tagged w/ Sexually Transmitted Diseases
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Online social networking sites are popular among homeless youths and can be used for sexual health interventions!Online social networking sites are popular among homeless youths and can be used for... more
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Help further our understanding of orgasm and human sexuality!
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One HIV-positive Egyptian speaks out against stigma surrounding the virus 30 years after the first case was diagnosed.
Thirty-one-year-old Magid is tired of being silent.
Diagnosed three years ago with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, Magid, a resident of Alexandria, Egypt, kept his health status a secret from most, opting to tell only a handful of friends and family members weeks after he discovered he had been infected.
But he chose June of 2011 as the month in which he would shed his relative anonymity in Egypt and speak out as a voice for people living with the virus.
"Last week, I broke the silence by becoming the first Egyptian to speak out about AIDS," he tells Al Jazeera, days after his appearance at a press conference organised by the Forum to Fight Stigma and Discrimination against People Living with HIV/AIDS in Egypt.
"I was scared. But Egypt [was] in urgent need for someone to do that, because people with HIV are suffering from stigma and discrimination. Policy makers, health workers - they consider us criminals. They say 'there is no HIV in Egypt, we are a country of religion, of tradition, of good behaviour'. But they are in denial."
Slim, soft-spoken and admittedly shy, Magid (who declined to give his last name) is one of an estimated 34 million people living with HIV/AIDS across the world, with about 11,000 estimated cases in Egypt. Of those, the UN estimates only 400 are seeking treatment in Egypt.
June marks 30 years since the first reported case of HIV was diagnosed, but the joint United Nations programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) estimates that nine million people eligible for treatment still do not have access.
Officials say many other people infected with the virus do not even know they have it.
'Waiting to die'
Magid says he now knows how he got the virus, but at the time of his diagnosis the news came as a complete "shock".
In depth
Magid has been billed as the first HIV-positive person to speak out in Egypt; he told his story to Al Jazeera's Adam Makary
"I went to submit my papers for military service and found out I had to go through a series of blood tests - one of them was for HIV," he says.
"But I wasn't told they'd be testing me for AIDS. The results came out and it turned out I was HIV positive."
Magid describes the time that followed as the "worst six months of my life".
"I spent my days in complete and utter shock. I could only think about what others would now think of me now that I had HIV.
"I didn't know anything about getting treatment or how I could live or what I could do or couldn't do because of HIV. I was just waiting to die. And I remained like this for half a year in complete denial - I couldn't come to terms with the unclear future that stood before me.
"I realised only after getting tested that I had taken the virus from someone else. Until now, I'm not sure if that person knows whether or not they are living with HIV because I haven't seen them since that day."
If he had not been tested by the military three years ago, Magid wonders if he would have ever known he had been infected. He says there is no excuse for forced testing, and says it is wrong for the military to make people undergo the tests without their knowledge or consent. And yet, Magid considers the experience a "God-send" - an opportunity that could have saved someone from catching the virus from him - and thus subsequently saving a life.
Months after his diagnosis, Magid joined Friends for Life, a non-governmental organisation in Egypt that works with people living with HIV/AIDS, where he says he was able to find "strength again", learn about living with the virus and meet others facing the same challenges.
Earlier this year, Magid addressed a session of the UN General Assembly in New York, becoming the first Arab to speak publicly about his struggles with the virus.
Amidst his advocacy work, Magid remains wistful, and says often he wishes he could return to a time when he was considered "normal". But these days, normal has a new definition.
Fastest-growing epidemics
Though he may be the first Egyptian to speak publicly about his HIV-positive status, Magid is certainly not alone, according to statistics provided in a new UN report.
Titled AIDS at 30: Nations at the Crossroads, the UNAIDS report says the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is one of two regions in the world with the fastest-growing AIDS epidemics.
Despite recent progress in getting the disease under control in many places around the world, UNAIDS says the MENA region has one of the highest rates of new infections, with an estimated 460,000 people currently living with HIV.
"We are a region that has our norms and culture and religion, so talking about sex and having an open dialogue is not that easy.
"[But] we are all interconnected. If we don't tackle the issue, it will come back to us"
Lara Dabaghi, UNAIDS adviser
That number is still relatively low compared to other regions, UN officials say, but it indicates a rise in the rate of new infections among the most at-risk members of the region's society.
The report places part of the blame for the rise of HIV/AIDS cases on stigma and discrimination that it says is prevalent across the region, imposing major obstacles to those seeking health services.
Lara Dabaghi, UNAIDS regional communications adviser for the Middle East and North Africa, says new infections also appear to be spreading due to low access to HIV prevention programmes for the most at-risk groups: sex workers, injecting drug users and men who participate in same-sex relations.
"These groups are highly stigmatised, so they don't seek treatment," she tells Al Jazeera from Cairo.
"Governments in the region do have treatment centres and they do offer treatment for free, but people do not access the treatment because of stigma and discrimination."
