Washington Blade - February 8, 2008

GENEVA (AP) - Swiss AIDS experts said last week that some people with HIV who meet strict conditions and are under treatment can safely have unprotected sex with non-infected partners. The proposal astonished AIDS researchers in Europe and North America who have long argued that safe sex with a condom is the most effective way of preventing the spread of the disease - apart from abstinence. "Not only is (the Swiss proposal) dangerous, it's misleading and it is not considering the implications of the biological facts involved with HIV transmission," said Jay Levy, director of the Laboratory for Tumor and AIDS Virus Research at the University of California in San Francisco. The Swiss National AIDS Commission said patients who can satisfy strict conditions, including successful antiretroviral treatment to suppress the virus and who do not have any other sexually transmitted diseases, do not pose a danger to others. The proposal was published this week in the Bulletin of Swiss Medicine. The Swiss scientists took as their starting point a 1999 study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which showed that transmission depends strongly on the viral load in the blood. The other studies had also found that patients on regular AIDS treatments did not pass on the virus, and that HIV could not be detected in their fluids. "Let's be clear, the decision has to remain with the HIV-negative partner," said Pietro Vernazza, head of infectious diseases at the cantonal hospital of St. Gallen in Switzerland and an author of the report. The studies cited by the Swiss commission did not themselves definitively conclude whether people with HIV and on antiretroviral treatment could safely have unprotected sex without passing on the virus.

Memorial to Nazis' gay victims nearing completion in Berlin

BERLIN (AP) - A new Berlin memorial to the Nazis' gay victims - including a video presentation showing same-sex couples kissing - should be ready within months, officials said last week. The $890,000 memorial to gay victims will be located in Berlin's Tiergarten Park, across from the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, Culture Minister Bernd Neumann said. Construction on another memorial to honor Roma and Sinti, or Gypsy, victims of the Nazis also is to begin this year. Homosexuality was banned under the Nazis. Tens of thousands of people - primarily men - were arrested and many were sent to concentration camps. Some 220,000 to 500,000 Gypsies were killed during the Nazi Holocaust, in addition to some 6 million Jews.

Jamaican authorities urged to protect gays after recent attacks

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) - A prominent human rights group urged Jamaica to do more to protect gays and lesbians after a mob attacked two men this week, leaving one severely injured and the other missing. A group of about 20 people threw bottles at the men's home, broke down the door and attacked them in the central mountain town of Mandeville on Jan. 29, Human Rights Watch said in a report issued Feb. 1. The mob demanded that the men leave the community because they are gay, according to the report. One victim's left ear was severed and his arm broken in two places, and he may have suffered spinal damage, according to Human Rights Watch. The group said it spoke to the victim. He was hospitalized in serious condition last week, while the other man, who was chased away by the mob, is missing, police spokesperson Camika Parker said. Several gay activists have been killed in Jamaica, which still has a colonial-era law on the books that bans sex between men.

Spanish government protests to Vatican over bishops' election

MADRID, Spain (AP) - The Spanish government has protested to the Vatican over a veiled appeal from Catholic bishops for voters to shun the ruling Socialists in elections next month, according to the Spanish foreign minister. The Spanish ambassador to the Holy See, Francisco Vazquez, met with a Vatican official Saturday to express "perplexity and surprise" over the bishops' comments, Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said last week. In a communique released Jan. 30, the Spanish Bishops Conference made clear its view that Spanish voters should not back parties that support gay marriage or other social reforms the church frowns on, or negotiations with armed Basque militants - clearly references to the governing Socialists. Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero enacted legalization of same-sex marriages and streamlined divorce procedures, and tried in vain to negotiate a peace accord with the armed Basque group ETA in 2006. Moratinos, speaking in the southern city of Cordoba, criticized the church hierarchy in Spain as "fundamentalist and neo-conservative."

080208
WB080203

Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2008. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.

AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.

Copyright ©1980, 2008. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .