But HAART is not a vaccine. And not everyone has access to it yet. In fact, 60 per cent of the people in the world who need treatment for the disease are not getting it. Consequently, an estimated 5,500 people are still dying from it every day around the world. You can do the yearly math.
South Africa is facing an AIDS crisis in which nearly six million people are infected.
“We were in South Africa for the Cape Town conference [on AIDS] last summer,” Dr. Montaner told me. “Every day, the newspaper had a story about 30 per cent of doctors being infected with HIV, 30 per cent of nurses, 30 per cent of teachers. It means their whole infrastructure is crumbling. It means society as a whole becomes fragile.” The impact the disease can have on a family unit is devastating. It often leads to even worse poverty. Children have to leave school to try and support their parents. Often, such children turn to prostitution. The consequences are often lethal.

See the full article from “Globe and Mail”

Higham presents startling evidence that the AIDS virus may have existed prior to 1981, when the virus first had been reported in the media. The mysterious death of a British soldier in 1959 may have been the first AIDS casualty, according to the Panache Report site. The soldier’s blood was frozen for laboratory storage. Years later when scientists analyzed that frozen blood sample, it tested positive for HIV.
In the 1960’s, according to the Panache Report site, a black male prostitute, from in St. Louis, died of mysterious ailments, the doctors were baffled and decided to store his blood and organs. Years later, the organs and blood tested positive for HIV. For further research, see the book, Howard Hughes, The Secret Life, by Charles Higham. You also can browse the book at that Google Book site.

See the full article from “GroundReport”

Dec
04

Dr. Etienne Poirot [Photo: Zheng Yunfeng/CRIENGLISH.com]
Since China reported its first AIDS case in 1985, the world’s most populous nation has recorded about 320,000 HIV/AIDS cases and 50,000 deaths by October. By counting the tens of thousands who have died of AIDS related diseases, the number of children affected in China is estimated higher than 76,000. Although HIV/AIDS is still regarded by many as “adult business“, we now know children and young people are the key to halting the spread of the epidemic around the world-and in China.
UNICEF, a UN agency for childrenos welfare, is closely working with the Chinese government in helping the needy. Talking to Voices From Other Lands, UNICEF HIV/AIDS section Chief Dr. Etienne Poirot says fighting the epidemic disease needs the efforts both from the government and the individuals. He visited quite a few remote areas in China and found that stigma still exists among the families and communities, and more things should be done.

See the full article from “CRIENGLISH.com”

Beyond the psychological effects of porn, the research gives a good look at the changing consumption habits of adult entertainment consumers.
The study found that 90 percent of pornography today is consumed via the Internet. Only 10 percent of the respondents said they got materials from video stores.
That’s consistent with what adult entertainment companies have found. Large studios, such as Vivid and Digital Playground, are focusing as heavily on their online offerings as they are on big budget releases these days. And porn’s top actresses all have pay sites to take advantage of online demand – most charging $30 per month for access.

The study did show longer periods of engagement with adult entertainment than previously thought. Lajeunesse says single men, on average, watch pornography three times a week for 40 minutes. Those who are in committed relationships watch an average of 1.7 times per week for 20 minutes.

See the full article from “CNBC”

When were you at Pullman’s last? Tonight could be a good time to visit, as local wine importers Insolite Importations takes over the place to speak and offer tastings of various vintages from around the world. The winemakers will be present both days, at the Bonsecours Market, to present their wines and chat. What more could you expect from on an otherwise dull Tuesday night. Six vignerons Insolite, de la Convergente au Pullman, tonight at Pullman More…
Is that not enough plays for you? How about six more? Tableau D’Hoté Theatre celebrates their fifth anniversary by hosting six one-act plays from the George F. Walker collection, Suburban Motel. These characters aren’t your typical coffee-sipping-stepford-housewife types. They’re everyday people – some seedy and others not – but don’t judge, they fall in love and are exploited just like the rest of us dysfunctional folk. Walker’s medley includes: Problem Child, Adult Entertainment, Featuring Loretta, The End of Civilization, Criminal Genius and Risk Everything. Suburban Motel runs from November 10 to November 29 at Mainline Theatre. More…

See the full article from “Martiniboys.com”

Dec
04

The Pickton case exposed the tragedy of a desperate community that, to this day, still has only six detox beds at the Salvation Army for women trying to kick their habit, with no place to go afterward for rehabilitation. So they leave the building and go back to the street, selling sex to buy another fix.
Getting killed on Mr. Pickton’s farm was just the last act of violence these women suffered. As children and adolescents, most endured rape, beatings, a cascade of foster homes, bad boyfriends otherwise known as pimps, vicious dealers, slum housing, indifferent care. Yet, they had survived to create a community of people who loved them, whether they were the pals at the drop-in or the street nurses who mended their ravaged bodies or the church ladies who fed them. Their neat little bedrooms in the slum hotels were papered with pictures of their children. What those of us who worked on this story learned is that everyone cared far too late.

See the full article from “Globe and Mail”

The findings of the modes of transmission study conducted last year indicates that the incidence of HIV is rising especially among married couples aged 30-40.
The study indicates that 44% of new infections were among persons involved in multiple sexual partnerships (that is, those reporting two or more partners), including their regular partners, and about 11% were related to sex work.
Multiple partnerships, which is regarded as a “common phenomenon” in Uganda, is one of the reasons HIV prevalence is now highest in the older, married populations, a group that is currently not the target of prevention programmes.
Multiple Concurrent Partner (MCP) means that a man or woman has more than one sexual partner at the same time. The partners can overlap for weeks, months or years.These relationships have many names, including; “away games,” “balanced diet,” “side dish,” “pre-testing”, “spare tyre”, “left hand”, “suitcase”, “side mirror”, “extra time”, “panadol”, and “take-away”. This is regarded as a common practice in Africa where a man can have as many women, besides his marital wife.

See the full article from “The Observer”

Watching your first skin flick is a man’s rite of passage, but surely there are some young men out there who remain unsullied by the demon pornography.
We hold onto this belief despite claims that researchers at the University of Montreal were unable to uncover a single male person who would admit to never having viewed an adult film.
Professor Simon Louis Lajeunesse initially set out to compare and contrast the lifestyles of men who watch pornography on a regular basis and those who have never seen it. But it turns out he couldn’t find anyone for his control group. (We call possible BS because this survey took place in a city that’s home to a strip club called Club Super Sexe.)
His study of fewer than two dozen males concludes that most men see their first porno at about the age of 10. And that’s about where his findings end, unfortunately. It would have been fascinating to see if guys who have never seen porn are better or worse in bed, have had a vastly different number of sexual partners or if they could even describe what a boob looks like.

See the full article from “Asylum (blog)”