gdp's Comments

peripheries : HIV Prevention: Hypocrisy Too Kills

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 07:39:18 +0000

The copyright was at the bottom of the post and was linking to the picture on your former Flickr account. The caption was that of the picture @flickr. Now, I have absolutely no doubt that the girls are what you say they are.

peripheries : Safe sex? Sell it “as good as bareback”

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 14:11:38 +0000

Not sure I follow you regarding people thinking of doing this as I don't recall a campaign promoting "comdomised bareback" but I may be missing something here... For sure condoms have been promoted as being fun and not detrimental to the sexual experience but not as far as being "nearly as good as bareback" as an appealing factor. Please let me know! The Sagami video is about love and care, the Sagami ad in Thai is about sexual experience, roughly translating as "the thinnest, the more fun" with a pun.

peripheries : Buying Behaviour Change: A New HIV Prevention Technology?

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 20:58:44 +0000

[polldaddy 3493833 http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/3493833/ polldaddy]

peripheries : Uganda: Finding scapegoats for a resurgent epidemic

Sat, 10 Jul 2010 08:20:18 +0000

... and of course, monotheism and christianity are "African Traditions"...

Family Edge : The Pill’s deadly affair with HIV/AIDS

Fri, 23 Apr 2010 13:40:00 +0000

Nonsense! Women are only more affected by HIV than men in Sub-Saharan Africa. Elsewhere, HIV affects largely men who have sex with men and IDU. If it was true that the pill was increasing the risk of infection to a point that women are more at risk, then women in the develop world would be the most affected. The article referenced above refers "HIV Disease Progression" not HIV aquisition. The research show that the pill may affect when a women needs ARV, not if she will or not become infected. Always go back to the sources.

peripheries : At last, a cure for HIV !

Fri, 2 Apr 2010 17:08:25 +0000

Indeed... But see the follow up posting http://bit.ly/dc8kvM

peripheries : Sex in Wales: tracking HIV through UK's Wild West

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 10:14:25 +0000

Daniel, You may be interested by this other article which addresses some of the issues you raise. http://rapidshare.com/files/369870390/Gonococcal_...

peripheries : Sex in Wales: tracking HIV through UK's Wild West

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 07:58:42 +0000

Dear Daniel, The point the authors wanted to make is that it is possible to do contact tracing and by doing so identifying new infections and potentially prevent further infections. Obviously the data set is much richer and it is a bit desapointing that they are not sharing more! I agree with you that it would be so much more interesting, and useful, to know more bout who's who in this network. I am particularly interested in the "online connection". But let's not forget that this network is located in a small area, and the demographics show clearly that it's members are familiar with each other or move in the same spheres (they are mostly in the managerial sector or student, Whites, and locals). We may hear more about this research in the future...

peripheries : Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP): not such a good idea?

Mon, 1 Mar 2010 09:07:04 +0000

For sure small studies won't impact on treatment delivery. But since you mention it, what are the values of small studies? MDP301 has clearly showed that even medium studies like HPTN035 (3,100 ppts!) did not have enough power to provide a clear answer. Caprisa is reporting soon, but I do not put ARV-based microbicides in the "PrEP" category per se, as it is not as drastic as taking a pill a day and will divert less resources, and it will be different one. Funnily enough the question of existing resources is also askef for Treatment as Prevention.

peripheries : Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP): not such a good idea?

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 15:52:06 +0000

I would not be too surprised. This is a question that not many want to hear and even less want to answer. What is irritating is that we keep hearing about evidence-based actions, but when the evidences do not fit what we like, we are prompt to ignore them... It is all well and nice to say that we should not think in terms of limited resources, but the reality is that resources are limited. But note that resources do not specificaaly mean ARV, that would be very reductionist.

peripheries : Treatment as Prevention: The Agony and the Ecstasy

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 21:06:44 +0000

No worry about that! Give another day to write something down. Funny you ask though... Is the establishment so scarry? Hmm... Maybe

peripheries : Treatment as Prevention: The Agony and the Ecstasy

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 19:27:03 +0000

I knew soneone would be asking... now I have to answer right?

peripheries : HIV Prevention Clinical Trials: Size Matters

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 01:38:02 +0000

That\\\'s only part of the solution.... then they have to be used... consistently... and properly...

peripheries : World Aids Day 2009: The Return of the Condom

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 18:45:13 +0000

[polldaddy 2381146 http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/2381146/ polldaddy]

peripheries : What’s wrong with barebacking, if there is something wrong about it.

