Fifteen years ago, author E. Lynn Harris published his first novel “Invisible Life.” That bestselling novel – and the 11 others that followed – has helped to shift forever the way African Americans view the complicated connections between race, sexuality and spirituality. All this week, Harris expands his pioneering literary work by advocating on behalf of Black America for the increased nationwide funding of HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and awareness within Black communities.

There is a new female condom that is much easier to use, and it could be a major instrument in fighting HIV/AIDS around the world, advocates for the device contend. Supporters of the FC2, the new condom produced by the Chicago-based Female Health Co., want the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to approve the contraceptive next month when it is reviewed. It might resemble the older female condom, but the newer model soft, transparent sheath with flexible inner and outer rings is made from synthetic rubber rather than polyurethane, making it cheaper to produce. When the female condom was introduced a decade and a half ago, it was hailed as the only woman-initiated form of protection against disease and pregnancy. But the contraceptive method was never really marketed across the globe, and usage is miniscule. “This is a tremendous victory,” said Susie Hoffman, an assistant professor of clinical epidemiology at Columbia University who contends the female condom has suffered from misconceptions. “In the United States, there has been strong bias against it. Some people involved in AIDS and family planning would say, ‘Why do we need these? … It’s so weird that women are not going to pick it up.’ But if presented in the right way, many women do like it. To find these people and help them and train them, you need systematic programming, which costs money.” Last year, some 35 million female condoms were distributed worldwide. But when you compare it to the more than 10 billion cheaper, easier-to-use male condoms, it seems rather paltry. The female condoms are extremely important, however, say women activists, since many men refuse to wear a condom in places where HIV/AIDS rates are skyrocketing.

While African Americans comprise a disproportionate number those living with HIV/AIDS, just a smidgen of those researching the deadly disease are Black, a study shows. “The most effective behavior-change policies allow for individuals to be part of the solution and not the problem,” said lead author Dr. Gail Wyatt, professor of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA. “We need African American experts who are at the forefront of HIV/AIDS prevention.” In the U.S., African Americans make up just 13 percent of the overall population, but they account for nearly half of the more than 1 million people living with HIV/AIDS. But there is a paucity of African-American HIV/AIDS researchers, due in large part to historical, social and other factors that prevent them from training in the biomedical, behavioral and social aspects of the research, say researchers from the UCLA Center for Culture, Trauma and Mental Health Disparities. Along with the UCLA AIDS Institute, the center has developed a series of recommendations that could reverse the trend and lead more African American researchers into the field. They include providing research training to African American college students early in their careers; cultivating more Black role models in the research community; and more support for culturally congruent research.

The HIV and AIDS rate in the nation’s capital has reached alarming heights, according to a report released by the D.C. HIV/AIDS Administration.
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Caribbean nations need to do more to fight HIV/AIDS, says official.

Countries across the Caribbean need to boost their HIV/AIDS care, treatment, education and prevention programs, says a United Nations official. Speaking recently in front of the United States Chiefs of Mission Conference of HIV/AIDS, Karen Sealy, head of the UNAIDS Caribbean office said that 38 people in the region die every day due to AIDS-related causes, reports the Caribbean Media Corporation.  There are 55 new cases of HIV in the Caribbean daily, she said, and prostitutes, along with men who have sexual relations with other men, are among the high-risk groups. Drug users are also contracting HIV/AIDS in higher numbers. “We know that the spread of HIV in the Caribbean is in fact being fueled by serious gaps in gender equality. …All the countries of the Americas which have homosexuality as a crime are now located in the Caribbean region,” Sealy said. Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Patrick Manning touted his nation’s work to reduce spread HIV/AIDS, including providing free antiretroviral drugs to pregnant women at government clinics, but admitted more needs to be done. The Caribbean region is behind only sub-Saharan Africa in its HIV/AIDS rate, reports the Caribbean Media Corporation. About 230,000 people in the region are living with HIV/AIDS and 14,000 people died from AIDS last year, according to Kaiser.
 
