A twice-a-year injection, recently approved for HIV prevention in the U.S. and the European Union, helps solve the problem of adherence, Gilead argues. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2025/09/22/companies/gilead-twice-a-year/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #business #companies #hiv #medicine #gilead #pharmaceuticals #nationalhealthcare

Bill Gates urges Japan to continue its global health leadership by investing in international partnerships, arguing that such commitments will save millions of lives, strengthen global security and drive economic growth. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/commentary/2025/09/21/japan/world-life-sciences-need-japan/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #commentary #japan #billgates #thegatesfoundation #tuberculosis #malaria #hiv #health #medicine #vaccinations #covid19

In regards to Xena making a statement against the stigma surrounding HIV: in the episode 'Here She Comes... Miss Amphipolis', Xena enters a beauty pageant undercover. There, she encounters Miss Artiphys, a character played by the late Karen Dior, an HIV-positive actor, singer, former adult performer, and drag queen (reports on Dior’s gender identity are contradictory, and probably also affected by '90s culture).

When Xena discovers that Miss Artiphys was an AMAB character who entered the competition presenting as a woman, the latter explains her actions with the line: "You really don’t get it, do you? I guess being born a woman you wouldn’t. This is a chance to use a part of me most people usually laugh at, or worse. A part I usually have to hide. Only here that part works for me, you see?" expecting Xena to force her to drop.

Instead, Xena encourages her to stay in the competition, never reveals her secret, never disrespects her, and in the end, she ends up being crowned winner. After her victory, Xena and Artiphys share a kiss. That was an intentional statement against the widespread misinformation surrounding AIDS and the transmission of HIV that reportedly Lucy Lawless insisted on being included.

It is near impossible to fully explain how ridiculously groundbreaking it was that this entire plot happened in the mid '90s.

#Xena#XenaWarriorPrincess#LGBTQIA#LGBTQ#TransRights#HIV #trans#Gender#TV

In regards to Xena making a statement against the stigma surrounding HIV: in the episode 'Here She Comes... Miss Amphipolis', Xena enters a beauty pageant undercover. There, she encounters Miss Artiphys, a character played by the late Karen Dior, an HIV-positive actor, singer, former adult performer, and drag queen (reports on Dior’s gender identity are contradictory, and probably also affected by '90s culture).

When Xena discovers that Miss Artiphys was an AMAB character who entered the competition presenting as a woman, the latter explains her actions with the line: "You really don’t get it, do you? I guess being born a woman you wouldn’t. This is a chance to use a part of me most people usually laugh at, or worse. A part I usually have to hide. Only here that part works for me, you see?" expecting Xena to force her to drop.

Instead, Xena encourages her to stay in the competition, never reveals her secret, never disrespects her, and in the end, she ends up being crowned winner. After her victory, Xena and Artiphys share a kiss. That was an intentional statement against the widespread misinformation surrounding AIDS and the transmission of HIV that reportedly Lucy Lawless insisted on being included.

It is near impossible to fully explain how ridiculously groundbreaking it was that this entire plot happened in the mid '90s.

#Xena#XenaWarriorPrincess#LGBTQIA#LGBTQ#TransRights#HIV #trans#Gender#TV

"The first 100% effective HIV prevention drug is approved and going global"

https://newatlas.com/infectious-diseases/hiv-prevention-fda-lenacapavir/

#HIV#goodNews

"The first 100% effective HIV prevention drug is approved and going global"

https://newatlas.com/infectious-diseases/hiv-prevention-fda-lenacapavir/

#HIV#goodNews

"The US presidential administration is actively working to dismantle HIV research and demolish the architecture of global health. The entire #HIV response — from basic #research and clinical development to policy, programs, and global access to life-saving treatment and prevention — is now under attack, and the world runs the risk of reversing the strides made to end HIV." Details here: https://avac.org/resource/hiv-prevention-research-development-at-risk/

"The US presidential administration is actively working to dismantle HIV research and demolish the architecture of global health. The entire #HIV response — from basic #research and clinical development to policy, programs, and global access to life-saving treatment and prevention — is now under attack, and the world runs the risk of reversing the strides made to end HIV." Details here: https://avac.org/resource/hiv-prevention-research-development-at-risk/

In June, ProPublica reported that the FDA has given more than 20 foreign factories a special pass to send drugs to the U.S. even though they were made at plants the agency had banned.

Today, we’re publishing a list of those exempted drugs.
https://www.propublica.org/article/fda-drugs-banned-foreign-factories-list?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #FDA#Medicine#Health#Diabetes#Cancer#Depression#Anxiety#HIV

In June, ProPublica reported that the FDA has given more than 20 foreign factories a special pass to send drugs to the U.S. even though they were made at plants the agency had banned.

Today, we’re publishing a list of those exempted drugs.
https://www.propublica.org/article/fda-drugs-banned-foreign-factories-list?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #FDA#Medicine#Health#Diabetes#Cancer#Depression#Anxiety#HIV

Wow!

‘The first 100% effective HIV prevention drug is approved and going global’

https://newatlas.com/infectious-diseases/hiv-prevention-fda-lenacapavir/

#health #hiv

Wow!

