I do love Dr. Robert Frascino, aka Dr. Bob.

Dr. Bob is sex-positive, HIV positive and out about it, wonderfully frank and funny as he educates people on The Body about HIV transmission and prevention. His writing makes people feel comfortable to ask what can be deemed strange but true questions.

The ongoing theme in these questions is fear and the ongoing answer is to educate yourself, directly delivered by the good Doctor. HIV is not as readily transmitted as herpes or human papillomavirus (HPV), but it’s good to know the transmission “formula” when making sexual decisions, particularly with a partner whose HIV status is unknown to you.  Dr. Bob offers encouragement around testing when he thinks it’s applicable and encouragement to learn more about HIV for future liaisons.

He also catches amazing fly balls. One section he writes lists the questions as “I’m Positive I’m Positive.” People throw him anger and accusations of stupidity. It is the Internet after all, where anonymity can prompt people to, shall we say, abandon their manners.  There was the poster who’d been seen by multiple HIV specialists who all confirmed he was not infected with HIV, yet accused Dr. Bob et al. of incompetence, and insisted he should have access to HIV meds. This poster isn’t the only one with great fear.  

Dr. Bob’s messages are clear: know your risks. Know your status. Get care when needed. HIV is a fearful disease to be sure. But the fear it creates can be bigger than the risk of getting it. Dr. Bob tries to keep it all level. And living with HIV himself, he’s aware of the wonder of life. Gotta love him.

- Janet

 
For women with HIV who are contemplating pregnancy, thankfully there’s great care and support here in BC. With medical care and HIV treatment, the likelihood of having a baby with HIV is less than 1%. Dr. Jack Forbes of Oak Tree Clinic reported at the recent CAHR conference on perinatal infection rates in Canada between 1997 and 2009, and for women who took the full recommended treatment during pregnancy, the transmission rate was0.7%. 

Positive women are having multiple healthy children and enjoying the joys and challenges of parenting. But being an HIV+ mom and dealing with questions from people who might not know about HIV can be stressful. Questions around breastfeeding alone can be tricky for women who haven’t disclosed to everyone in their community and wish to maintain their confidentiality.

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It was great to be at the Canadian Association for HIV Research conference in Saskatoon earlier this month. Lots of interesting stuff unrolled at CAHR, but one plenary session in particular lit me up. It looked backwards at the origins of HIV and forwards at what we can do to bring an end to AIDS. 

Friday morning was bright and sunny in Saskatoon, but a dark hotel room housed a crowd to hear Doctors Mike Worobey and Mark Tyndall. Worobey’s work is dedicated to exploring the origins of HIV, a puzzle that hasn’t been solved, nor its findings fully agreed upon. Understanding how HIV has evolved could lead to new developments- perhaps a vaccine (although Worobey admitted he isn’t hopeful for that, given HIV’s mutation rate), or at least microbicide options. Tyndall cast his eyes forward, stressing the power we do and don’t have to limit the spread of HIV.

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Understanding the complexities of HIV transmission is an ongoing study. Why, for example, does a group of female sex workers who have unprotected sex on a regular basis avoid infection? There’s something about their immunity that offers them protection, but what is it? This is just one line of research on the risk factors and scenarios that lead to transmission. The more understanding we have, the more potential to improve on existing prevention tools and develop more options. A new finding can add another piece to the puzzle.

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It’s week two, and I still have Olympic fever. I’ll admit I still have some mixed feelings about the Olympics, but I’m not alone in that. Politics aside, I love to watch the actual sporting events, see the nuances of expression on the athletes’ faces as they anticipate, compete, and then react to their own performances. There’s elation, disappointment, glory, rage. Amazing.

Aside from the competitions, I’ve also got my eye on Pride House, a public space for queer athletes and their supporters to gather. There has never been an official space for queer athletes at any other Olympics, and organizers of Pride House at the 2010 Winter Olympics are hoping it will be a statement about the outlook of British Columbia and of Canada in general. It’s an amazing thing to have a space that defies homophobia in sport.

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Right around the time this post goes online, the Olympic torch will be running by my house.  I’ll be standing on the corner with my camera and pretending that’s not my dog barking in the window, driven insane by all the “trespassers”.    I don’t know what these two weeks will hold for me and my family, but for many people – especially athletes and visitors – the Olympics will be one big party.  If you’re not somebody who regularly participates in international sporting events, you might not know that there’s an awful lot of hanky-panky and partying that goes on.

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“Our gender (as transgender and transsexual people) is … invalidated, insulted, and hated. We are denied personhood because our gender is not heteronormative enough: Proper men do not want to become women, and proper women do not become men….”  writes Lisa, of Questioning Transphobia.  

Lisa’s words well describe the discrimination that many trans women face: the message that they’re not "right" in a fundamental way, or so says mainstream society. When it comes to women-specific services, the discrimination against trans women can be particularly pronounced, and many trans women are left without services because they aren’t "women enough."

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I want to like Obama as much as the next progressive-minded person, but it seems to me he’s dropped the ball big time on some pretty key campaign promises—troops out of Afghanistan and healthcare reform including reduced cost, improved quality and full access.  So, it was a pleasant surprise this holiday season when Mr. President delivered two nice big packages to the AIDS service movement.  While these two major changes directly affect US law, they both have a significant effect for people living with HIV worldwide, as well as for international prevention efforts.

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One of our favourite online information sources is The Body – The Complete HIV/AIDS Resource.  They have an excellent high-traffic Ask the Experts forum where twelve HIV specialists (many of them doctors) answer the public’s questions.  A recent thread got me thinking about the notion of risk.  Dr. Robert Frascino (Dr. Bob) calls it the QTND – question that never dies – what’s the risk of getting or passing on HIV by giving or receiving oral sex?  “Sometimes I wish there were a universal factsheet” writes Confused London Boy, “[…] saying when and in what situation a condom should be used”.  “Where is the line?”

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Many years ago I read an essay about women in Vietnam working to rebuild connections and communities after the Americans pulled out. Someone criticized their efforts, saying they were as useless as water. But the women responded that water is a great force: just look what it can to do stone over time. I may not have the quote perfectly cited, but it captures the idea that has stuck with me all these year. I believe in the power of every woman. Even what looks like the smallest gesture is connected to other gestures and actions, and has the capacity to make great change.

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