20 Years Later

Jiean

November 7, 1991. There are a few days where you just remember where you were and what you were doing when you heard the news. This is one of them. This was the day Magic Johnson, one of the NBA’s brightest stars, announced to the world that he was HIV positive and essentially changed the face of the disease. At the time, it was widely believed that AIDS was a gay-disease (see: GRID), but as we now know, this disease can affect all human beings, regardless of skin color, sexual orientation, and socio-economic status (see: AIDS  2010 Conference Report).

Not too long ago, a positive diagnosis of HIV infection was considered a death sentence. Fortunately, with advances in bio-medical research, HIV does not have to be a death sentence. With a regimen of positive thinking, healthy eating, and exercising, the HIV virus can remain asleep. Of course, Magic Johnson continues to take antiretroviral drugs to keep the virus in check; and while it’s easy to jump to the conclusion that his money and fame is affording him access to all the latest and greatest therapies, this is not the case. According to Dr. David Ho, a prominent HIV/AIDS researcher, “What he gets, in terms of his therapy, is typical of what most American patients receive. So, he’s not the exception. He is the rule.” Hopefully within Magic’s lifetime, this rule is no longer one that applies only to first-world patients but to 33.3 million people around the world who live with this infection.

So much has changed in our collective understanding of HIV and AIDS. At the time of his announcement, many players’ sentiments mirrored those of the general public. The most notable of which are Karl Malone and Mark Price’s refusal to play with him in the 1992-93 NBA season, despite playing together on America’s 1992 Dream Team. With all the information available today, it is easy to demonize these players; however, if it weren’t for Magic educating us about this disease, we might still be in the Dark Ages. I’m glad that we now live in a world that is increasingly accepting of those with HIV/AIDS. Magic’s enthusiasm in embracing the role of “spokesman for the disease” is quite admirable and it would be difficult to quantify his contribution to this success. Using his celebrity status, Magic and the Magic Johnson Foundation have raised over $10million for research, testing, and scholarships. There are many student groups at Michigan dedicated to doing similar work in our local community and those around the world.

In his closing remarks yesterday, Magic acknowledged the progress that has been made in the past 20 years and calls us to make many more.

“There will always be great basketball players who bounce that little round ball, but my proudest moments are affecting people’s lives, effecting change, being a role model in the community.” – Earvin “Magic” Johnson.

SexLab Research Project as Part of Social Work Internship

Carrie Rheingans

The Sexuality + Health Lab is new to the School of Public Health. Dr. José Bauermeister is the principal investigator of a number of studies being conducted by current students and recent graduates. In its short time, the lab has already published and presented at conferences, including the Association of Public Health’s national conference.

As part of my social work internship at the HIV/AIDS Resource Center (HARC), I get to participate in their “Building a Technology-Enhanced Social Network Intervention to Promote HIV Testing among Young Men who have Sex with men (MSM)” project. We are using mixed methods (qualitative interviews and a quantitative survey) to learn more about if YMSM internet use for finding sexual partners correlates with HIV testing behavior. My role will be to help recruit people for the interviews and survey and to conduct interviews, including in Spanish. I’m very excited about this opportunity!

The funding for this pilot project is from the Michigan Institute for Clinical & Health Research (MICHR) program for Community Engagement. You can see the abstract on their pilot page. It enables research results to be applied to real-life community situations.

HIV and soccer

 

Valentina Stackl

 

I just read an article on CNN.com about HIV and soccer (You can find it here). Now, having been a student at U of M for long enough I have learned that everything is interconnected and that, especially in health, pretty much everything affects everything else. Even soccer and HIV. 

The article proposed that prostitution should be decriminalized in the months leading up to and during the duration of the world cup in South Africa to better access sex workers, half of whom are estimated to be HIV positive. 

Half a million fans are expected to flock to South Africa for the world cup, inevitably increasing the demand for sexual transactions. While years of education about HIV transmission among sex workers in South Africa have increased their positive sexual health practices, such as condom use, often times the clients are the ones who refuse to wear a condom. Sex workers often times don’t feel confident enough to negotiate for condoms.

Some AIDS groups are lobbying for decriminalization of prostitution in hope that it will protect both the sex workers and their clients by increasing condom use and regulating those workers who test positive for HIV and STIs. This, of course is not a perfect system, since HIV positive sex workers who are driven to prostitution due to poverty might still engage in sex for money while the clients might have a false sense of security due to increased regulations of prostitution overall. 