‘The first 100% effective HIV prevention drug is approved and going global’

https://newatlas.com/infectious-diseases/hiv-prevention-fda-lenacapavir/

#health #hiv

Edit: there is a major step forward going on with HIV treatment based on mRNA technology. I'll post when I have more news. No cure, but probably the first steps forward.

---

I've been thinking about this for quite a long time and have decided that if we want things to change, people like us have to be more visible. And no, this time, I am not talking about being a trans person.

No. This time I am talking about those of us who are HIV+. We need to be visible, so that people who don't know much about this subject and who are fed wrong "information" know that we are living a normal life, that we are just normal people.

We are not even sick.

We just happen to have the RNA of a virus built into our DNA, i.e., the virus is part of us. The more I think about it, the more it feels weird to talk about "a virus", because: it is me who produces that virus, and that virus is now an integral part of me, of my body. My DNA contains now the RNA of that "virus".

The only problem is that my body produces too much of this virus and if this production is not kept under control, it can just overwhelm my whole system.

It is the same with a lot of other bacteria and viruses we have in our body: if they are not kept in check one of them will overwhelm our system and kill us. The balance between the viruses, the bacteria and the fungi that are part of our body is key to our survival.

Thus, I have to take one pill every day!

And no, I don't have to take it exactly at the same time. There is a window of 18 hours within which I should take that pill. It is an expensive pill. But with that pill I can just live a normal life. I could - if I wanted - even have unprotected sexual intercourse without fear of infecting anyone ... as long as my virus-count is below 50/ml. This count is regularly checked (quarterly) including the CD4-cell count, which should be >200/µl, preferably >400/µl. (On this, please check out "U=U")

My counts are about <25/ml (virus) and >500/µl CD4-cell (~29% relative), on average, so, yeah, everything fine (and all the other blood-work results are, I quote: "amazingly excellent").

So, yeah, we are here. There are about 90-95,000 people with HIV+ in Germany, and about 38-40 million worldwide.

Yes, the pill is very expensive here in Germany but that's because we subsidize the same pill in poorer countries. We pay 30 EUR/pill here, and it costs about 1 EUR in India or Africa (production is about 0.2 EUR it seems). (NOTE: Because we have mandatory health insurance in Germany, the pill and the quarterly checks are 100% paid by my health insurance.)

But coming back: yes, I am HIV+, and I've been that for about 10-12 years, of which I've known about it only since 2019 when I was brought into hospital with acute pneumonia. I survived it also thanks to the amazing people at "München Klinik Schwabing".

Today, I live a normal life - including a very good sex-life.

But ... unfortunately it seems to have been a "normal" thing especially amongst trans people to contract HIV. Because we didn't know what/who we were and thus tried to figure it out and sometimes made some really stupid mistakes. I hope future trans people won't have to make this same mistake, won't have to endure what we endured, won't have to take one pill every day just to have a normal life.

And no, we are not infectious. As long as our virus count is below 50/ml, we are not infectious at all. This is proven science and also accepted science by all the experts on this topic, including WHO (again, check out "U=U" on the Internet).

I will probably have to live with this RNA being part of my DNA until I die because so far we don't know how to get it out or how to put it dormant. Maybe, one day, we will but not today.

And as of today I have the Red Ribbon on my profile to indicate that I am HIV+.

We are here to stay until the problem has been solved. We should not hide - we should be visible.

NB: it usually takes about 5-10 years from the initial infection with HIV until any AID-Syndrome, i.e. until one gets really sick... please check out details on Wikipedia...

Originally posted August 25, 2023 (Updated Nov 24, 2023)

Edit: there is now a treatment using injections, which has proven itself in clinical trials to be 100% effective in preventing HIV infection, if taken twice a year (once every six months). It is the closest we have to a vaccine to protect from infections. It is equally effective in suppressing HIV in already infected people. So,I am now hoping to switch to these injections in a few years.

#HIV#Trans#AIDS

Could #Trump and #RFKJr lead us into a new #HIV pandemic? They could, and it sure as hell looks like they're trying. My latest: https://48hills.org/2025/07/are-trump-rfk-jr-inviting-a-new-hiv-aids-pandemic-pepfar-foreign-aid-prevention/

Could #Trump and #RFKJr lead us into a new #HIV pandemic? They could, and it sure as hell looks like they're trying. My latest: https://48hills.org/2025/07/are-trump-rfk-jr-inviting-a-new-hiv-aids-pandemic-pepfar-foreign-aid-prevention/

Gilead has announced that lenacapavir, the game-changing HIV prevention drug just approved by the FDA will cost $28,218 USD per person per year.

Researchers say a generic version could be made for just $25 per person a year.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/jun/17/hiv-ending-drug-lenacapavir-manufacture-cost-per-patient-gilead

#health#HIV#BigPharma#CapitalismKills

Gilead has announced that lenacapavir, the game-changing HIV prevention drug just approved by the FDA will cost $28,218 USD per person per year.

Researchers say a generic version could be made for just $25 per person a year.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/jun/17/hiv-ending-drug-lenacapavir-manufacture-cost-per-patient-gilead

#health#HIV#BigPharma#CapitalismKills