Terrence Higgins Trust is launching a new campaign today teaching gay men just how HIV is passed on during unprotected anal sex. With little or no sex education relevant to young gay men in schools this new campaign gives a valuable biology lesson to fill these important knowledge gaps.

The ‘Biology of Transmission’ campaign, aimed especially at younger men and others new to gay sex, gets vital HIV transmission information across using three striking ‘bottom’ themed images;

- the sponge - illustrating how the lining of the rectum absorbs semen and pre-cum containing HIV.

- the eggs - covering how the rectal lining can be damaged during anal sex or when objects enter the rectum, allowing HIV easier entry into the bloodstream.

- the peach - explaining how (often unnoticed) sexually transmitted infections make it easier for HIV to be passed on due to skin damage inside the rectum

The sponge, egg and peach images will appear on ads in national and local gay press for three months until late January. They will also be seen on posters, condom packs and wallet sized information cards inside liquid filled travelcard holders. Ads on popular gay web sites such as Gaydar and Recon will take men to the http://www.chapsonline.org.uk/biology web pages where they can find all they need to know about how HIV is transmitted and prevented during sex between men. An action doll-themed booklet called ‘Ready for Action’ is also being distributed explaining the many ways men can reduce their risk of getting or passing on HIV.

Marc Thompson, Deputy Head of Health Promotion said: “Many men become sexually active having left school without the basic HIV facts they need to stay safe. Young men have been very enthusiastic about this new campaign. With its simple language and easily understood visuals men of all ages will benefit from hearing how HIV is transmitted and how condoms - or having non-penetrative sex - greatly reduces their risk.”

‘Biology of Transmission’ is a revised version of a CHAPS campaign that first ran seven years ago and which won the 2003 Communication Excellence Award. It has been independently evaluated as the most popular and effective of all the CHAPS campaigns. The accompanying ‘Ready for Action’ booklet has been given a Patient Information Award by the British Medical Association.

Notes

The CHAPS programme is funded by the Department of Health and co-ordinated by Terrence Higgins Trust to provide HIV health promotion to gay men in England and Wales. The partnership includes THT, GMFA, Manchester’s Lesbian and Gay Foundation, Yorkshire MESMAC, Trade Men’s Sexual Health Project in Leicester, Liverpool’s Armistead Project, Sheffield Centre for HIV and Sexual Health, the Eddystone Trust in Plymouth, and Sigma Research. http://www.chapsonline.org.uk

Source
Terrence Higgins Trust

Theratechnologies (TSX:TH) announced that results from a pooled analysis from both its Phase 3 clinical trials evaluating tesamorelin for the treatment of excess abdominal fat in HIV-infected patients with lipodystrophy were presented as a poster (Poster number: #BPD2/1) at the 12th European AIDS Conference/EACS in Cologne, Germany. This Poster will also be presented as part of a “Best Poster” discussion on Friday. In addition, as part of its disease awareness program, Theratechnologies will also sponsor a symposium entitled “Lipohypertrophy: Beyond Body Image”, which will be held tomorrow morning at the Conference.

The poster outlined pooled data from both Phase 3 clinical trials and demonstrated that treatment with 2 mg tesamorelin daily for 26 weeks resulted in:

- Significant visceral adipose tissue (”VAT”) decrease in tesamorelin-treated patients after 26 weeks of treatment (-13.1 more or less 21.1% p less than 0.001 vs. placebo);

- No clinically significant changes in limb fat (0.2 more or less 13.2%, p=0.001 vs. placebo) and in abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue (”SAT”) (0.7 more or less 15.5%, p=0.08 vs. placebo);

- Significant decrease in triglycerides (-0.4 more or less 1.6 mmol/L, p less than 0.001 vs. placebo).

At Week 52, improvements in VAT and triglycerides observed at Week 26 were sustained in the group of patients who received tesamorelin over 52 weeks (-17.5 more or less 23.3% and -0.5 more or less 2.0 mmol/L, respectively, p less than 0.001 vs. baseline). Patients who were switched from tesamorelin to placebo treatment at Week 26, per the study design, regained VAT at Week 52 (0.3 more or less 26.3%, p=0.18 vs. baseline). No clinically important changes in glucose parameters were observed after treatment with tesamorelin at both Weeks 26 and 52.

The poster presented is now available on Theratechnologies’ website at http://www.theratech.com

About HIV-Associated Lipodystrophy

Several factors including the antiretroviral drug regimen and the virus itself are thought to contribute to HIV-associated lipodystrophy, which is characterized by body composition changes, dyslipidemia and glucose intolerance. The changes in body composition include excess abdominal fat accumulation. There is currently no approved treatment available for the excess abdominal fat related to HIV-associated lipodystrophy, a condition that can stigmatize patients and discourage HIV treatment adherence.

Source
Theratechnologies

Women around the world are “denied a chance to develop their full human potential” because of a lack of essential health care throughout their lives, according to a World Health Organization report released Monday, Reuters reports. The report is the organization’s first attempt to highlight gender disparities in medical care over women’s lifetimes.

According to the report, women typically seek medical services more often than men, particularly during childbearing years, but they often fail to receive adequate treatment to cope with violence, depression and problems related to old age. In addition, childbirth assistance can be especially difficult to obtain for unmarried and marginalized women, teenagers and commercial sex workers, the report said. About 99% of the estimated 500,000 childbirth-related deaths annually occur in developing countries where there is a lack of medical supplies and skilled health care workers.

“In many countries, sexual and reproductive health services tend to focus exclusively on married women and ignore the needs of unmarried women and adolescents,” the report said, adding, “Paradoxically, health systems are often unresponsive to the needs of women despite the fact that women themselves are major contributors to health, through their roles as primary care givers in the family and also health care providers” (MacInnis, Reuters, 11/9).

The report also found that AIDS is the leading cause of death and disease among women ages 15 through 44 and that unsafe sex is the leading risk factor in developing countries for these women, the AP/Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Other risk factors include lack of access to contraception and iron deficiency. The report said, “Women who do not know how to protect themselves from [sexually transmitted] infections, or who are unable to do so, face increased risks of death or illness,” adding, “So do those who cannot protect themselves from unwanted pregnancy or control their fertility because of lack of access to contraception” (Klapper, AP/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 11/9).

The report emphasized that many health care disparities affect women across income brackets and geographic boundaries. Women are also more likely than men to be affected by depression and anxiety, to contract an STI, be victims of sexual violence, and have untreated health problems associated with old age. The report also said that unequal access to education, employment and equal pay can present difficulties for women, particularly in markets where health insurance is linked to employment or where fees are required to access basic care.

Women “generally live longer than men, but their lives are not necessarily healthy or happy,” Margaret Chen, head of WHO, said, adding, “The obstacles that stand in the way of better health for women are not primarily technical or medical in nature. They are social and political” (Reuters, 11/9). She added, “We will not see a significant improvement in the health of women until they are no longer recognized as second-class citizens in many parts of the world” (AP/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 11/9).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women’s Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women’s Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

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