Anyway, I am not sure what the solution is, but decriminalizing and regulating sex work, while providing adequate services for those sex workers who test positive, is definitely a start. 

Also, I wish everyone a happy, healthy, productive and exciting new year!

World AIDS Day 2009

Carrie Rheingans

Today is World AIDS Day: a day where 5,500 people will die of AIDS and 8,200 more will become infected with HIV – 152 of them in the United States of America. The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS just released a report that says that AIDS is the leading cause of death globally in women of reproductive age. We know that HIV is a worldwide crisis, already devastating countries across the globe and poised to ravage others… unless we continue to work to stop AIDS. If you’re a regular blog reader, you know I’m not a person who just spews statistics; you know I like action (see previous posts about work with youth in the USA, youth in Peru, outreach in the USA and Peru, and advocacy). So for this World AIDS Day, I want to share with you some things you can do to help stop AIDS.

1. Volunteer in your local community. The HIV/AIDS Resource Center is Ann Arbor’s local AIDS service organization and is always accepting volunteers. You can also contact the Washtenaw Interfaith HIV/AIDS Network (WIHAN) to volunteer. You can find non-governmental organizations around the world in the Global South through the International AIDS Alliance.
2. Educate yourself and spread your knowledge. Correct myths and discriminatory and stigmatizing language when  you hear it. Good resources: UNAIDS - Kaiser Family Foundation – CDC - MDCH - Avert – AIDS.gov – google.org
3. Get yourself tested for HIV. Free testing is offered all week in the local community (see complete listing here), or you can text your zip code to “KNOWIT” (566948) to find a local testing site.
   

   KNOW YOUR STATUS!

4. Support organizations serving people living with HIV by donating directly to them rather than buying some product that only contributes a minuscule portion of its profits. Your donation goes further when it goes directly to the organization.
5. Write a letter to the editor of your local media source, call into radio stations, and send emails to friends, family and colleagues with things people can do. Describe the epidemic in your local community and challenge people to act. Call on elected officials to fund important services that keep people alive.
6. Attend World AIDS Day and World AIDS Week educational  and action events near you. The Ann Arbor area has many events going on this week – see a complete listing on the World AIDS Week website.
7. Be creative and use your skills to make a difference in your community!

 

Carrie in front of the AIDS memorial in Durban, South Africa

Michigan Community Conversation for a National AIDS Strategy

Carrie Rheingans

Michigan got its chance to give feedback to the White House Office of National AIDS Policy on Wednesday, 18 November 2009. From across the state, providers, people living with HIV, and people affected by HIV came and gave their recommendations, suggestions, and demands on video tape and in writing.

I was the statewide organizer for this event as part of my social work internship at the HIV/AIDS Resource Center (HARC). This experience was the perfect combination of public health and social work that I hope to gain from my dual degree program (MPH/MSW). When the nationwide community conversations were announced, many people across Michigan wondered why we didn’t have one scheduled near us, especially considering the fact that some zip codes in Detroit have higher HIV prevalence than some countries that receive emergency money form the United States government. The Campaign to End AIDS contacted me after hearing from a few outspoken Michiganders and we did a lot of grassroots organizing in a few short weeks to pull off this successful event. See the Between the Lines article and the Michigan Messenger article for further coverage.

The conversation was only two hours long, and the majority of the time was occupied by community members speaking about what they wanted in a National AIDS Strategy. The night started with welcomes from Craig Covey, Ferndale mayor (Ferndale is the city where the event was held) and longtime staff member of the Michigan AIDS Coalition, Christine Campbell and Larry Bryant of the Campaign to End AIDS, and Charles Pugh, President-elect of the Detroit City Council. Charles also moderated the event.

Below are some of the things people told the White House:

“When is the last time we got together as a community of loving, living people when funders weren’t making us?”

“We need quality healthcare for LGBT people living with HIV and AIDS – we need to strengthen doctor-patient relationships because people are not comfortable coming out to their doctors”

“Viagra and Cialis have aided in the resurgence of sexually transmitted infections in senior housing complexes. We need more education and prevention in these locations”

“The church, rid of stigma, denial and fear, becomes a change agent”

“my barrier [to being an AIDS advocate] is childcare”

“I wanted post-exposure prophylaxis and the nurse didn’t even know what it was!”

“We need the same laws coast to coast – enough with a patchwork of different laws about HIV”

“I missed class tonight to be here on my birthday to tell you that we need rec centers for our kids to have something safe to do after school”

“Michigan prisons don’t hand out condoms or test for HIV when people are released – but we know that people are still having sex and they need to get tested because they might need to get right into care”

It was great to hear people from as far away as Kalamazoo, Flint and Lansing gathering to speak out about such an important issue.

