Check out this interesting mini-bio of Carol Odada, the latest in IRMA’s “Meet a Friendly Rectal Microbicide Advocate” series on the IRMA website here.  Carol is one of six new bios just posted yesterday, including individuals from Thailand, Kenya and the US.  Each will be featured on the blog, and you can read all of them here right Read More >>

via Identity Kenya A new group of otherwise heterosexual men who engage in sexual activity with other men has been formed to create awareness on HIV and also fight blackmail that most of their members have fallen prey to. The group, Married Men Initiative (MMI), so far, boasts of fifty to sixty married men who meet regularly Read More >>

via NPR, by Jason Beaubien Health officials in Kenya say reducing the transmission of HIV among gay men is a central part of their national AIDS strategy. But they face serious challenges, including the fact that homosexuality is still a crime in the East African nation. HIV rates among gay and bisexual men in Kenya are far Read More >>

Check out this interesting mini-bio of Peter Michira, the latest IRMA’s “Meet a Friendly Rectal Microbicide Advocate” series on the IRMA website here.  Peter is one of six new bios just posted yesterday, including individuals from Thailand, India, the UK, the US and Argentina. Each will be featured on the blog, and you can read all of Read More >>

“You should try being an IRMA advocate; you will love the energy and drive you get from it. If you can say rectal microbicides to over 100 people, you can sell anything to anyone on this earth!” George is an IRMA advocate from Nairobi, Kenya. There he is the Project Coordinator and Health Educator at Ishtar MSM Read More >>

via Aidsmap, by Gus Cairns Men who have sex with men may now be at considerably higher risk of acquiring HIV than other at-risk groups such as female sex workers or young people of either sex, if findings by the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) of HIV incidence at two centres in Kenya can be generalised to other Read More >>

via PubMed, by Price MA, Rida W, Mwangome M, Mutua G, Middelkoop K, Roux S, Okuku HS, Bekker LG, Anzala O, Ngugi E, Stevens G, Chetty P, Amornkul “Finding, enrolling, and retaining risk populations for HIV prevention trials is challenging in Africa. African MSM are not frequently engaged for research, have high HIV incidence, need urgent risk Read More >>

[We are so proud of IRMA Steering Committee Larry Misedah – shown on the left in the pic below. His compelling story is a must-read. Of note, Larry will be joining a group of IRMA members in Addis Ababa this December for Project ARM – Africa for Rectal Microbicides organizing and strategizing activities taking place in advance Read More >>

via PlusNews Global “NCDs are sexy now, last year it was maternal health; there doesn’t seem to be a genuine commitment by government to fully address any of these issues… where are the results? The government must not forget about people living with HIV,” said James Kamau, coordinator of the Kenya Treatment Access Movement. “Where is the Read More >>

Via IRIN. HIV and gay rights activists say new guidelines released by the UN World Health Organization (WHO) on HIV programming for men who have sex with men (MSM) will not only improve health service provision for MSM, but will also act as an advocacy tool in the fight for the rights of this marginalized population. “The Read More >>