VisualAIDS

Stop HIV phobia - video series

Shady AIDS Charity With a Big Web Campaign

from ProPublica - March 24, 2009 11:44 am EDT, by Christopher Weaver

Peter Taback's first reaction to the Center for AIDS Prevention's prominent advertisement on the New York Times' Web site [2] was jealousy. Taback, communications director for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation [3], was impressed another organization had cast its reach so far.

But on closer inspection, his envy shifted to outrage.

The Beverly Hills-based Center for AIDS Prevention has mobilized a nationwide fundraising campaign, but members of the tight-knit AIDS community in California have never heard of the group. Its history is shrouded in mystery, and even people who have interacted with the group are uncertain of its purpose. The Web site [4] offers incorrect information about AIDS prevention and treatment -- such as the suggestion that birth control pills prevent the spread of HIV [5] (PDF). The charity's proprietor also has ties to a for-profit company that sold ineffective herbal AIDS remedies to replace antiretroviral drugs.

The center is committing "public health malpractice," Taback said. "To have misinformation like that on the Web site is profoundly disturbing."

As charitable giving constricts with the economy, many AIDS foundations and treatment facilities are struggling to stay afloat, and AIDS advocates were also concerned that funding could be diverted from urgently needed services.

Meanwhile, the center's own financial and legal history is, at best, questionable. So far, the ad campaign has fallen well short of its "six-figure" fundraising goals, according to Lomax Burnett [6], the Center for AIDS Prevention's chief fundraiser. The center's tax filings with the IRS were available for 2006 [7] (PDF) and 2007 [8] (PDF), and they show no revenues, expenses or assets. Steve Neely, the center's director, said those were the first he'd ever filed on behalf of the charity...

(continue reading here)

NY Times - H.I.V. Is Spreading in New York City at 3 Times the National Rate, Study Finds

New York Times
By Sewell Chan
Published: August 27, 2008 

The virus that causes AIDS  is spreading in New York City at three times the national rate — an incidence of 72 new infections for every 100,000 people, compared with 23 per 100,000 nationally — according to a study released on Wednesday by the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

The findings, based on a new formula developed by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, estimated that 4,762 New Yorkers contracted H.I.V. in 2006, the most precise estimate the city had ever offered.

But the city stressed that because the method of estimating infections was new, it could not be said definitively whether the number of new infections in the city had increased or decreased from previous years.

Blacks, and men who have sex with other men, are the groups at greatest risk of contracting H.I.V., the study found. A summary of the new data:

- Men accounted for 76 percent of new H.I.V. infections and women for 25 percent. (The figures exceed 100 percent because of rounding.)

- Blacks made up 46 percent of the newly infected; Hispanics, 32 percent; and whites, 21 percent. (Figures for other racial or ethnic groups were not provided.)

- Those under age 20 made up 4 percent of the newly infected; those 20 to 29 years old, 24 percent; those 30 to 39 years old, 29 percent; those 40 to 49 years old, 29 percent; and those 50 and older, 15 percent.

- Sex between men was the main cause in 50 percent of new infections; high-risk heterosexual sex in 22 percent; intravenous drug use in 8 percent; and unknown or uncertain causes in 18 percent.

Manhattan accounted for 35 percent of new infections; Brooklyn, 26 percent; the Bronx, 19 percent; and Queens, 17 percent.

Continue reading here.

CDC Report - HIV Infections by Sex, Race and Age.

From the CDC Report
August 2008

Gay and Bisexual Men of All Races Are Most Severely Affected by HIV

Gay and bisexual men—referred to in CDC surveillance systems as men who have sex with men (MSM)¹ —accounted for a significantly greater proportion of estimated new infections in 2006 than any other risk group (Figures 2). These findings underscore the need to expand access to HIV testing and other proven interventions, and to continue research to identify new interventions to address the evolving needs of diverse populations of gay and bisexual men in the United States. Many factors probably contribute to high risk of HIV among MSM, including the challenge of maintaining safer-sex behaviors, the assumption that one is HIV-negative, underestimates of personal risk factors, and stigma, which may prevent access to needed services and may lead to substance abuse and depression.

Figure 2. Estimated Number of New HIV Infections, Extended Back-Calculation Model, by Transmission Category, 1977– 2006

Impact of HIV Greater Among Blacks Than Any Other Racial or Ethnic Group

CDC’s new estimates confirm that blacks are more severely and disproportionately affected by HIV than any other racial/ethnic group in the United States (Figure 4). Trend analyses show that HIV incidence among blacks has been roughly stable at an unacceptably high level since the early 1990s (except for a brief fluctuation in the late 1990s). The continued severity of the epidemic among blacks underscores the need to sustain and accelerate prevention efforts in this population. Although race itself is not a risk factor for HIV infection, a range of issues contribute to the disproportionate HIV risk for blacks in the United States, including poverty, stigma, higher rates of other STDs, and drug use.

