HIV/AIDS - We Make The Change
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Reducing Rates of HIV Among MSMJanuary 22nd, 2008 The Department of Health, Bureau of HIV/AIDS is aggressively trying to reduce rates of HIV among men who have sex with men. What approaches would be effective in reducing HIV/AIDS among black and Latino men who have sex with men? 36 Responses to “Reducing Rates of HIV Among MSM”Leave a ReplyThe Department of Health reserves the right to remove inappropriate content |
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January 23rd, 2008 at 1:38 pm
January 31st, 2008 at 5:15 pm
Most of this generation is so desensitized that “in-your-face” and avante-gard approaches must be taken to get its attention. This has to be done through public campaigns, using all sorts of media.
February 13th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
Helllo, It amazes how little or next to nothing there is help (hiv support groups, Hetro Support groups, support groups for women here in florida. I moved from New York 4yrs ago and still no support groups. It makes me sick, florida is so backwoud when it comes to this virus. Maybe there is support in Tampa, but what about Pasco county, closer to where people live. I had to send my own daughter back to New York she doesnt have the virus but there is nothing here for teens or young adults only drugs, there are no jobs, its like a third world country. Im planning on going back home but it takes time, I have never been so depressed, alone with this virus since my family talked me into moving. The state if the scariest state to live in if you have hiv/aids i feel like Im just going to wind up in a hospic and die, I have the virus since 1988 and it just scares me to death, where is the concern, the support here and you wonder why everyone here does drugs, all its about is getting in trouble and going through the courts and paying for everything court fees, tickets there is no end, Ive seen it happen to the young people. Where do you go for info on new meds, where are the hiv people to talk to about whats going on with living with the virus. The doctors don’t keep up dated on the virus all they know is to give you meds, and where are the women doctors who specialize in womens gyn problems that come along with this virus, like i said its a third world country even the third world countries are more info as far as womens concerns. What if someone if to ill to travel to tampa for support or if they dont have a car its just blows my mind. Ive been here 4yrs and Im tired of fighting with the doctors, the women I have to deal with for help if needed. where does all the monies go to, Ill tell you where, go to any county, town and all the medical bldgs, hospitals cater to the old they bleed their insurance, full them up with medications and have no use for the people who struggle ever minute with this virus, and you wonder why noone has a clue to what aids/hiv is, the schools are filled with preditors, the education here for kids who have to grow up here is mindless. Ive seen through my own nieces, and newphews the school work they get. Ive seen 8th graders who are doing homework that my 6yr old granddaughters done when shes in 1st grad. Its not going to change because no one cares up here. Maybe someone will do something someday, maybe if someone would be an advocate for us all I would love to but where are the people who live with hiv/aids and are as fed up as myself. I guess their just trying to live day by day because having the virus here in fla your on your own, no one knows what to do about anything, its a struggle and I guess the small minded, and clueless people who are afraid, because this state has even attempted to educate the young people, I guess Im just wasting my breath. People I know from New York can’t believe what goes on here. I never herer the govenor or any officals speak about it their I guess not interested except if your old. Im 55yrs old and In given myself two more yrs to got out of here the only reason is because I have a mother who was dignosied with dementa 2ys now and as soon as she doesn’t know who I am anymore Ill have to put her away, I would talke care of her forever if I could but this place is no where to be withthe virus. Its a shame because Im sure there are alot of kids here who have it and dont even know it. Maybe if some of the officals that run this state has a family member got sick then maybe so things will change for us living with this illness. Everyone is so backward its just disgusting.
March 3rd, 2008 at 5:05 pm
Dear Ruby,
I am so sorry to hear about the negative experience you had recently trying to access services in Pasco County. I listed below some of the resources available in Pasco County. The Pasco County Health Department’s goal is to ensure that adequate and up to date patient care resources are available. I listed below some of the resources available in Pasco County and a link to resources in surrounding counties.
Please contact me at (727) 824-6902 to let me know if you would like additional information or if I can be of assistance to you in any other way.
