In this field of HIV/AIDS support, advocacy and prevention, it’s not unusual to hear talk about “the gap” between research and programming.  Committed and educated researchers dedicate years to figuring out what works through pilot projects, evaluation and trials.  When they come up with something effective, it’s understandably frustrating to watch organizations, community groups and governments making programming decisions that seem to ignore the evidence that they’ve worked so hard to produce.  Ideally, where we have evidence that a particular HIV-prevention program works, we should be trying to use this evidence-based programming as widely as possible … shouldn’t we?  As it turns out, individuals, groups and governments regularly make choices based on factors other than evidence of effectiveness – prejudice, religion, personal preference, perceived public opinion, etc.  How can we make the best use of evidence-based programming in the context of our specific communities?

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I just got back from a vacation of hanging out along the coast amongst beautiful arbutus trees.  Re-entry after vacation can be a little rocky, but I’m happily jazzed about the microbicide news that came out of AIDS 2010 in Vienna. Miriam blogged about  the conference and the CAPRISA 004 trial a couple of weeks ago, but what’s really caught my eye is that this microbicide does double duty: it also prevents herpes transmission.  

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It’s 1 in the morning and you’re thinking about the tingling in your hands that’s been bugging you for a week. Where do you go online for information? You could just use the search term tingling hands and come up with thousands of hits and freak yourself out. Or you could visit Patients Like Me and get closer to info that might help.

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I’m doing some research on HIV and aging, a wonderful term that one wouldn’t have expected even five years ago. I was talking a few weeks ago with several HIV+ women about their experiences. The conversation turned to symptoms: sleeplessness, night sweats, fatigue, and difficulty concentrating. These are typical symptoms pos people experience. But many women will deal with these symptoms during perimenopause regardless of HIV status. So the question for pos women becomes, are these symptoms HIV-related or perimenopause related? Or both? And when should you check in with your doctor?

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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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