Figure 4. Estimated Rates of New HIV Infections, by Race/Ethnicity, 2006

By Age Group

More infections occurred among young people under 30 (aged 13–29) than any other age group (34%, or 19,200), (Figure 8), followed by persons 30–39 (31% or 17,400). These data confirm that HIV is an epidemic primarily of young people and underscores the critical need to reach each new generation of young people with HIV prevention services. Persons over age 50 continue to account for a relatively small proportion of new infections.

Figure 8. Estimated New HIV Infections, by Age, 2006

Click here for full report.

Far too many New Yorkers are being infected with HIV and dying of AIDS.

From New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

New York City remains the epicenter of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the U.S. More than 100,000 New Yorkers are living with HIV, but thousands don’t know they’re infected. New York City has the highest AIDS case rate in the country, with more AIDS cases than Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, and Washington DC combined. HIV is the 3rd leading cause of death below age 65 in New York City. HIV is also the health problem with the largest racial disparity; 80% of new AIDS diagnoses and deaths are among African Americans and Hispanics. Prevention, testing, and treatment programs are being expanded, but more must be done.

Barriers create disparities in access to care

Approximately 1 in 70 New Yorkers is infected with HIV, but the proportion of people in different groups who are infected varies widely:

• 1 in 40 African Americans.  
• 1 in 25 men living in Manhattan.  
• 1 in 12 black men age 40-49 years.  
• 1 in 10 men who have sex with men.  
• 1 in 8 injection drug users.  
• 1 in 5 black men age 40-49 in Manhattan.  
• 1 in 4 men who have sex with men in Chelsea.

The epidemic is increasingly affecting women, who now constitute a third of new AIDS cases – up from 1 in 10 at the start of the epidemic. More than 80% of new AIDS diagnoses and deaths are among African Americans and Hispanics. Black men in New York City are 6 times more likely to die of AIDS than white men; black women are 9 times more likely to die of AIDS than white women. Hispanic men and women are 4 times more likely to die of AIDS than white men and women.

Continue reading here.

I heart Pato's Corpus! - by Ted Kerr

Ted Kerr reports from the International AIDS Conference
via  AIDS 2008 Blog
Sun, 08/03/2008

"I want to Survive in the Millions"-Jamie Cortez Editors Note for Corpus 1

Let’s face it -- I am in love with Patrick ‘Pato’ Herbert. But before you think that I am about to move to California where Pato works with AIDS Project Los Angles and get gay married to him (where gays can now get married…for now), I should say that I don’t really know him beyond having heard him speak at the ART/AIDS.WORK conference in NY and at the MSM Global Forum here in Mexico city. It is his cultural work that makes me swoon.

His triumph, his eau de OHH! is a collectively created magazine for and by gay and bi men that he works on and coordinates called Corpus. Since 2003, the privately funded somewhat bilingual glossy magazine that features a published collage of both established writers and artists with emerging voices has been mixing prevention with culture and expression with awareness. The latest edition, Corpus 7 with a focus on male queer lust, love and life internationally, including images from photographer Sunil Gupta (image) and guest edited by Tony Quan from the Australia Federation of AIDS Organizations was being exclusively distributed at the MSM Global Forum earlier this week.

To get an idea of Corpus think My Space meets what AdBusters use to be, picture the spirit of the best community zines with the design of a great euro mag. It is unfussy yet professional, it is sex positive and treats HIV/AIDS as it deserves to be; a consideration, a reality, anentity, an integral part of a queer man’s thought process.

Never hitting you over the head with ideas on human rights or social justice, it instead implies it through a diversity of voices, mediums, subjects and points of view while always being considerate that literacy is as pectrum and above all else the medium is the message.

If a man who because he is either or both a racial, social, sexual minority feels under-heard, under-represented gets a copy of Corpus in his hands, not only does it communicate that he is worthy of such a well-made,rigorously created piece of cultural production, he further understands that he is desirable on his own terms by opening up the magazine and seeing someonel ike him represented.

In the session during the MSM Global Forum that Pato and Andy Quan gave on Corpus as an example of cultural production as a response to HIV there was some discussion on the term ‘cultural production’ in place of the word art. From this discussion emerged something from Quan’s mouth that I have always thought about as my own work being an artist of residence, but had never been put into words.

He said: “I choose to think about culture production not as creating a product but rather, through HIV/AIDS and our response to it we are producing a culture; a queer culture, a culture for all of us”

To see Corpus online: http://www.apla.org/publications/publications.html

visit AIDS2008.com for more reports from the International AIDS Conference

XVII International AIDS Conference Updates

The XVII International AIDS Conference in Mexico City, will be held August 3-8, 2008.

