The CDC Gets Testy “Prevention for Positives” two years later: Slow rollout of rapid testing and a shortfall in treatment puts feds on defensive
Wednesday, June 22, 2005 - At
the annual National HIV Prevention Conference sponsored by the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last week in Atlanta, it
appeared to be business as usual, as prevention pros dissected the
sexual habits of teens under abstinence oaths and gay men on the
Internet. Down the hall, however, the federal agency itself was instead
touting the success of an ambitious rollout of routine HIV testing, the
central element of its 2-year-old prevention revolution nick-named
“Prevention for Positives”—and AIDS service providers and community
advocates were begging to differ.
This week's burning questions: Is it prime time, wartime or both for Trojan condoms? Will a new study help black junkies with HIV get respect—and treatment? Which famous British soccer mom took off her clothes for AIDS funding? And will the great and powerful POZ rock out with Madonna for aid for Africa?
While casually channel surfing on Wednesday night—yes, the Wizard does live like ordinary HIV mortals when down-timing from the AIDS crusade—your beloved blogger suddenly had the bizarre experience of shock and horror at a condom ad, as if the Wizard of POZ were a card-carrying member of the American Family Association (AFA). It’s a pity, too, because we would like nothing better than to cheer Trojan for having the guts to court controversy from the abstinence-only crazies by pioneering prime-time TV pitches for rubbers. But this long-overdue breakthrough from “America’s Most Trusted Condom” left us feeling like “America’s Most Hated.”
June 01, 2005
The Wizard of POZ Behind our mad blogger’s curtain
this week: an Arkansas beauty school gets an HIV 101 lesson...the
Whitman-Walker Clinic in DC almost goes under...a firing at the
Treatment Action Group turns ugly...the notorious French “rollerblading
rapist” case is cracked...an AIDS guide to TV...marriage tips from
Pamela Anderson...and Trojan takes that ad down!
HIVer cosmetologists of America, unite! Allan Dugas finally got a (sorta) answer this week for why he was booted from the Hair Tech Beauty College
in Paragould, Arkansas last winter. Dugas (pictured here) had come out
about having HIV to an instructor when illness made him miss class.
And—snip, snip!—that was it: His study at the hairdo-shaped school
(pictured below) was over.
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