It's a Funny Old World: Chinese Lesbian Edition

Not a headline you see every day, but I would have thought lesbians were the least "at risk" group, far more so than heterosexuals in fact.

China lifts ban on lesbians giving blood
By Molly Gray
July 6, 2012

Hong Kong The Chinese Ministry of Health has lifted a 14-year-old ban on lesbians donating blood in effect as of July 1.

The ban still applies to men who are sexually active with other men, but celibate homosexuals are permitted to give blood, according to the Ministry of Health's website.

The original ban, enacted in 1998, barred homosexuals of both genders from donating blood out of a fear of spreading HIV and AIDS.

'Mama Wu' unlikely hero for homosexuals in China

Xu Bin, a prominent lesbian rights activist in China, told the Global Times she applauded the amendment and what it means for lesbians in China.

"It is also about our dignity and the elimination of blood donation discrimination," she was quoted as saying.

Xu, who goes by her nickname Xian, first tried to donate blood in 2008 after an earthquake in Sichuan Province, when she learned of the ban and began campaigning against it.

"It's scientific that the policy doesn't mention homosexual identity but only fences off some who have certain sex behaviors, because AIDS is not caused by one's homosexual identity but improper sexual behavior," Xian told the Global Times.

AIDS first made an appearance in China in the 1980s when an Argentinean tourist died from the disease while on holiday in the country. Like other areas of the world, the epidemic was shrouded in confusion which was exacerbated in China by official denials that it existed there.

However, more recently, organizations such as UNAIDS, the joint United Nations program on HIV and AIDS, have commended the Chinese government on advancements in the attitude on AIDS.

In June, UNAIDS reported that its executive director had visited the country and praised the government's "major investments in China's AIDS response and a dramatic scale-up of HIV prevention, treatment and care programs."

The new regulations also include several other changes, including raising the age limit to 60, increasing the amount donated from 200 ml to 400 ml and shortening the required period of time between donations. CNN

US Approves First Take-Home HIV Test

This is good news, I just hope they can get the price down from the guesstimated $60 - £38 that it will retail at.

US Approves First Take-Home HIV Test

The OraQuick test detects the presence of HIV in saliva using a mouth swab and returns a result within 20 to 40 minutes
Associated Press
4 July 2012

The OraQuick test, which detects the presence of HIV in saliva collected using a mouth swab.

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved the first over-the-counter HIV test, allowing Americans to check themselves for the virus that causes Aids in the privacy of their homes.

The OraQuick test detects the presence of HIV in saliva collected using a mouth swab. The test is designed to return a result within 20 to 40 minutes.

Government officials estimate one-fifth – or about 240,000 people – of the 1.2 million HIV carriers in the US are not aware they are infected. Testing is one of the chief means of slowing new infections, which have held steady at about 50,000 a year for two decades.

FDA officials said the test was aimed at people who might not otherwise get tested. The company's marketing efforts will focus on populations at greatest risk of being infected, including gay and bisexual men, African-Americans and Hispanics.

HIV awareness groups hailed the move as an important step in expanding testing for the virus.

"This test will allow anyone to empower themselves to know their HIV status when, how and with whom they want to," said Tom Donohue, founding director of Who's Positive.

HIV eventually develops into Aids unless treated with antiviral drugs. Aids causes the body's immune system to break down, leading to infections which become fatal.

The FDA previously approved several HIV test kits designed to be used at home, although those kits which usually require a blood sample must be sent to a laboratory to be developed.

FDA stressed in its approval announcement that the test was not 100% accurate.

A trial conducted by Orasure showed the home test correctly detected HIV in those carrying the virus 92% of the time. That means the test could miss one person for every 12 HIV-infected people who use the kit.

The test was 99% accurate in ruling out HIV in patients not carrying the virus. That means the test would incorrectly identify one patient as having HIV for every 5,000 HIV-negative people tested.

People who test negative should get re-tested after three months because it can take several weeks for detectable antibodies to HIV to appear, according to Dr Jonathan Mermin, director of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention's HIV unit.

Orasure has marketed a version of OraQuick to doctors, nurses and other health care practitioners since 2002. When used by professionals, the test is shown to accurately identify both carriers and non-carriers 99% of the time.

While it's not clear why the test appears less accurate in consumer trials, company researchers said they expected the test's specificity to drop when used by consumers versus professionals.

