By Antoine Craigwell

(New York, NY) When the Chelsea-based Rush Arts Gallery (RAG) hosted the Lorenzo Jackson Foundation (LJF) first annual awards gala on Wednesday, November 19, to honor leaders in the community and to present college scholarships to HIV-positive high school students, it seemed as if it had begun the Dec 1, World AIDS Day celebrations two weeks early.


 

		Rush Arts Gallery
In a program that included awarding honors and speeches by community activists, Alexander Everett, founder and executive director of Alex: The Magazine, and LJF founder and CEO, welcomed close to 150 invited guests which also included author and award-winning HIV/AIDS activist, Maria Davis;
Dr. Jeffrey Birnbaum, director of Brooklyn-based Health Education Alternatives for Teens (HEAT), honored for his work and commitment to educating youth on HIV/AIDS; entertainers Lee Carr, a Jive Records artist; 12-year old Curtis Anderson called "Baby Triggy," a young Hip Hop recording artist; and co-mistress of ceremonies singer Mashonda, and actress Chyna Layne.
		Baby Triggy

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Dr. Terry most recently served as the Senior Director for Emergency and International Services for the National Capital Area of the Red Cross and previously as the Executive Director of the District of Columbia Office of the Red Cross. Dr. Terry is a licensed clinical professional counselor and certified alcoholism and drug addiction counselor. Dr. Terry supervised mental health services and care for first responders after the September 11th attacks at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

"His track record of helping organizations have big impact is unparalleled," said Kevin Shipman a long time activist and District of Columbia government health official. "His commitment to harm reduction and past work in addiction counseling will be a great asset to the organization."

Regarding his future role, Dr. Terry stated, "The District of Columbia has the highest HIV/AIDS rate in the country. Over 20 percent of these cases come directly from injection drug use. PreventionWorks is uniquely poised to partner with government and other community organizations to positively impact this modern epidemic. Knowing that I have such a strong team of committed staff, volunteers, and community partners will ensure our long term success."

Dr. Terry has lectured extensively at the University of the District of Columbia, Howard University and the University of Maryland. He has worked with many local nonprofit organizations over his career including the Martin Pollak Project, Sasha Bruce Youthwork, Thomas O'Farrell YouthCenter and the Koba Institute.

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - A Dutch court convicted two men Wednesday for attempting to infect 14 victims with HIV in a bizarre sex case.

The Groningen District Court found the two guilty of severe assault for injecting semiconscious men with HIV-infected blood at sex parties between January 2006 and May 2007.

Peter M., 49, who was also convicted of rape, was sentenced to nine years in prison and Hans J., 39, received a five-year sentence. Under Dutch privacy laws, the surnames of convicted criminals are not released.

Prosecutors said they would appeal for higher sentences.

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By David Wroe and Kate Devlin

The man, a 42-year-old American living in Berlin, has shown no trace of the virus in the nearly two years since Dr Gero Huetter, a haematologist, gave him the operation - a standard treatment for leukaemia, from which the patient was also suffering.

The breakthrough gives hope for cutting-edge gene therapies to tackle the disease that killed 2 million people worldwide last year and infected another 2.7 million.

Working on a hunch, Dr Huetter selected a bone marrow donor who had a genetic resistance to most strains of HIV in the hope that the transplanted marrow would produce HIV-resistant cells in his patient.

It appears to have worked, and yesterday Dr Huetter declared his patient ''functionally cured''.

The patient has taken no anti-retroviral drugs, the standard treatment for AIDS, since the transplant.

"HIV has an Achilles heel,'' Dr Huetter told a press conference in Berlin.

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By Mary Engel

At least 83 cases of the most drug-resistant form of tuberculosis were diagnosed in the U.S. in the last 15 years, according to the most thorough accounting to date of the global scourge's national impact.

But unlike what is happening in much of the developing world, new U.S. cases, already low, have declined sharply over that period, from a high of 18 in 1993 to two in 2007.

Tuberculosis experts hailed the trend, reported Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Assn.

