Noteworthy News

The U.S. Department of Health and Humans Services (HHS), through its Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy (OIDP), developed a unique data visualization tool that displays the most up-to-date, standardized, HIV indicator data from the CDC along with progress data for the 50 U.S. states and EHE goals for each priority area. AHEAD affords stakeholders the opportunity to...

The Raleigh City Council unanimously voted to join in a new, LGBTQ-inclusive non-discrimination ordinance Tuesday, the day after the ordinance was passed by Wake County.

Celeste Jones remembers moving to Raleigh to find happiness and “live an authentic life.” “As a Black trans woman, it was extremely difficult to find a job,” Jones said Monday afternoon. “It often felt like people would give me one look and immediately refused to give me a chance....

Adult Americans who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender experience higher rates of food and economic insecurity than their non-LGBT counterparts, according to the findings of a key coronavirus pandemic survey released Wednesday by the Census Bureau.

Read more at: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/wake-county/article255097562.html#storylink=cpy

Sunday, June 27, is National HIV Testing Day, and some organizations are looking to increase testing numbers. HIV testing has gone down since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, in some counties by more than 50%, according to North Carolina Health News. With healthcare workers focused on the coronavirus and smaller organizations having to close their doors, HIV testing took a back seat.

Danica Roem, on her knees with her face in her hands, crying. It was 2017 and she had just become the first state lawmaker who identifies as transgender elected in Virginia. She will always be the first, but four years later, she is no longer the only person in the US who identifies as transgender to be elected and serve in a state legislative body. It's not a well populated trail, but one she is proud to have blazed.

Researchers have found that when put up against traditional, or face-to-face (F2F), care, telemedicine (TM) produced comparable results among persons living with HIV in rural Georgia, thereby presenting itself as a potential way to increase access to specialty HIV care for these individuals.

In parts of the US, HIV rates are currently climbing among underserved populations. We’ve seen a recent epidemic among people without stable housing in Boston, and similar outbreaks in areas like West Virginia and Philadelphia. The COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated the problem because many people have had less access to testing and medical care for HIV. Now more than ever, medicines known as pre-exposure prophylaxis — or PrEP — could help reverse this worrisome trend by preventing people from getting HIV.

“Turning away patients with HIV or requiring them to provide information that is not medically recommended, creates unfair barriers to health care for people with HIV,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The ADA requires health care providers to treat patients based on current medical knowledge about their particular health conditions, and not based on stereotypes or misconceptions about a disability."