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AHF President Calls Attention to “The War Against Prevention” In a New Editorial Ad Campaign
Message that “protecting the public health is a sacred trust based on scientific data, not emotions or personal desires,” will run in LGBT publications nationwide
By: AIDS Healthcare Foundation
LOS ANGELES (June 16, 2015) - In a new editorial ad campaign that will soon launch in gay publications and magazines nationwide, AHF President Michael Weinstein reminds the gay community of the central role condoms, HIV testing and treatment have played in controlling HIV and other STDs since the beginning of the AIDS movement. The article, entitled “The War Against Prevention”, questions efforts to direct public attention and resources away from proven methods that prevent the spread of HIV and STDs through consistent condom usage, HIV testing and treatment towards pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). The full-spread advertorial is scheduled to begin appearing in Chicago, South Florida, San Francisco/Bay Area, Washington DC, Seattle, Dallas, and Brooklyn print gay publications this week, followed by placements in Los Angeles and New York City the following week.
“The question is: What will become of the condom culture that has been so hard fought since the
beginning of AIDS?” Weinstein asks in the article. “No one can argue that men would prefer to
have sex without condoms, but there are compromises we must make for the benefit of
ourselves and society. While we cannot tell consenting adults that they must
use condoms, we can tell them the truth. If you have multiple partners or
your partner has multiple partners, the most effective protection for
yourself, your partners and your community is a condom. Mass PrEP
administration is a dangerous experiment that is not supported
by medical science and is currently resisted by doctors and patients alike.”
“AIDS Healthcare Foundation is not against PrEP. Truvada can absolutely be the right decision for
specific patients who, in consultation with their doctors, decide this is the best choice.”
Weinstein explains. “However, the entire body of scientific data demonstrates that
Truvada will not be successful as a mass public health intervention. Yet,
this is exactly what PreP advocates, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, recommend.”
“We have another incredibly powerful tool to prevent HIV infection: any person who is HIV-positive,
whose virus is undetectable, is 96 percent non-infections to others,” Weinstein continues.
“Yet in the United States only 40 percent of HIV-positive people are even seeing a
doctor for their HIV and only 30 percent are undetectable. If every person with
HIV in the United States knew their status, went on treatment, and had their
viral load under control, there would be no new HIV infections.”
“The War Against Prevention” double-truck ad will appear starting June 17th in LGBT newspapers and
magazines in eight markets nationwide (Chicago, South Florida, San Francisco/Bay Area,
Washington DC, Seattle, Dallas, NYC/Brooklyn, and Los Angeles).
View and download a copy of “The War Against Prevention.”
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SOURCE: AIDS Healthcare Foundation
"Reproduced with permission - AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF)"
AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF)
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