"Not to diminish the concern, but those numbers are very positive," said Dr. Michael Iseman of the National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver, a leading TB treatment center. "They're testament to the quality of TB control in America."

Once a leading cause of death in the U.S., TB cases overall began steadily declining with the development of antibiotics in the 1940s and 1950s.

But from 1985 to 1992, the disease that everyone thought was on the way to extinction staged a comeback.

The resurgence coincided with the beginning of this country's HIV epidemic. By suppressing the immune system, AIDS leaves people susceptible to other infections, including TB.

It also coincided with an increase in immigration from developing countries and with federal cuts in public health funding, according to study author Dr. J. Peter Cegielski of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

It was about this time that drug-resistant TB emerged.

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Today, because of antiretroviral therapy and an array of drugs to treat both symptoms and side effects, AIDS has become a chronic condition to be managed, at least in the developed world. No longer is the face of AIDS emaciated and covered with lesions; Americans with the disease are stronger and healthier, their concerns fading from public view.

Myron Gold, 67, is one of them. In 1993, Mr. Gold was walking in Manhattan around Christmastime when he collapsed and was rushed to the emergency room. A social worker later walked in and loudly announced that he had H.I.V.

Mr. Gold remembers the panic on the faces of the other patients. “When you said that in ’93, you emptied the whole emergency room,” he said. “Everyone ran for their lives.”

Still, he was unfazed by his diagnosis. A former fashion designer who became an AIDS and gay-rights activist, he was already familiar with the disease and how it ravaged the body. He was given a prescription for AZT, the most common treatment at the time, and was told he had six months to live.

Fifteen years later, he is alive and relatively well — and that, paradoxically, is the problem.

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People that are infected with HIV are more apt to suffer from depression than people who are HIV negative. What better way to get out of depression than to take a vacation. I myself am not depressed but I figured that this vacation that I take might remind people that a vacation is a must for everyone, whether their HIV positive or negative.


 

My partner went to San Francisco to see our two friends get married, which I heard the ceremony was very nice. Sadly I wasn’t able to go to the wedding.
Justin B Smith (L) and partner Dr. Philip Terry (R)
So my story begins here in the Baltimore/Washington Area where I had to take a plane to JFK in NY. I was so tired; it was 5:00PM when I landed in New York. The only thing that I like about this part of the trip was the men at the JFK Airport.
Justin B. Smith at Hoover Dam

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Jerk one, Baker, "You think Magic faked AIDS for sympathy? Jerk two, Perry, "I'm convinced that Magic faked AIDS." This was followed with Perry stating and I quote, "the only cured AIDS guy ever."

When Magic was contacted for comment, Magic said, "Millions are dying from HIV/AIDS, and the fact that they would make jokes about my status is unbelievable." Magic continued, "Chris, Langdon and KTLK should use their power in a more positive light by encouraging people to get tested for this disease instead of making up such ridiculous lies."

When the jerk duo were contacted for a comment, Baker said the comments that were made was just three seconds of radio time, like the length of the conservation was the deciding fact on being insensitive and harmful.

Stupid is as stupid does.

You read it here at GBMNews.com

Officials refused to give details on who the person was or how the students at Normandy High School might have been exposed, but the district is consulting with national AIDS organizations as it tries to minimize the fallout and prevent the infection — and misinformation — from spreading.

"There's potential for stigma for all students regardless of whether they're positive or negative," Normandy School District spokesman Doug Hochstedler said Thursday. "The board wants to be sure all children are fully educated."

A teacher in a neighboring district singled out a girl who dates someone at Normandy High and instructed her to get tested, Hochstedler said. A competing school's football team initially balked at playing Normandy's 8-0 team.

Jasmine Lane, a 16-year-old sophomore, said her boyfriend from a neighboring high school broke up with her on learning of the news — after she bought them tickets to homecoming.

"I cried so hard," she said.

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Harry Smith talks to Normandy School District Superintendent Stanton Lawrence