Orasure plans to launch the test in October, selling it through retailers including Walgreens, CVS and Walmart, as well as online pharmacies.

Whereas the test marketed to health professionals costs about $17.50 (£11.15), Orasure expects the consumer version to sell for more. The company is not announcing a price yet, but said it would be less than $60 (£38).

The chief executive officer of Orasure, Doug Michels, said the additional cost would help pay for a toll-free call centre to provide counseling and medical referrals to test users. Gruniad

Your Kid Dies Of Neglect, Play The God Card

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These parents should not be prosecuted in any shape or form.

Rather a strange statement coming from me you might query? let us look at two cases, one contemporary one from 2007.

Parents Pick Prayer Over Doctors, Girl Dies.

WESTON, Wis. Police are investigating an 11-year-old girl's death from an undiagnosed, treatable form of diabetes after her parents chose to pray for her rather than take her to a doctor.

An autopsy showed Madeline Neumann died Sunday from diabetic ketoacidosis, a condition that left too little insulin in her body, Everest Metro Police Chief Dan Vergin said.

She had probably been ill for about a month, suffering symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, excessive thirst, loss of appetite and weakness, the chief said Wednesday, noting that he expects to complete the investigation by Friday and forward the results to the district attorney.

The girl's mother, Leilani Neumann, said the family believes in the Bible and that healing comes from God, but she said they do not belong to an organized religion or faith, are not fanatics and have nothing against doctors. more

Do I have a problem with these parents? not at all at all.

Why not? Because God is involved, and where God is involved the State absolves all things including the right to life.

Mount Vernon leukemia patient, 14, dies after rejecting transfusions

A 14-year-old boy who refused blood transfusions in his fight against leukemia -- based on religious beliefs -- died Wednesday night in Seattle, hours after a Skagit County judge affirmed his right to reject the treatment.

Dennis Lindberg, of Mount Vernon, died around 6 p.m. at Children's Hospital & Regional Medical Center in Seattle, according to KING-5 television. As a Jehovah's Witness, Lindberg objected to receiving blood. Doctors had said he needed it to survive his cancer treatment.

In court Wednesday, Superior Court Judge John Meyer said that Lindberg, though in the eighth grade, was old enough to know that refusing blood transfusions might amount to a "death sentence," and that he had the right to make that decision.more

So there you have it, not a problem, but wait a minute you might say, one child is nine and the parents didn't seek medical attention and the other is fourteen and made his own decision.

That might well be the case, so all I can say is what kind of brainwashing was this kid subjected to over four years by, in this case his aunt, that death was preferable to the promised horrors of eternal damnation and purgatory that awaited him if he accepted a blood transfusion?

What really burns me about all this, the obvious apart, is the goddamn judge who obviously has a cross stuck so far up his arse that all this and his ruling make perfect sense.


And let us not loose sight of just what are the rights of a fourteen year old to act freely in other areas of life. In ninety nine percent of all things he is just a boy, a child in fact, and we know how America seeks to protect it's precious children and keep them young and pure, they are after all only children.

They are only children until they want to die for Jesus or commit a crime and then in many instances the State decides that they are children no more and charges and tries them in a court of law as adults, but that's the way it is in the One Nation Under God.

A more comprehensive report on the Lindberg case here.

One In Four US Teens Has A STD

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It's hardly surprising given all the junk science and lies the sanctimonious fucktards of religious America feed their kids. That a nations youth finds itself in this sorry state of affairs is simply terrible, the figures are truly appalling.

Eighteen percent have HPV virus, the same HPV virus that can be nullified with a vaccination when administered to girls before they become sexually active, the same vaccination that the good Christian parents don't wish their daughters to have in case it might encourage promiscuity in their darling little girls.

It makes my fucking blood boil.

One in four teenage girls in the United States has a sexually-transmitted disease, a study has indicated.

The study, by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), found an even higher prevalence of STDs among black girls.

Researchers analysed data from a nationally representative sample of 838 US girls aged 14 to 19.

A virus that causes cervical cancer - HPV - was the most common, followed by chlamydia, trichomoniasis and herpes.

The CDC says the study is the first in its kind to examine the prevalence of common sexually transmitted diseases among adolescent girls.

It found that nearly half of the African-American girls surveyed had at least one STD, while the rate was 20% among white and Mexican-American teenagers.

Human papillomavirus, or HPV, affected 18% of the girls surveyed, chlamydia 4%, trichomoniasis 2.5%, and herpes simplex virus 2%.