Punitive laws also hinder many from seeking the treatment they require, Dabaghi says, driving those living with HIV/AIDS underground, but failing to address the root causes of the epidemic.
"We are a region that has our norms and culture and religion, so talking about sex and having an open dialogue is not that easy. But if you don't address the topic and talk about it openly, [people infected with HIV] will hide," she says.
"We cannot reach them with prevention programmes. If I know I'm going to prison, there is no way I'm going to seek prevention services. So I become the 'hard-to-reach' population: males having sex with males who then get married because of social pressure, then infect their wives. Or drug users who then infect their wives, who then pass it on to their families.
"We are all interconnected. If we don't tackle the issue, it will come back to us."
Rest here:
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/06/201165121229225310.htmlOne HIV-positive Egyptian speaks out against stigma surrounding the virus 30 years... more
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sexually transmitted diseases are on the rise. It's time for all of us to take a stand and act responsibly...sexually transmitted diseases are on the rise. It's time for all of us to take a... more
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Sexually spread diseases continue to rise, with reported chlamydia cases setting yet another record in 2008, government health officials said Monday.
Last year there were 1.2 million new cases of chlamydia, a sometimes symptomless infection that can lead to infertility in women. It was the most ever reported, up from the old record of 1.1 million cases in 2007.
Better screening is the most likely reason, said Dr. John M. Douglas Jr. of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Syphilis, on the verge of being eliminated in the United States about 10 years ago, also has been increasing lately. About 13,500 cases of the most contagious form of the disease were reported in 2008, up from about 11,500 the year before.
Unlike chlamydia, health officials think syphilis cases actually are increasing. Syphilis rates are up among both gay men and heterosexuals, said Douglas, director of the CDC's Division of STD Prevention.
Syphilis can kill if untreated, but chlamydia is not life-threatening. Neither is gonorrhea, which seams to have plateaued in recent years. Gonorrhea cases dropped to about 337,000 cases in 2008, down from about 356,000 cases.
Girls, ages 15 through 19, had the largest reported number of chlamydia and gonorrhea cases, accounting for more than one in four of those cases. But they're often screened more than other people, since 1993 federal recommendations that emphasize testing for sexually active women age 25 and under.
The government estimates there are roughly 19 million new cases of sexually transmitted disease annually. Experts say the most common is HPV, human papillomavirus, which can cause genital warts, cervical cancer and other cancers.
The government doesn't ask doctors to report every HPV case, but estimates the virus causes 6.2 million new cases each year. That is an old estimate, based on data from 2000, before a vaccine against some types of HPV came on the market in 2006.
The CDC estimates there are 1.6 million new cases of genital herpes each year, but that too is an old estimate for a non-reportable disease.
The agency also estimates there about 56,000 new cases of HIV each year.
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http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_MED_STD_CASES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2009-11-16-10-24-00
Image source: http://cdn.sheknows.com/articles/couple-in-bed-1.jpgSexually spread diseases continue to rise, with reported chlamydia cases setting yet... more
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xiola
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added this
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3 years ago
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Figures just released by the Government show a 58% rise in sexually transmitted diseases amongst under 16 year olds over the last five years.
The biggest increase was in cases of chlamydia, the most common sexually transmitted infection, which rose by 90%, with genital herpes up by 42% and genital warts by a third.
Liberal Democrat health spokesman said "This shocking increase is a damning indictment of the Government's complacency when it comes to the sexual health of our children.
"The number of youngsters contacting STIs is very disturbing. Children must be informed about the risks involved in sexual relationships and taught how to be safe."
A programme to help screen young people has been in place since 2003 & this might have something to do with the increase in reported cases. However the figures seem quite shockingly high and indicate that more needs to be done on sexual health education.Figures just released by the Government show a 58% rise in sexually transmitted... more
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Circumcision should be routinely considered as a way to reduce the risk of sexually transmitted infections, argue US experts.
They spoke out after research found circumcision significantly cut the risk of infection with herpes and the cancer-causing human papillomavirus.
Circumcision is known to sharply reduce the risk of HIV infection.
But the study, featured in the New England Journal of Medicine, failed to convince UK experts.
The research, carried out by scientists in Uganda, involved nearly 3,500 men and monitored their sexual activity over a period of up to two years.
The researchers, from Johns Hopkins University, found circumcision reduced the risk of herpes by 25%, and human papillomavirus (HPV) by a third.
HPV causes cervical cancer in women, and genital warts in both sexes.
Circumcision rates have been declining in the US and are lowest among black and Hispanic patients - the groups with the highest rates of HIV, herpes and cervical cancer.
Writing in the journal, Dr Matthew Golden and Dr Judith Wasserheit, from the University of Washington, said: "These new data should prompt a major reassessment of the role of male circumcision not only in HIV prevention but also in the prevention of other sexually transmitted infections."Circumcision should be routinely considered as a way to reduce the risk of sexually... more
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A health authority in Herefordshire is offering £5 shopping vouchers to teenage girls in return for taking a test for a sexually transmitted disease. They're hoping to meet their target of screening 3,350 people aged between 15 - 24 by April.
