize the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

The guide, “Safer Sex,” an updated version of the first edition released five years ago, is written for people of all sexual orientations and gender identities, covering topics ranging from basic facts about HIV and STIs, and the importance of practicing safer sex, to the role of new HIV prevention regimens including Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis, or “PrEP.”

The pocket-sized publication is the latest collaboration between the HRC Foundation and WWH, building on their shared commitment to securing the health and well-being of LGBT people in the nation’s capital and beyond.

“It’s a fact that many LGBT people don’t see themselves, or their relationships, discussed in mainstream sexual health resources,” said Jay Brown, the HRC Foundation’s Director of Research and Public Education. “With rates of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections on the rise among young people and in communities of color, HRC and Whitman-Walker remain committed to providing crucial health and wellness information in a way that is medically accurate, culturally competent, and judgement-free.”

Read more on the HRC Website.

February 7 is National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

Posted on by

From AIDS.gov…

Like so many Americans, I have seen the tragedy first hand, of friends lost to HIV/ AIDS. I’ve also seen the hope of those living with HIV as we continue to work toward an AIDS free generation.

Each February 7th, we mark National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NBHAAD). It’s an opportunity for all of us to honor the memory of those we’ve lost, and to call attention to the fact that HIV continues to disproportionately affect African American men, women, and youth.

The numbers are startling: African Americans represent only 14 percent of the U.S. population, but account for almost half of all new HIV infections in the United States per year, as well as more than one-third of all people living with HIV in our nation.

NBHAAD Banner

This year’s NBHAAD theme, “I Am My Brother’s/Sister’s Keeper: Fight HIV/AIDS” challenges all of us to work to eliminate these unacceptable health disparities by ramping up our HIV prevention efforts, encouraging individuals to get tested, and helping those who are living with HIV to access the life-saving medical treatment they need.

One of the ways the Department of Health and Human Services is responding to this charge is by launching a new four-year demonstration project funded through the Secretary’s Minority AIDS Initiative to address HIV disparities among men who have sex with men (MSM), including men of color.

We are focusing on HIV disparities among MSM, including MSM of color, because black gay and bisexual men—particularly young men—remain the population most heavily affected by HIV in the U.S. Young black MSM account for more new infections (4,800 in 2010) than any other subgroup of MSM by race/ethnicity and age. These shocking figures demand that we take action.

The cross-agency demonstration project will support community-based models in strengthening HIV prevention efforts, addressing gaps in care for those living with HIV, and helping meet the health care needs of MSM, including MSM of color. More specifically, the funding will support state and local health departments in providing MSM of color, and other MSM, with the health and social services they need to live healthy lives free of HIV infection. For those already infected, the funding will support community-based services that help MSM of color, and other MSM, get diagnosed and linked to the right care—including substance abuse and mental health treatment as well as necessary social services, like stable housing. Helping people access and remain in HIV care is good medicine and important to our public health—since it lowers individuals’ risk of passing HIV to others.

We all have a role to play in working toward an AIDS free generation. Education and understanding prevention and treatment of HIV is important. And HIV testing is also critical as we continue to tackle this disease. One thing we can all do is speak out – speak out against HIV stigma whenever and wherever you encounter it. Stigma and shame continue to prevent too many people from seeking testing and getting the health care they need to live healthy, active lives.

Read more about HIV among African Americans and efforts to prevent and treat this disease at CDC.gov.

US guidelines on “prevention with positives” now emphasize engagement with care, HIV treatment and social factors

Posted on by

From aidsmap.com…

The American public health agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has published new recommendations on the HIV prevention interventions and advice that should be offered to people who are HIV positive.

The CDC last issued guidelines on what is sometimes called ‘prevention with positives’ in 2003. Those guidelines ran to 24 pages and emphasised screening for behavioural risk factors and sexually transmitted infections, one-to-one prevention counselling and advice delivered by clinicians, other behavioural interventions, and partner notification.

All those elements remain but the scope of the new guidelines is much broader, with the recommendations now running to 240 pages. Whereas previous guidelines were clearly focused on the individual’s knowledge and behaviour, the new recommendations take greater account of social and structural factors as well as the profound impact that antiretrovirals have on HIV transmission. For example, an individual may need support with poverty, mental illness, substance use or unstable housing in order to be able to fully engage with medical care and adhere to HIV treatment.

Continue reading on aidsmap.com.

Find out why these gay and bi men have decided to go on PrEP

Posted on by

From the Advocate online…

Despite recommendation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and studies that indicate that PrEP can reduce HIV transmission by 96 and up to 99 percent, there are still relatively few gay and bisexual men on the drug.

It can be hard to find anyone among your friends to ask about it. And what makes a person decide they want to go on the once-daily pill varies a lot. The Advocate reached out to gay and bi men, as well as serodiscordant couples, who use the drug to hear their reasons. They offered advice for those on the fence about it. Read their stories in their own words.

HIV Treatment Works national communication campaign for people living with HIV

Posted on by

he Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) HIV Treatment Works national communication campaign for people living with HIV features the stories of individuals living with HIV talking about how sticking to treatment helps them stay healthy, protect others, do what they love, and live a longer, healthier life. Visit the campaign website for resources and free materials: http://www.cdc.gov/HIVTreatmentWorks. More than 1.1 million people in the United States are living with HIV.