Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Myles Helfand @myhelfy.bsky.social · 21h

Impressive, thorough walkthrough from @kff.org here! It's a little more geared toward folks who are immersed in policy/access than to people living with HIV who rely on ACA Marketplace plans or Ryan White care or the like, but a valuable resource regardless during an uncertain moment for care access

ADAP Advocacy @adapadvocacy.bsky.social · 22h

via @kff.org F - How Might Expiring Premium Tax Credits Impact People with HIV? www.kff.org/hiv-aids/how...

How Might Expiring Premium Tax Credits Impact People with HIV? | KFF

This issue brief provides an overview of the potential impact not extending enhanced ACA premium tax credits could have on people with HIV and the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program. Enhanced credits have im...

www.kff.org

Myles Helfand @myhelfy.bsky.social · 7d

"'It’s not surprising, but it’s still incredibly disappointing,' says [ousted NIAID Director Jeanne] Marrazzo, who found her letter in a torn UPS Express package yesterday after returning from a week at the beach." www.science.org/content/arti...

After months in limbo, four NIH institute directors fired

Two leaders removed by Trump administration had hoped to stay at agency as in-house investigators

www.science.org

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Reposted by Myles Helfand

TAGHIVscience @taghivscience.bsky.social · 9d

OMB appears to be asking for feedback on whether the CDC's National #HIV Surveillance System (NHSS) should continue or is too much bother. The PDF contains information on how to respond. Thanks to Rachel Klein at @aidsadvocacy.bsky.social for the alert.

public-inspection.federalregister.gov

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Myles Helfand @myhelfy.bsky.social · 9d

Gimme a sec I'll go ask my 20-year-old self

Myles Helfand @myhelfy.bsky.social · 9d

Ah yes, like when my friend flew in from out of town and we planned to meet outside of an NYC subway station, but I forgot there were four exits and they were out of line of sight from each other, so we spent an hour and a half playing geo-whack-a-mole and then had no time to hang out. Let's go back

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Myles Helfand @myhelfy.bsky.social · 11d

If you’re looking for a weekend HIV-focused listen (or read — we’ve got a transcript!), I can hardly think of a better one than Rageshri’s words on how to improve outcomes by giving your patients your ear. I’m still thrilled she joined me for this conversation!

Dr Rageshri Dhairyawan @drrageshri.bsky.social · 12d

How Listening Can Help Your Patients Heal—and Stay Engaged in HIV Care

Such a delight to join Myles Helfand on this podcast episode of ‘The Future of HIV Care’ for The Body Pro!

www.thebodypro.com/podcast/hiv/...

How Listening Can Help Your Patients Heal—and Stay Engaged in HIV Care

Rageshri Dhairyawan, M.B.B.S., FRCP, discusses nuances of hearing our patients — and on how to incorporate it into HIV care provision in a way that improves their long-term health and keeps them engag...

www.thebodypro.com

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Myles Helfand @myhelfy.bsky.social · 13d

bsky.app/profile/effi...

Effin' Birds @effinbirds.com · Sep 8

A painting of a bird beside the text "i can think of a hundred less shitty things i'd rather be doing right this second"

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Reposted by Myles Helfand

Joseph Cherabie MD MSc (They/He) @jncherabiemd.bsky.social · 13d

STI rates coming down, but still lots of work to do. This is a combination of public health efforts, doxyPEP, regular screening and treatment, and expedited partner therapy. Congenital syphilis STILL INCREASING though and requires regular testing 3x in pregnancy where high rates of syphilis #STISky

BK. Titanji @boghuma.bsky.social · 13d

CDC released provisional 2024 data on sexually transmitted infections (STIs). For the first time in years, overall reported cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea, & syphilis are down ~9%. In 2024, over 2.2 million STIs were reported. That’s still 13% higher than 10 years ago.
www.cdc.gov/sti-statisti...

Sexually Transmitted Infections Surveillance, 2024 (Provisional)

The most recent national data for reportable STIs: chlamydia, syphilis, gonorrhea.

www.cdc.gov

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Reposted by Myles Helfand

Shailly Gupta @shaillygupta.bsky.social · 15d

It still requires massive budgets at country level to introduce this revolutionary drug at large scale to really turn the tide of HIV transmission. Amid funding cuts by the US and other countries, would the implementation of this HIV prevention drug become a reality? bsky.app/profile/avac...

