Photo © GMFA The human papilloma virus (HPV), of which there are over a hundred strains can, in some people cause either warts or pre-cancer (strains 16 and 18 are the worst). Most sexually active people have, at some point evidence of HPV in their system, though are unaffected. In a very small proportion of people it causes problems (anal, cervical, penile, or throat pre-cancer/cancer). Living with HIV has been shown to increase the risk of acquiring anal pre-cancer for men who have unpr

Photo © Shutterstock.com / WaveBreakMedia Despite significant medical advances, increased awareness and the ability to live a full life with HIV, a social stigma still exists around people with HIV having a family. This stigma does not just affect the LGBT community; it is very much a mainstream issue. Does a stigma exist? With almost 50% of HIV-positive respondents in a recent European study commissioned by Gilead Sciences stating that they felt having HIV would be a barrier to them ha

The biggest barrier to HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) becoming more available and more widely used is not cost so much as widespread acceptance of the status quo in HIV prevention, the first-ever European PrEP Summit, held in Amsterdam ten days ago, heard. Ignorance – among politicians, among healthcare workers, and among potential users of PrEP – was the main reason Europe lags far behind the USA in PrEP provision, despite there being a possibly more favourable climate in terms of p

To read the complete article, vist BBC here. Older people are often assumed to want amiable companionship in later life rather than passion-fuelled romance. But a survey of 2,002 older Britons suggests 52% of over-65s feel they do not have enough sex, and nearly a third are happy to have sex on a first date. It also found one in 10 over-75s have had multiple sexual partners since turning 65. The charity Independent Age said its survey showed age was "no barrier to having a sex life". Denni

Photo: © pixabay.com/STVIOD I can still remember the heady heights of my first few nights out at a gay club. It was like having the run of a sweet shop at night. There were goodies all around and boy did I want to sample them all. I’d get ready to go out, meet my friends for pre-drinks (the favoured choice of poor students), head out to a club, make eyes at the cute guy across the dance floor and dance to the hypnotic beat of Rihanna’s Umbrella-ella-ella-ella-eh-eh-eh (oh hey Summer of

Testing: Digital services will allow people to carry out tests at home, but the rollout has been delayed. To read the complete story by Eleanor Rose, visit The Evening Standard, here. Up to 600 people per week are being turned away from oversubscribed sexual health clinics at one of London’s NHS trusts, an expert has warned. Dr Mark Lawton of the British Association of Sexual Health and HIV said the data showing hundreds of people are being turned away from clinic at Guy’s and St Tho

For the first time, scientists have shown a relationship between the proportion of key immune cells that display high levels of a gut-homing protein called alpha-4 beta-7 at the time of HIV infection and health outcomes. Previous research illustrated this relationship in monkeys infected with a simian form of HIV. The new study found that women who had more CD4+ T cells displaying high levels of alpha-4 beta-7 on their surface were more likely to become infected with HIV, and the virus damage

If, like me, you’ve never sat down and thought about the term ‘consent’, you’d be forgiven for thinking that it doesn’t really apply to you. Often we associate the term with the law, meaning that it’s easy to think it’s something that doesn’t form part of our lives unless we’ve been the victim of a crime. A sexual assault, for instance, is often paired up with the notion of consent. So does that mean we’ve never consented to anything or used our power of consent? Probably

New data released by Public Health England showed that HIV diagnoses across the country had fallen by 18%. Confined to just gay and bisexual men, the drop was 21%; narrow it even further to just gay and bisexual men in London and it was 29%. The message is loud and clear: Combination HIV prevention works. Increasing testing and early access to treatment, plus adding PrEP to condom use as a safer sex strategy, gives us the power to send HIV into retreat. Why has it taken us so long to get here

Drug giants have warned of 'significant disruption to the supply chain for medicines' NHS Photo Library Looming disruption to the flow of medicines after Brexit means Britain must seek to stay under EU regulation, senior Government figures have conceded. Ministers are already pushing for the chemicals and aviation industries to remain under Brussels supervision – despite it clashing with Theresa May’s pledge to end oversight by the European Court of Justice (ECJ). Now three leading