Yale School of Public Health and CIRA welcome Dr. Chris Beyrer as the next speaker for YSPH's Dean's Lecture Series on Thursday, November, 29. Dr. Beyrer is the President-Elect of the International AIDS Society and currently serves as Director of the Johns Hopkins University Fogarty AIDS International Training and Research Program and as Co-PI of the recently awarded Johns Hopkins Center for AIDS Research (CFAR). The title of his talk is "The Global Epidemics of HIV among Men Who Have Sex with Men: Time for Action". All are welcome to attend.
RSVP IS REQUIRED
http://www.eventbrite.com/event/4358153354
AGENDA
- 11:30 AM-12:00 PM - Lunch will be served in Room 115. Food is NOT allowed inside Winslow Auditorium.
- 12:00 PM-1:00 PM - Presentation
TALK DESCRIPTION
"The Global Epidemics of HIV among Men Who Have Sex with Men: Time for Action"
HIV epidemics among MSM are fundamentally different from other groups at risk. These differences help explain why HIV epidemics among MSM expanding in low, middle, and high income countries, including the U.S., and why current HIV prevention and treatment programs for MSM are not working as well as they should. Biological, network, and social/structural factors combine for MSM and lead to more rapid and efficient HIV spread in MSM communities—individual risk behaviors for HIV infection contribute only modestly to these dynamics. New and more effective HIV prevention programs for MSM must reduce infectiousness through markedly expanding testing and treatment of positive men, and reduce risk of acquisition among negative men, through the use of PrEP, the development of a rectal microbicide, and increased access to and coverage for condoms and condom-compatible lubricant. Stigma, discrimination, and social and health care level homophobia continue to limit access and uptake to essential Services for these men. Policy reform and structural changes will be key to expanding coverage and reaching men with culturally competent care. These realities are most clearly demonstrated among minority MSM in the U.S., where black MSM have much higher rates of HIV infection then other MSM, despite having lower individual risks for HIV. But black MSM also have lower rates of testing, health care access, health insurance, and successful HIV treatment—impacts seen at each step of the treatment cascade. Urgent reform is needed, in approaches, programs and policies, if we are to make real gains against HIV among MSM. Future efforts must be more biologically based, focus on delivery of effective interventions, address each gap in the testing to treatment cascade, and ensure safe and affirming spaces for prevention, treatment, and care.
SPEAKER
Chris Beyrer, M.D., M.P.H., is Professor of Epidemiology, International Health and Health, Behavior and Society at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore. He currently serves as Director of the JHU Fogarty AIDS International Training and Research Program and as Co-PI of the recently awarded Johns Hopkins Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) and is the founder and Director of the Center for Public Health and Human Rights at Johns Hopkins. He also serves as Associate Director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Global Health, a consortium of the Schools of Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing. He serves on the Scientific Advisory Board for the U.S. PEPFAR program and Co-Chairs the NIH Office of AIDS Research Planning Group on Epidemiology and Natural History. In 2012, Dr. Beyrer was elected President-Elect of the International AIDS Society.
Published: Monday, November 5, 2012