Screening recommended

The CDC's Devin Fenton said it was a serious issue because the diseases could lead to infertility and cervical cancer.

"Screening, vaccination and other prevention strategies for sexually active women are among our highest public health priorities," he said.

The CDC is recommending annual chlamydia screening for all sexually active women under 25, and HPV vaccines for girls aged 11 to 12, followed by booster injections.

John Douglas, the CDC's head of STD prevention, says screenings are underused because teenagers often do not think they are at risk.

Analysts say some doctors are also reluctant to discuss screening with teenage patients because of confidentiality concerns, knowing parents would have to be told of the results.End source

Previous

HIV: Promising News From Canadian Researchers

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A team of researchers at the University of Alberta has discovered a gene that is able to block HIV, and in turn prevent the onset of AIDS.

Stephen Barr, a molecular virologist in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, says his team has identified a gene called TRIM22 that can block HIV infection in a cell culture by preventing the assembly of the virus.

"When we put this gene in cells, it prevents the assembly of the HIV virus," said Barr, a postdoctoral fellow. "This means the virus cannot get out of the cells to infect other cells, thereby blocking the spread of the virus."more

Pharma To Americans: Contempt Contempt Contempt

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Mercury is good for your kids. 40 seconds.

Here Come The Judge And The Judgement: Nice

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Nice one judge that'll learn 'em. I suppose Health Net are insured against being sued but nice to see the judge batting for the little guy.

LOS ANGELES - A woman who had her medical coverage canceled as she was undergoing treatment for breast cancer has been awarded more than $9 million in a case against one of California's largest health insurers.........

Health Net said it was implementing a freeze on policy cancelations that would last until the company sets up a third-party review panel to scrutinize cases.

"Obviously we regret the way that this has turned out, but we are intent on fixing the processes to maintain the public trust," spokesman David Olson said.

The award came a day after the Los Angeles city attorney sued Health Net, claiming it illegally canceled the coverage of about 1,600 patients. City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo also said the company illegally ran an incentive program in which it paid bonuses to an administrator for meeting targets of policy cancelations.more

Going Down? Be Careful

I'm not sure I like my new role as a tabloid blogger, it's all a bit scummy. I will give it a wee while longer and then assess the whole thing.

ATLANTA - The sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer in women is poised to become one of the leading causes of oral cancer in men, according to a new study.

The HPV virus now causes as many cancers of the upper throat as tobacco and alcohol, probably due both to an increase in oral sex and the decline in smoking, researchers say.

The only available vaccine against HPV, made by Merck & Co., is currently given only to girls and young women. But Merck plans this year to ask government permission to offer the shot to boys.more

The Psychological Kevlar Act. A Moral Labotomy?

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I don't want to run the risk of turning this into a "War Blog" given that I have posted on the subject a few times of late, but this is not just about the war per se, it's the aftermath and it's knock on effect that not only relates to service personnel and their immediate families but the potential to effect society as a whole.

There is far too much material in the article to quote and I think I have done a poor job with what I have offered up.

Basically the proposed use of the drug Propranalol by the Pentagon is to put it mildly quite scary shit indeed.
I have in the past heard of the victims of sexual trauma being treated with this drug, the argument for it's use was quite obvious, to take away the trauma felt by the victim by means of desensitising the feelings and memory of the event.

And it is those very same reasons that are put forward by the opponents of such treatment, it being neither healthy nor wise. A victim should still have regard for the dangers and trauma that might arise from future everyday "at risk situations."

The writer makes brief mention of this towards the end of the article, but the gist is that combat troops would be treated in situ with Propranalol, and by being treated as such while still serving in a combat situation would end up as amoral desensitised killing machines.

At the end of the day it's only our inherent morality that stops us becoming monsters, take that away and the potential for horror is frightening.

Pentagon, Big Pharma: Drug Troops to Numb Them to Horrors of War


In June, the Department of Defense Task Force on Mental Health acknowledged "daunting and growing" psychological problems among our troops: Nearly 40 percent of soldiers, a third of Marines and half of National Guard members are presenting with serious mental health issues.........

And last month, CBS News reported that, based on its own extensive research, over 6,250 American veterans took their own lives in 2005 alone -- that works out to a little more than 17 suicides every day..........