AVAC @avac.org · 15d

Big news for #HIV prevention: @gatesfoundation.bsky.social and Unitaid commit to accelerate the development of, access to & price reduction for generic versions of injectable #lenacapavir (LEN) for #PrEP.

AVAC calls on all stakeholders to do their part: avac.org/press-releas...

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Myles Helfand @myhelfy.bsky.social · 15d

I'm being a grumpus this morning but I see "lenacapavir for $40!" and I'm like, OK great! Now who's gonna distribute it to every city/town/village that needs it? How's it gonna be reliably stored? Who's gonna administer it consistently when it's time for a dose? USAID was central to much of that.

Myles Helfand @myhelfy.bsky.social · 15d

(Gift link) Any development that improves access to top HIV drugs is a good thing, be it for prevention or treatment. But the good vibes at the top of this article are tempered by the important caveats in the second half: Slicing drug cost is just part of the equation www.nytimes.com/2025/09/24/h...

Philanthropies Strike a Promising Deal to Turn Back H.I.V.

www.nytimes.com

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Myles Helfand @myhelfy.bsky.social · 15d

New on @thebodypro.bsky.social: Hospitalizations may present one of the best opportunities to increase HIV PrEP uptake in a deeply underserved population: less than 1% of people who inject drugs in the U.S. report using PrEP. UNC's David Alain Wohl, MD, explains: www.thebodypro.com/video/hiv/hi...

Improving PrEP Use Among People Who Inject Drugs

Hospitalizations present a huge opportunity to increase PrEP uptake in a deeply underserved population: less than 1% of people who inject drugs in the U.S. report using PrEP.

www.thebodypro.com

Reposted by Myles Helfand

Emily R Smith, ScD, MPH @dremilyrsmith.bsky.social · 16d

ACOG and all other professional societies continue to affirm the safety of using Tylenol, also known as as acetaminophen or paracetamol, in pregnancy to treat pain and fever during pregnancy.

ACOG @acog.org · 16d

ACOG reaffirms that acetaminophen is safe for managing pain and fever during pregnancy. No reputable studies support suggestions like those in HHS’s recent announcement linking acetaminophen use in pregnancy to autism; in fact, high-quality studies show no such risk. https://bit.ly/47Wxc59

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Reposted by Myles Helfand

Paul Sax @paulsaxmd.bsky.social · 17d

The latest in the controversy between 3 vs 2 drugs for HIV treatment -- now in advanced HIV disease, with the DOLCE study. @drlaurajwaters.bsky.social #IDSky #HIVsky blogs.jwatch.org/hiv-id-obser...

Two Drugs, Not Three: The DOLCE Study in Advanced HIV Disease

Three-drug therapy has been the standard of care for HIV therapy for so long it’s difficult to shake the view that it must be more effective than two drugs. This is particularly the case for those wit...

blogs.jwatch.org

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Myles Helfand @myhelfy.bsky.social · 20d

Will this be enough to push CVS and other resistant institutions to cover injectable lenacapavir for HIV PrEP? The CDC (yes, our actual, modern-day CDC) gives its official nod: www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes...

Clinical Recommendation for the Use of Injectable Lenacapavir ...

This report describes a clinical recommendation to use injectable lenacapavir as an HIV preexposure prophylaxis.

www.cdc.gov

Reposted by Myles Helfand

Oni Blackstock, MD MHS @oniblackstock.bsky.social · 22d

Join us for the last few hours
For the #SaveAIDSResearch livestream this morning, Wednesday, Sept. 17th.

Go to saveaidsresearch.org or join the livestream now on You Tube: www.youtube.com/live/C3wxhML...

I’ll be hosting the livestream’s penultimate hour at 9a ET.

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Reposted by Myles Helfand

Gregg Gonsalves @gregggonsalves.bsky.social · 22d

Stay up late! Come join us. Make a cup of coffee, tea or another beverage of your choice! Come help us @saveaidsresearch.bsky.social. Go to: saveaidsresearch.org

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Reposted by Myles Helfand

Legacy Project @hanc-legacyproject.bsky.social · 22d

Save HIV Science = Save all Science. Fantastic reminders today from the HIV Network leaders on 24 Hours to Save HIV Research. HIV research, and the Networks, are paramount to ending the HIV epidemic AND supporting all scientific research like TB and Hepatitis.