Thank you,
Lisa Cohen
Pinellas/Pasco HIV/AIDS Program Coordinator
Pasco County Health Department
10841 Little Road
New Port Richey, Florida
850-245-4299
Pasco County Health Department
3941 15th Street
Dade City, FL
352-521-1450
Pasco County Health Department provides the following services:
HIV Primary Care, AIDS Drug Assistance Program, HIV Testing & Counseling, HIV Prevention
Other available resources in Pasco County:
Pasco INC Support Group
727 847-8330
Gulf Coast Community Care
Tampa Bay AIDS Network
5744 Missouri Ave
New Port Richey, Fl 34652
727-816-1235
813-7695180 ext 227
Case Management, Mental Health Services, Transportation, Food, Referrals for Vision and Dental Care, and support groups for specific groups at risk.
http://www.pinellashealth.com/HIVAIDS/CommunityResources.pdf
March 13th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
I was just reading that note of the person in florida that cant seem to get any help. I feel for that person because I know florida is the worst for any kind of associated help in any form of government aid our medical help for any reason not just aids. I came here for a relationship with a woman seven years ago. After going through what I would call a living hell with her mother and her kids…….we finally agreed to go are seperate ways. I knew no one in Florida and i didnt want to be here in this state so I was lonely to say the least. To that person……be strong…..and my personal opioun is to move out of Florida…..I find that the people here are not as frendly as I like to live with. If you can move some where so that you can be in nature and calm your inner soul….so that you can be at total peacw within your self……..good luck
March 20th, 2008 at 9:47 am
For the past five years in Polk County and central Florida I have facilitated a program I call the Gyms n Condoms Program in which I have given away over ten thousand condoms. I am a basketball referee who come in contact with thousands of teenagers and young adults in gymnasiums who participates and spectates sporting events. I carry a Love Carefully bag that is full of a vast variety of condoms, lubricants, information about STDs, local HIV/AIDS statistics of infections within a five mile radius of that facility. It is now at the point where they recognize me at various events and come up for more items and sometimes share encouraging news about how they have been more selective in choice of partners and sexual practices. The most surprising report I have received is that it is the females who are the ones who are demanding that their boyfriends refrain from using condoms with them during sex. Their rationale is that if their boyfriend is carrying condoms they are having with other partners. The next project we are working on is the REACH Door-to-Door HIV/AIDS Awareness project. This is a group of volunteers going door-to-door to REACH everyone within a designated targeted area (High infection rate of reported individualsliving with HIV and AIDS) with messages of information to everyone. Receiving Everyone One As Christ Has (REACH).
March 20th, 2008 at 9:58 am
I have been HIV+ since 2005. I was diaganois in Florida so I do not know of any other services. For Ruby I have started a Social Group in Tampa because I felt the same way you did. Please contact me @ jkitch99@aol.com. We meet on the 4th Friday of every month. Also we have a support group in Tampa every Friday @ 11:30 AM at the Francis House on Florida Ave. I am sometime discourage because as lonely as we are living with this illness we low attendance. It is like we do not want to come out. If anyone in the Tampa, Pasco, orPolk area want to get in touch we me you can. I wish to start a Social Group in Polk County. For those that feel alone come on out and enjoy LIFE with us.
March 25th, 2008 at 9:10 am
I believe one area where there has been little discussion about MSM and possibility one reason why most men controlled black churches do not get involve in the education and prevention of AIDS is that on the down low is in the pulpit. I know there are preachers and ministers out there who are married and having sex with their deacons. Check your pastor out he just might be the one.
April 1st, 2008 at 11:32 am
In response to the question asked….
It is going to take a psychological change in the community. Destigmatizing “gay” acts, so that the term ‘DL’ can be done away with once and for all– since that has a lot to do with the spread of STI’s, etc…
Also creating places of refuge in terms of hang outs for MSM blacks and hispanics, so that they can develop a community that is out in the open and they wont need to stay on the down low– there is hardly a community for these individuals.
April 11th, 2008 at 10:33 am
For information regarding HIV/AIDS disparities among race/ethnic communities and Men who have Sex with Men (MSM) please see Florida Department of Heath reports:
Silence is Death: http://www.doh.state.fl.us/disease_ctrl/aids/MulticulturalConf/silenceisdeath.zip
Out in the Open: http://www.doh.state.fl.us/Disease_ctrl/aids/Docs/MSM-10-15-07.pdf
June 26th, 2008 at 7:57 pm
My gay son is getting ready to leave for college. I am scared to death due to the fact that has already contacted STDs 2 or 3 times. Of course I talk to him about protection. I even bought him flavored condoms. But I just can’t get through to him. He is still having unprotected sex with “friends”. He swears it’s only oral. I don’t know what to belive. What do I do? I have rented videos…I have suggested he speak to someone else…but he doesn’t feel comfortable. Any suggestions?