Larry Bryant from the Campaign to End AIDS introduces the event as moderator and President-elect of the Detroit City Council Charles Pugh looks on

An AIDS Activist Reflects on Kenneth Cole’s Visit

Carrie Rheingans

I’ve considered myself an AIDS activist for a couple years now, so I was very excited to meet Kenneth Cole when he came to campus last week. He’s been in the public, working to reduce AIDS stigma for nearly as long as I’ve been alive. It was very cool to get to meet him a the reception before his talk. There were about twenty students, not just from public health, that got to meet with him. He started by saying hi to the group then asking us to give him our elevator speech about what we’re interested in and hope to do when we’re done with school. We all also got a copy of his book Awearness: Inspiring Stories about How to Make a Difference.

Students waiting to give their elevator speech to Kenneth Cole

"To Carrie Good luck in your effort to change the world one step at a time. -Stay awear -Kenneth Cole"

My elevator speech included that I have been an AIDS activist for a while now and that I hope to do community-level work around health issues (including AIDS) when I’m done with my two master programs. I also mentioned that I’m going to China and Bangladesh this summer to do some HIV and AIDS work with various organizations. He discussed amfAR’s (The Foundation for AIDS Research) work with their TREAT Asia program, so naturally I asked if they fund students who do work abroad. The other students laughed at my gutsy-ness, but Mr. Cole said you don’t get anything if you don’t ask!

Kenneth Cole and me!

You can see more pictures of the event on my facebook page here.

His talk was mostly a history of how he got where he is today. One thing that I kept thinking was that he had some things going for him that not everyone does, which enabled him to be outspoken in the early stages of the AIDS epidemic in the United States. He’s a white man who has a successful business, all of which give him some power to make a difference. Fortunately, he did decide to use this to the advantage of the cause, making advertising campaigns outside the norm to raise awareness. There’s still a high level of stigma around the world, including  in the United States. Mr. Cole acknowledged that he probably would not wear one of his own t-shirts made for an awareness campaign that said “I have AIDS” due to the potential burden placed on his children if he did so. Overall, it was good to hear from another veteran rabble-rouser to encourage me to keep going.

Here’s a video of Kenneth Cole talking about youth getting involved.

What shoes and social activism have in common

Valentina Stackl

Apperently a whole lot. Kenneth Cole, notable American fashion designer and social activist joined SPH students, staff, and faculty in telling us how. But let’s start at the beginning:

A few students, me and fellow blogger Carrie included, had the opportunity to meet him personally before his big lecture. We received Kenneth Cole  t-shirts with his signature witty slogans, like the one I was wearing which had a crossed out gun and the line “piece out” to promote his anti-gun campaign. We also got a few minutes to chat with him personally, and a personally signed copy of his book Awearness. 

chit-chatting with kenneth cole

Then we went to the main lecture, held at the School of Public Health auditorium. Kenneth talked about his roots, how he was one of the first people to publicly talk about HIV/AIDS in the 80′s, how being creative is how you get people to pay attention, and how sometimes going against traffic is not going in the wrong direction. 

What I found most interesting is how certain topics in public health have become trendy, and actually truly marketable. It’s “cool” to wear Bono’s (red) shirts and support HIV/AIDS, it’s cool to be into what Elton John is into (well maybe less so…) and it’s cool to support a designer (like Kenneth Cole) who is edgy and supports social activism. Hell, he shook Nelson Mandela’s hand, Jon Bon Jovi wrote an essay in his book, so did Matisyahu (for those who don’t know who that is, he’s a devout orthodox jewish reggae star)- this guy is cool- AIDS is cool!

Kenneth Cole's first AIDS campaign

Now- What I found questionable was if Kenneth Cole supported these causes because he could, because he has power in the market, because people watch what he does, OR because doing it creates a certain image around him, an aura of cool that not only solidifies him as an allegedly socially conscious person BUT increases his market to all those lost souls (or is it soles in his case?) with disposable income who need a cause to talk about during dinner parties. And, that again makes me think about whether that matters or not- should we get the word out about HIV/AIDS and other social and health causes in whatever way possible? There is no doubt that either way- Kenneth Cole is a brilliant business man.