Fri, 4 Dec 2009 20:28:53 +0000

thanks for making my point !

peripheries : Are modern HIV campaigns failing younger gays?

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:54:04 +0000

A lot of research is about why MSM don't use condoms rather than why they do. I believe we would learn much more finding out about the latter. But the results may go against "conventional wisdom". As we talk more and more about evidence-based interventions, such data is seriously lacking.

peripheries : Is the "cum-pig" set for PrEP?

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:44:34 +0000

I can't agree more with you and I would put these men into the category for which barebacking is a fatality. I think it is Peter Piot who once said that if the cure to HIV was a glass of water, we would fail to deliver it. With PrEP we are discussing serving champagne in crystal glass on a silver tray in the middle of the Sahara...

peripheries : Size and Religion Matter for HIV Prevention

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 07:48:00 +0000

There are inaccuracies and misconceptions in the above comment hinting that the author has limited knowledge of how research works or what is needed and how clinical trials are conducted. The first being that research should be judged on the who is conducting it rather than on the quality of the data. If this were true, most of modern mechanics would have to be ignored on the ground it was the work of one man in the 18th Century! I will address the above comments in a specific post. But it worth notind that today, at the AIDS vaccine Conference in Paris, another study conducted by a different group confirmed the role and importance of circumcision in preventing HIV infection. This is the STEP trial that tested a vaccine strategy. More on this later...

peripheries : What’s wrong with barebacking, if there is something wrong about it.

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 08:40:19 +0000

Hi Nico, Thanks for keeping the debate alive. You asked if I see a binary approach to HIV prevention putting condom-based prevention against harm reduction. The short answer is no. There is no binary but a continuum with condom as a starting point. What may explain that we are sometimes talking pass each other is that there are different levels to approach the debate. Though I am very much interested in grass-root activism, the original post was aimed at policy and decision makers. The difference is between what institutions and society should aim at and what happens in the real world. I will accept that this is not an immediate concern for grass root activists. Let me now ask you, how do you answer the guy who tells you “You're an asshole for talking to guys about barebacking in that way. If guys would just put on a condom on before they fuck we wouldn't be in this mess". Do you understand, and accept, where he comes from? If you have the time, have a look at the comments posted in response to Jan’s articles about oral sex and harm reduction on Fridae. What is important to keep in mind is that there are a lot of guys out there who are using condoms and have been using them consistently for some time. But suddenly, a different set of messages comes out of the “HIV prevention hat”. Some people react aggressively because they don’t understand the need for these messages, some are confused because they are faced with what they understand as mixed messages, some are curious and start wondering what all the fuss about condoms is about, and some feel vindicated for not using condoms (this is a non-continuous continuum and I can’t cover all the possibilities, but I am sure you will get the gist). Anyway, at the end of the day, there is some confusion, a confusion that some (not you, I believe) deny strongly, saying that people are clever enough to know the difference. If that were true, there would not be so much debate around this issue. Ignoring the clearly visible confusion (that you have yourself experienced and that I am sure you are aware of) is a dangerous form of denial. Existing condom-based prevention intervention failing, how are we to send a clear message without mudding even more the water debating these? In short: we need to be clear in what we say and start from the start of the prevention continuum, i.e. condom. As an aside, did you ever noticed or wondered why in the official literature HIV is always described as “the virus that causes AIDS”? Look at the front page of the Avert web site for example. Don’t we all know that HIV is the virus that causes AIDS? I let you ponder about that... Read more in part 2 ...