Study: PrEP safe for MSM

These figures come from researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Published in the August issue of Tobacco Control, they’re based on a review of 42 studies about tobacco use among sexual minorities. (The heterosexual numbers are from the National Health Interview Survey.)

It’s not that the finding that gays and lesbians are more likely to smoke is new. According to the summary of an earlier report from the CDC, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine in 2001:

See Gays and lesbians more likely to smoke (by quite a bit), study shows Los Angeles Times

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US May Lift Entry Ban on HIV Patients

For more than two decades, anybody who is HIV positive has been prevented from entering the United States. But with President Barack Obama’s support, the ban will likely expire soon, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) taking public comments until August 17. The department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will then make the final decision. “We’re trying to end the stigma and the discriminatory practice for a disease that doesn’t warrant exclusion for coming into this country,” said the director of the CDC’s division of global migration and quarantine, Dr. Martin Cetron. “We have to appreciate this is not a threat we face from abroad.” He acknowledged that “HIV is clearly a public health disease of significance,” but added that simply letting somebody with HIV into the country does not “immediately pose a risk to the public.”

The proposal could allow an average of about 5,000 HIV-infected people into the United States each year. And according to a CDC estimate published in the federal register, the lifetime medical costs of those admitted in just the first year would total almost $100 million. The United States is one of about 15 countries that prevent entry of HIV-positive patients, though it is possible to obtain a waiver under certain conditions. See US May Lift Entry Ban on HIV Patients

The New American

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Indiana removes gay white men from HIV/AIDS funding priorities

The Indiana State Department of Health recently cut gay white men as an HIV/AIDS funding priority. African-American and Hispanic men who have sex with men are still included as priority populations. The decision was made by the department’s advisory Community Planning Group (CPG).

The CPG is a Center for Disease Control (CDC) mandated process for funding HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programs in the states; it aims to be politics-free and representative of the community. The Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) administers CDC HIV/AIDS prevention funds. Indiana health activists charge that the Group ignored the CDC’s criteria for defining community priorities.

See Indiana removes gay white men from HIV/AIDS funding priorities

Huffington Post

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