SUPPORT: saveaidsresearch.org/act

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Reposted by Myles Helfand

AVAC @avac.org · 22d

Happening now!! AVAC is part of 24 Hours to Save AIDS Research and you can be too! Join us NOW as scientists and advocates showcase successes in HIV research and call for an end to federal budget cuts & project terminations. #24hourstosaveAIDSresearch #HIV #HIVresearch bit.ly/45Qftts

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Reposted by Myles Helfand

Community Access National Network (CANN) @tiicann.org · 23d

THREAD: New @JAMAInternalMed study quantifies the devastating cost of cutting HIV prevention funding—validating warnings we've been raising about the coming crisis in HIV care. The numbers are staggering. 1/8 buff.ly/qNGLKAw

Excess HIV Infections and Costs Associated With Reductions in PrEP Coverage

This economic evaluation uses previously published ecological data on the associations between coverage for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and new HIV diagnoses to estimate excess infections that…

jamanetwork.com

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Myles Helfand @myhelfy.bsky.social · 24d

A study conducted in China has found that people with HIV who were living alone had better quality of life than those living with others. (It also found very different relationships between household size and quality of life in urban vs. rural settings.) www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The rural-urban disparity in the quality of life among people living with HIV under different household structures in China: a cross-sectional study - Scientific Reports

To explore the association between household structures and the quality of life (QOL) in people living with HIV (PLWH) in rural and urban regions in China. A cross-sectional descriptive design was emp...

www.nature.com

Reposted by Myles Helfand

Erin Reed @erininthemorning.com · 25d

1. Trump threatened every hospital that provides gender affirming care to transgender youth.

Many complied and shut down their programs.

Boston Children's Hospital didn't. They fought back and kept providing care.

And now, they just beat Trump in court.

Subscribe to support our journalism.

Boston Children’s Fights Back For Trans Kids: Judge Quashes Trump Subpoena

Around 2,000 BCH employees and untold numbers of patients were targeted by the DOJ. A judge just told them, “No.”

www.erininthemorning.com

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Myles Helfand @myhelfy.bsky.social · 27d

"Buried in H.R. 500, the State Department Reauthorization Bill, is a quiet but consequential shift. This isn’t just a routine reauthorization—it’s a blueprint for PEPFAR’s transition and its deliberate wind-down." @jirairratevosian.bsky.social on what's next: ratevosian.substack.com/p/a-major-bi...

A Major Bill in Congress Just Codified a PEPFAR "Wind-Down" — Here’s What That Means

Inside the State Department Authorization Bill Now Moving Through the House Foreign Affairs Committee

ratevosian.substack.com

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Reposted by Myles Helfand

Penncat @pennicat.bsky.social · 29d

Sometimes it feels like doing anything is pointless because the evil that is being done is so much more. But framing it like (say) lighting a match in a darkened space helps. Sure, it’s not going to make it bright, but it’s going to make a *difference*. Especially if others do too.

A.R. Moxon @juliusgoat.bsky.social · Jul 12

If you have no light, then what you have is dark. That's pretty simple and obvious, right?

But if you have a light—even a little bit of light—what you have is something unignorable. More, you have a point of reference, and a point of distinction.

www.the-reframe.com/so-shines-a-...

So Shines A Good Deed In A Weary World

Dark isn't the opposite of light, it's the absence of light.

www.the-reframe.com

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Myles Helfand @myhelfy.bsky.social · 29d

The HIV pandemic persists - and re-emerges in cities like Bangor - *because* of inequities, not despite them or alongside them. Trump/Musk et al like to cast empathy as a weakness and feel societal problems can be beaten into submission, but that's not how humanity has ever worked over the long term

Maine Morning Star @mainemorningstar.com · 29d

The largest HIV outbreak in Maine’s history — and the local factors that shaped it — can shed light on what to expect from the Trump administration’s policies on drug use and homelessness. | via @KFFHealthNews.org mainemorningstar.com/2025/09/10/b...

Bangor HIV outbreak shows the risk of Trump’s crackdown on homelessness and drug use • Maine Morning Star

An HIV outbreak in Bangor, Maine illustrates the risk of Trump’s crackdown on homelessness and drug use.

mainemorningstar.com

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