Somalia’s government and militia will observe ceasefire.
There might soon be some relief in Somalia. The government and the one of the nation’s main opposition groups have agreed to abide by a ceasefire that actually was negotiated back in June during U.N.-sponsored talks. The ceasefire will be implemented as troops from Ethiopia, who’ve been in Somalia trying to stabilize the nation’s interim government, start withdrawing troops next month, reports the BBC. The government and the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia will come together to create a unified government, they say. As a part of the agreement, when Ethiopian troops (a popular target for rebel attacks) leave they will be replaced by African Union troops from Uganda and Burundi at first, then eventually a joint “police force,” reports the BBC. But the other militias who are also fighting the government are not included in the agreement at all. Some diplomats say Somalia’s problems will not totally improve until they are included.

If Black America were a country, it would rank 16th in AIDs cases.

The AIDS epidemic among African Americans in some parts of the United States is as severe as in parts of Africa , according to a report out Tuesday. “Left Behind – Black America: A Neglected Priority in the Global AIDS” is intended to raise awareness and remind the public that the “AIDS epidemic is not over in America, especially not in Black America,” says the report, published by the Black AIDS Institute, an HIV/AIDS think tank focusing exclusively on African Americans. In areas such as Detroit , Washington D.C. and the Deep South, HIV rates among segments of the Black community approach those of several countries in Africa , according to the report. “AIDS in America today is a Black disease,” says Phill Wilson, founder and CEO of the institute and himself HIV-positive for 20 years. “2006 CDC data tell us that about half of the just over 1 million Americans living with HIV or AIDS are Black.” While AIDS cases are down worldwide, they remain high in America among Blacks. Although Black people represent only about one in eight Americans, one in every two people living with HIV in the United States is Black, the report notes. The Institute categorizes the U.S. response to its domestic epidemic as “so weak that the country would fail to qualify for its own emergency AIDS-relief program.” For more on the report, go to BET.com’s Body & Soul.

Soda and juice are risky for Black women
Women who drink soda and sugar-sweetened fruit drinks and juices on a regular basis are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes, a study of African-American women has found. Orange juice, grapefruit juice and diet pop, however, were not associated with a higher incidence of diabetes, the researchers found. The study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, is one of the largest to focus on diabetes risk factors among African-American women, who, as a group, are twice as likely as White women to be diagnosed with the disease, according to news reports. Having two or more soft drinks a day increased the risk of developing diabetes by 24 percent, compared with women who drank less than one soft drink per month, the researchers found. Women who drank Kool-Aid, fortified juice drinks and fruit juices at least twice a day were 31-percent more likely to develop diabetes, even though these beverages are often billed as a healthy alternative to pop. The study’s authors noted that high intake of sugary drinks is linked to weight gain and obesity – one of the key risk factors for diabetes.

Nashville’s Black ministers bolster HIV/AIDS fight
African-American churches around Nashville sent a message to their clergy Sunday by taking an HIV test to let that their congregations know that it’s important for every adult to know their status. The HIV tests were part of the city’s Metro Health Department’s effort to fight HIV/AIDS. They are trying to harness the power and influence of Black churches. The Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated at least 250,000 people in the United States are infected with HIV and are not aware of it. Blacks are 13 percent of the U.S. population but make up 49 percent of AIDS cases. That AIDS is the leading cause of death for Black women ages 25 to 34 and the second-leading cause of death for Black men ages 35 to 44 promoted the ministers to act. The results of the rapid HIV test from the churches were available the same day but given to the test takers over the phone by the Metro Health Department for added privacy.

Should you be concerned about the HPV Vaccine?
Reports of teen paralysis and other problems in connection with the HPV vaccine, which is given to prevent vaginal warts and cancer, have surfaced. Vital Signs asks: Should you be wary of the HPV vaccine? Read more here.