June 30th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
Hi Mary,
It sounds like you have already taken a number of steps to encourage your son to protect himself, and I commend you for your efforts!
To address your concerns about your son’s risks, HIV transmission through oral sex is possible (for the recipient or performer), but the exact degree of risk is unknown. Few cases of HIV transmission through oral sex have been reported. Evidence suggests that unprotected oral sex is less risky than unprotected anal or vaginal sex. If condoms (a very effective barrier) are not desired for oral sex, the risk of HIV transmission can still be reduced by avoiding getting semen (and pre-ejaculatory fluid, to the extent possible) in the mouth. However, oral sex is a high-risk activity for STDs other than HIV. Some people are not willing to change certain behaviors, such as unprotected oral sex, but are more willing to reduce other and riskier behaviors, such as unprotected anal sex. Find out what steps your son is willing to take to protect himself, and support him in taking those steps.
Another recommendation is to contact the county health department HIV/AIDS office in the area where your son will be moving to find out if a local agency has an MPowerment Project. The MPowerment Project is a fun HIV prevention program for young gay and bisexual men with a social and community-building focus. The program does not pressure anyone to talk about personal risk behaviors. Project events and meetings are very casual; HIV prevention is simply an included discussion topic or message. Your son may be interested in attending a project event or meeting to meet other guys upon moving to a new place. We know that young gay men can be powerful influences on other young gay men, so this peer-based program is worth checking out. If MPowerment is not offered in the area, there may be another program available.
Lastly, if your son wants to get tested for HIV, he can send a text message with his zip code to “KNOWIT” (566948). Within seconds, he will receive a text message containing information on HIV testing sites nearby. If he gets tested at a publicly-funded site in Florida, he will receive pre- and post-test counseling sessions where he can discuss his risks with a trained HIV test counselor, in addition to learning his status.
I hope this is helpful.
Best,
Dano
October 12th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
From the Gay Man, to “Michael,” to his Wife: Why is She Expressing Guilt?
Tonight I was listening to the radio and hear a commercial (PSA) regarding men who have sex with other men, get infected with HIV, and follow up by taking the virus home to their wives who do not protect themselves, but in the commercial, express guilt: “I just wish we had been more responsible” (wemakethechange.com, emphasis added). There are myriad critiques I could give on this commercial advertisement. By ending it with the African American women stating that she feels in any responsible is quite telling. What is says to me, especially given the downtrodden tones-of-voice used by the gay male and “Michael,” who in truth is also gay, is that once again, black men are not taking responsibility for their actions and are given yet another pass. The woman in this scenario is the victim of the denial of her husband, Michael, who should simply admit to her that he is a homosexual, is having sex with other men, and to boot, is not using a condom. In this way, the husband is taking responsible for not only his mental and physical health, but the health of the woman he, at least at one time, loved enough to marry. African American women are paying a very high penalty for their denial as well. Even when their suspicions are overwhelming, black women simply cannot accept the fact that their man is gay; and because of the traditional stigma of being black, male, and gay in the black community (it doesn’t fly very well, here or in African countries), black men won’t own up to it, making the pathetic claim that one of the reasons they don’t use a condom when they have sex with me is because it’s like admitting that they are gay. Listen up fellas: YOU ARE GAY, and guess what?—THAT’S OKAY! Don’t hide from who you are because the women who look like your mother are dying because you can’t tell the truth, are overwhelmed with an unnecessary shame, and respond by lying to yourself, your girlfriend or wife, and society at large. Don’t be a coward. It’s killing us.
It is not the fault of black women that so many black men are betraying them and killing black women in record numbers because of pride. If you are sleeping with any man, whether you are male or female, gay or straight, married, shacking, or have children together–USE A CONDOM EVERY TIME! If you cannot follow that rule consistently, don’t have sex, or kill any chance of getting the virus by being smart and practicing abstinence. Sex with a man is not worth your damned life, right?
January 15th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
You know I find it funny ( not LOL funny ) that this forum actually exists. I moved here from California fifteen years ago. I had been very active with the HIV/AIDS community both in Seattle for many years and in San Francisco.
I could not believe the ignorance I saw here in Florida about HIV/AIDS!