The Psychological Kevlar Act "directs the secretary of defense to develop and implement a plan to incorporate preventive and early-intervention measures, practices or procedures that reduce the likelihood that personnel in combat will develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or other stress-related psychopathologies, including substance use conditions.........

I cannot convince myself that what is really being promoted isn't a form of moral lobotomy.more

Psychiatric Medication

It's only got one side effect,

You really must give it a try,

It's only got one side effect,

It makes you want to die.

Carol Batton

Keeping kids Ignorant Is Not Keeping Them Protected

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I wasn't aware that sex ed was not compulsory in the UK.

As calls are made for sex education to be compulsory in all schools Kizzy Neal, 15, is one teenager with a lot on her plate - exams, boyfriends and looking after her seven-month-old son.

Kizzy was in her best friend's bedroom when she found out she was pregnant, in the summer of 2006. She was 13.

"I didn't stop crying for three weeks and I was really, really scared," she says, now aged 15. "I knew I'd done something wrong. Thirteen is not the ideal age to have a baby."


She had been fearful after having sex for the first time, unprotected, with Louie.

"Since I got pregnant, I've learnt so much about contraception, abortions and sex but at school I think I had so few sex education lessons."more

Black or Gay and HIV in DC?

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Fair play to young miss Styles for trying to address the problem.
I firmly believe this current administration doesn't give a shit about anybody or anything other than their own sorry arses let alone blacks and gays who just might be inclined to vote democrat.

Washington, DC AIDS activist Nicole Styles felt she had to do something to help when she learned last winter that her city has the highest AIDS infection rate in the country, with 1 person out of every 20 being affected. Since then, she has been working with Metro TeenAIDS, handing out condom kits on street corners and trying to convince young people to use them.

One reason why Washington suffers from third-world rates of infection is that the federal government has done little to intervene. According to ABC's Nightline, "Many in DC suspect what seems like indifference is because 80% of those infected are African-American and most of the others gay."more and video.

I had previously saved these two rather bizarre photo's in my library of graphics. They are from a French Aids awareness campaign, I have just done a search for a text to accompany them and came up with this site, The Unofficial Stanford Blog who have put together a post that features some more quite bizarre aids awareness short clips. Check them out if they are of interest.

Human Papilloma Vaccination For All UK Schoolgirls

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This is how socialist medicine works, it works well, and it works even better when the pious and the sanctimonious, who should be more concerned with their daughters health than with her maidenhead, don't enter into the equation.


Given the high cost of the three injection course, £300/$600 for every girl in the country this has to be one of the best examples of preventive socialist medicine in the entire history of the National Health Service.

It is government action like this that rekindles a little of my long lost national pride.

Schoolgirls in Britain will be vaccinated against the virus that causes cervical cancer from September 2008, ministers have announced.

This goes further than recommended by experts, with all aged 12-13 eligible, and a catch-up campaign up to 18.

It is thought that vaccinating against human papilloma virus (HPV) could save hundreds of lives in the UK each year.

The vaccine is given in three injections over six months at a cost of around £300 a course.......

Other European countries including Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Italy, France, Norway, Luxembourg and Belgium have approved a vaccination programme.

Experts said the programme would be more expensive than all other childhood immunisations and the benefits would not be seen for decades, but eventually it would be worth the cost.More

Bill Maher on HPV and the fundies.

Why I hate Religion. Chapter One Zillion And Two: HPV Vaccine

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I was going to make the end of the headline read HPV Vaccine And The Bloody Catholics, but although this story features a Catholic school board it's not just the Catholics that are embracing near Islamic values when it comes to their daughters.


I feel like screaming, but I will say this to all the fuckedup repressed sanctimonious religious cocksuckers that are against vaccination, you don't own your daughter, you have a duty to your daughter before any duty to some imaginary celestial super being. Do what is right, the question of choice shouldn't enter into the equation, not in a million years.
Your daughters are going to get laid, get used to the idea.

Local Catholic parents will have the choice whether their daughters will get a new HPV vaccine to prevent cervical cancer at their schools later this autumn.

The Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board says the policy addresses concerns that providing the shot may be seen as condoning premarital sex, while at the same time following a provincial directive that the potentially lifesaving vaccine be made available. more

h/t Fark

A Christian Not Liking Body Piercings? Makes The Crucifixion A Tough Gig.

Christian Doctor Says No To Tattoos And Piercings

Doesn't bode well for you, son of mine.

Story Pharyngula.

H/T Peter McGrath (for the title)