'It's a small price to pay to protect the health of our children,' said their director of public health.
Sad that people have to be incentivised to have the test, but if it spreads awareness about getting tested, maybe it's not so sad.
Picture: http://www.flickr.com/photos/masochismtango/579471707/A health authority in Herefordshire is offering £5 shopping vouchers to teenage... more
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I Love HERpes... so you wanna come back to my place?
We all know the importance of practicing safe sex, use condoms, don’t sleep with hookers, etc. Durex condoms latest advertising campaign gets a little tongue and cheek with their message.
See the all the ad's by clicking through to the Casualty of Design original posting.
Peace,
~ Mind ControlI Love HERpes... so you wanna come back to my place?
We all know the importance of... more
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What should they teach in sex ed class - abstinence, contraception or both? Joe gets to the bottom of things in his own educational video and snags a guest appearance by Bino White.What should they teach in sex ed class - abstinence, contraception or both? Joe gets... more
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Breaking up over e-mail is a social no-no.
But sending an e-card telling someone to get tested for STDs may be a public health courtesy.Breaking up over e-mail is a social no-no.
But sending an e-card telling someone to... more
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A five-year-old girl who contracted a sexually transmitted infection was allowed to return to the family home after a judge ruled that he could not be certain her father had abused her.
But the Department of Community Services yesterday argued that Judge Jonathan Williams did not need to be certain whether the abuse occurred and that he had erred in law by allowing the girl, now 7, to continue living with her parents.
In the District Court, both parents successfully appealed against the DOCS finding, although an undertaking was made that the girl would not live with her father again until the end of all proceedings, the court heard.
The girl, to whom the court gave the pseudonym Sophie, contracted the infection from her father after he visited a prostitute in Bali. "It is known she contracted the infection from her father," Ian Temby, QC, for the Department of Community Services, told the NSW Court of Appeal yesterday.
"The question is whether she received it as a result of sexual interference or innocently."
The District Court judge had considered it "highly improbable" the disease might have been transmitted by the child using a towel her father had used. But he could not be sure that it had been transmitted by sexual interference. Mr Temby said the judge had reached "a false conclusion" after applying the wrong test for the standard of proof in such a case.
The department intervened soon after the girl's diagnosis in July 2006, and an order was made in the Children's Court that she remain in the care of DOCS and have no contact with her father until she turned 18.
In the District Court hearing the mother had been a "less than enthusiastic supporter" of her husband, the court heard yesterday. But Judge Williams could not say "with certainty" whether sexual interference had taken place.
Mr Temby asked that the District Court order be quashed and for another hearing to take place before Judge Williams in the District Court.
Counsel for the father, Jonathan Wells, SC, said the judge's decision was correct because anything considered highly improbable had not been proved. The Court of Appeal has reserved its judgment.
A five-year-old girl who contracted a sexually transmitted infection was allowed to... more
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A total of 281 children from Scotland under the age of 16 contracted a sexually transmitted infection (STI) last year, according to new figures.
181 youngsters tested positive for chlamydia, while a total of 62 were diagnosed with genital warts, 13 contracted herpes and 10 picked up gonorrhoea.
STI rates have rocketed in recent years with one in seven young women and one in 10 young men contracting chlamydia. It is known as the "silent infection", as it often shows no symptoms, but if left untreated can cause infertility.A total of 281 children from Scotland under the age of 16 contracted a sexually... more
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Horny old people that live in communities with low risk of pregnancy (due to the age of the females) and have plenty of viagra to go around are piling on the STDs. A doctor says she's seen more cases of herpes in Orlando than in Miami...Horny old people that live in communities with low risk of pregnancy (due to the age... more
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HPV is not just for women anymore.
The sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer in women is poised to become one of the leading causes of oral cancer in men, according to a new study.
Incidence rates likely due to increase in oral sex and decline in smoking.
HPV is not just for women anymore.
The sexually transmitted virus that causes... more
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An organ donor infected 4 transplant patients with the AIDS virus, the first infection from a transplant in 13 years.
The initial tests on the donor for HIV and Hepatitis (which the patients were also infected with) came back negative. However, the donor was probably infected with the virus in the last three weeks before his death.
Kind of ironic.
Yet another reason to wrap it up and get tested, especially if you plan to donate. An organ donor infected 4 transplant patients with the AIDS virus, the first infection... more
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Over 1 million cases of chlamydia were reported in the U.S. last year, the most ever reported for sexually transmitted diseases.
Other STDs are on the rise too. Peeps you need to wrap it up and get tested. This is not the kind of record we want to set. Over 1 million cases of chlamydia were reported in the U.S. last year, the most ever... more
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An STD Social Support Network. Participate in support groups, build friendships or enagage in romance. An STD Social Support Network. Participate in support groups, build friendships or... more
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bstein
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added this
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5 years ago
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British, cartoon, stick figure PSA
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