My introduction to the Health Department and the way it dealt with HIV was when I received a notice from the Clearwater Health Department. I had only lived here a month or two at the time. I was informed I needed a blood test, because someone had reported me to the Health Department. I said “I will only submit to a blood test, if it is anonymous”. I was then told, We do not provide anonymity if you test positive! The doctor I saw then said “People like You have no rights! You have a right to refuse the HIVtest, however”. I had never been treated so rudely in all my life! This was after they already took blood from me. I told her, I would get my blood test from my own doctor! She then informed me that although I could refuse the HIV test the other tests for STD’s could be done without my permission and would be done.
Turns out, I had neither! In Seattle a doctor at the Health Department, would have been either fired or severely reprimanded for speaking to someone like that. Likewise I have been told by doctors when I asked for a HIV test. ” Well, you seem healthy enough. You’re not one of THEM!”. To which I responded, “Yes I am! How little you know about Gay people that you think you can recognize one!”
This has been the sum of my experience living in Florida. I wish it wasn’t so, but it is.
I have watched several close friends die of AIDS in a time when people in other places were being saved!
April 25th, 2009 at 9:51 pm
I recently heard the same commercial I complained on this blog about last October, and to my surprise, the ad has changed, removing the last line when the black women states that she wished “we” had been more careful. Thanks for not making the victim of MSM apologize for contracting HIV from an MSM. Place the blame where it should be, on the male who keeps lying about being gay.
April 28th, 2009 at 11:10 am
Thanks for this article, seems like you have found a solution
Needless to say that I will subscribe to your RSS feeds now. Keep it up and thanks for sharing.
Manuela
April 28th, 2009 at 8:13 pm
I agree with you 99% but wonder if you have really looked at the whole picture. DOn’t mean to be critical just food for thought.
May 5th, 2009 at 8:29 pm
Good info, thanks for the post!
May 12th, 2009 at 11:14 am
Nice post. There’s a similar topic thats related to this in Yahoo answers or Google groups, I think. I’ll find the link and post it back here.
May 13th, 2009 at 11:24 am
As a Newbie, I am always searching online for articles that can help me. Thank you
May 17th, 2009 at 5:30 am
Thanks for posting such great info
May 23rd, 2009 at 8:57 am
This is an excellent article! I hope to check back for more
June 12th, 2009 at 6:46 am
Hi !
good article, usefull information
your blog is good
thanks
June 16th, 2009 at 1:22 am
Hi! I like your srticle and I would like very much to read some more information on this issue. Will you post some more?
June 23rd, 2009 at 9:09 pm
You have a decent blog here. I would encourage you to keep writing and posting as often as you are inspired to do so. In the long run, it will really pay off as more and more people will begin to visit, read and refer others. Zenerx
June 25th, 2009 at 4:57 pm
Excellent article. Being ?real? and passionate are very important. Readers can tell when the writer cares about the subject at hand. Thank you.
July 6th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
Some of us even don’t realize the importance of this information. What a pity.
July 11th, 2009 at 7:17 am
I looked into what you talked about in this article and I had to convince myself that you were wrong. I looked up the info and it seems you are 100% correct in your statements. Because of this, I have subscribed myself to your RSS feed. Keep up the great work here.
July 14th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
I understand the situation. I was an HIV Case Manager for many years in Pinellas Co and am happy to inform you we now have a support group in St Petersburg on Thursdays from 1p - 2:30p. Every first and third Thursday is a gay group and every second and fourth Thursday is a straight group. Please feel free to email me at clammers@healthstatrx.com for further information.
Cathy
July 23rd, 2009 at 9:25 am
Hey man, thanks for the blog post, really great info here. Thanks Again!
July 26th, 2009 at 9:24 am
This was a very interesting post for me to read. I’ll try to subscribe to your RSS feed.
September 5th, 2009 at 4:55 pm
if anyone would like FREE condoms mailed to them, just email me at
condommiranda@gmail.com
I have magnums, trojans, flavored and some lube.
I work for the Alachua County Health Department and will mail them to anyone in the state of Florida. Be safe and thanks for caring for others
September 17th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
Very nice site! is it yours too
October 10th, 2009 at 4:23 am
Showing some love to this topic “new to this wordpress”. I defiantly agree with it also. If you really think about it than it all makes alot of sense
November 16th, 2009 at 3:25 pm
hope you keep this blog alive! great stuff here, but i couldnt get your rss feed, is it broken ?
December 28th, 2009 at 6:21 pm
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