Dean Warner and Kenneth Cole - Ken x2 in A x 2

So- here’s what I learned. Sometimes you can sell an idea like a pair of very expensive and very cute shoes: you need to sell the image, not the product. If you wear this pair of shoes- you too can be cool. If you donate money to HIV/AIDS research, wow- you’ll really be cool. But is that enough? I don’t mean to be sarcastic, it’s something to think about. I’m not denying Kenneth Cole, and others like him, have made great contributions to the activist minds in all of us, but I still have to learn to wrap my mind around selling an idea like this fall’s hottest fashion accessory. 

 

PS: Thank you Carrie for taking such awesome pictures

White House Office of National AIDS Policy Coming to Michigan!

Carrie Rheingans

The White House Office of National AIDS Policy is coming to Michigan to host a Community Conversation, in which they will receive feedback and testimonies of people affected by HIV about what should be included in a national AIDS strategy. The Campaign to End AIDS (C2EA), the Black AIDS Institute, and the National Association of People With AIDS (NAPWA) are also supporting the event. I’ve worked with C2EA for the last two years, particularly with their Youth Caucus and the Youth Action Institute, and I will be the Michigan-based contact person. See my previous SPH blog posts about this year’s YAI here and here.

The event will allow people to provide 1-2 minute testimonies about their experiences with HIV (as someone living with HIV, affected by HIV, or working in the field), and what they think should be included in a national AIDS strategy. The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is a program through which the US government supports work to turn the tide against the AIDS epidemics in various hard-hit countries. One requirement to receive PEPFAR money is that each country must have a national AIDS strategy – which the USA itself doesn’t even have! These community conversations, happening all over the country, will help inform the eventual national USA AIDS strategy here at home.

You can give testimony yourself at the event:

FREE ADMISSION

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

6:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Affirmations Community Center

290 West Nine Mile Road

Ferndale, MI 48220

(248) 398-7105

For more info, please contact me at crheinga@gmail.com or leave a message at 734-572-9355 x238

You can also give testimony online. Please register for the event here. Naturally, I’m very excited about this opportunity! Very rarely does such an easy opportunity for policy advocacy happen, and even more rarely can I work on it as part of my social work internship! This opportunity gives me a chance to flex both my public health and social work muscles!

U.S. One of Twelve Countries…

Carrie Rheingans

The United States is one of twelve countries that ban people living with HIV from entering the country. This is on my mind because I am writing a paper for my social work class about welfare policies, and I recently heard a story on National Public Radio about the topic. I’ve worked with the Campaign to End AIDS for the last two years to try to get this ban overturned.

Originally, when AIDS was first discovered (1981, then called the highly-stigmatizing GRID, or gay-related immune deficiency), there was great fear of it in this country. The US made its entry policy in the late 80′s (1987), when the fear was still going strong. To this day, we still have the same restrictions (with one amendment to make it a more streamlined process), and people can even be deported or denied citizenship if they become infected with HIV while here as an immigrant. The historic claim is that the ban protects the public’s health by not unnecessarily increasing the number of people in this country living with HIV (and the US has restrictions based on many other diseases too). Section 212(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act reads, in part:

(a) Classes of Aliens Ineligible for Visas or Admission.-Except as otherwise provided in this Act, aliens who are inadmissible under the following paragraphs are ineligible to receive visas and ineligible to be admitted to the United States:

(1) Health-related grounds.-

(A) In general.-Any alien-

(i) who is determined (in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services) to have a communicable disease of public health significance, which shall include infection with the etiologic agent for acquired immune deficiency syndrome

My problem with this is that the people I know living with HIV aren’t planning to purposefully go around and infect others, and in fact, take great care with the health of their partners. Additionally, there are other, much more virulent and transmissible, diseases that do not bar entry, such as the novel H1N1 flu or tuberculosis. This act also specifically mentions the “etiologic agent for acquired immune deficiency syndrome”, which is known to be HIV. I’m glad that the U.S. is working to remove HIV from the list of diseases that are considered “dangerous contagious disease[s]”.

National Latino AIDS Awareness Day

 

Valentina Stackl

This year’s theme for the fifth annual NLAAD is United We Can Stop HIV and Prevent AIDS. According to the NLAAD organization, Latinos compromise about 15.3% of the U.S population but 24.3% (almost 1/4) of the new HIV infections in the US. Approximately 19% of Latinos living in the United States are living with HIV/AIDS. Only united can we resolve the adverse effects HIV/AIDS have on our community. Here are some touching stories of Latinos living with HIV/AIDS. Please join La Salud in the lobby of the School of Public Health tomorrow 10/15 from 10-1:30 for some interesting information.