Click on the widget below for daily reports and webcast.  You can also add this information to your blog, by clicking on "get & share" or visit www.kaisernetwork.org/aids2008

SIDE X SIDE - reviewed in The NY Times

The New York Times review of SIDE X SIDE by Holland Cotter  
Friday, July 25, 2008

“Side x Side” at La MaMa La Galleria includes work by three Wojnarowicz contemporaries who died of the disease — Scott Burton (1939-1989), Nicolas Moufarrege (1947-1985) and Martin Wong (1946-1999) — and by two other artists, Kate Huh and Carrie Yamaoka, whose work registered its impact.

Organized by Dean Daderko for Visual AIDS, a nonprofit organization that tries to increase public awareness of AIDS through the visual arts, the show is sparely and lovingly installed. Ms. Yamaoka, a longtime gay activist, contributes abstract pieces from the 1990s made of mirrors with the reflective coating ripped away. From Ms. Huh comes a tiny but potent zine that catches the punky, street-level-apocalypse energy that this part of town once generated.

It’s great to see Mr. Moufarrege’s witty embroidered paintings here, turning art history into pop culture. His “Truth About John the Baptist,” with its hulking superhero, Arabic script (it reads, “My father taught me Arabic calligraphy”) and child floating in a pool of pink glitter, looks just right today. So does Mr. Wong’s “Sweet Oblivion” (1983). It’s the most beautiful painting of the Lower East Side I know of, and it’s an image of a time and place that now exist only in art and memories.

Read more here

Also read Thomas Devaney review here

Come see what everyone is talking about!

Curator Talk with Dean Daderko
Saturday, July 26, from 2-3 PM

Reading with Kate Huh, Sara Marcus & Eileen Myles
Monday, August 4, 6:30-8PM

LaMaMa La Galleria
6 E. 1st Street, NYC
(btw Bowery & 2nd Ave)
Hrs: Wednesday-Sunday, 1-6 PM

Exhibition runs until Sunday, August 3, 2008

Image: “The Truth About John the Baptist” (1983), by Nicolas Moufarrege. Collection of  Dr.  Nabil Moufarrej and Nouna Moufarrej

Postcards Review

The Other Side of the Art World

by Marcia G. Yerman
from The Huffington Post

For the majority of working artists who are not part of the art world establishment, there is a definite disconnect between what transpires in their studio and the big business of art. The contemporary market is a treadmill of fairs, dealers, collectors, auctions, art consultants, art advisors, and whatnot. Economics is the motivation behind purchases when acquisition is solely for investment purposes. Others are interested in reflected status, art as luxury consumer goods. Maybe it's never been any different.

The mind-set of the 1970s, which was formed by the politics of that era, is gone. Yet there are signs that the rebirth of activism is on the horizon. Propelled by the dismal world situation, fertile ground for the regeneration of the socially concerned artist is ready and waiting.

Observing the scene at the Visual AIDS 10th Annual Postcards from the Edge benefit gave me encouragement that the "other side of the art world," the one that showcases community, is alive and kicking. Hosted by the James Cohan Gallery in Chelsea (epicenter of gallery chic), a preview party with admission cover, but free to participating artists, was jammed.   

Approximately 1,600 original works on paper measuring 4" x 6" were mounted in rows on the gallery walls. All the pieces were displayed in egalitarian fashion, unidentified. The list of contributors was readily available. However, the goal was to have people look at the images without reference to who the artist was, thereby focusing on the aesthetic connection to the work. It made me wonder how the statistics would be different if galleries engaged in a blind selection process, uninfluenced by gender, race, or age.

I did overhear one person involved in the parlor game of "Did you find the one by Kiki Smith?" but overall, I saw a lot of gratified artists. In this open show, every one who donated work was exhibited. They understood the cause. As one artist explained to me, "I was affected by the loss of someone I cared deeply about. This gives me the opportunity to support a crucial issue."

CONTINUED>>

Event photos by Sarah Wendell on Flickr

Satellite Broadcast: Preventing HIV/AIDS among Men Who Have Sex with Men

Preventing HIV/AIDS among Men Who Have Sex with Men:
Challenges and Innovations  on May 17, 2007

CDC and the Public Health Training Network will present a satellite broadcast and webcast entitled, "Preventing HIV/AIDS among Men Who Have Sex with Men: Challenges and Innovations," on May 17, 2007, beginning at 1 p.m. EDT. The 2-hour broadcast will highlight relevant research and related programs in the United States. A panel will answer viewer questions, which can be sent via fax during the broadcast or by email during and after the broadcast.

Organizations are responsible for setting up their own viewing locations and are encouraged to register their locations so that persons who wish to view the broadcast can access information online.  Registration begins on March 1, 2007. Directions for establishing and registering a viewing location are available at http://www.cdcnpin-broadcast.org.

The broadcast also can be viewed live or after the broadcast on computers with Internet and Windows Media Player® software capability through http://www2.cdc.gov/phtn. DVDs and videotapes of the broadcast may be ordered from the CDC National Prevention Information Network (NPIN) by calling 800-458-5231 or by visiting www.cdcnpin.org.