Chicago’s new HIV primary care services finalized
By Ruojing Liu The Chicago Department of Public Health finalized deals Thursday with the University of Illinois at Chicago and Howard Brown Health to transfer and expand the city’s HIV primary care services. The deals include transferring two currently city-run HIV primary care clinics at 845 W. Wilson Ave. in Uptown and at 641 W. […]
Local HIV organizations oppose Rauner’s 2017 budget
By Ruojing Liu Gov. Bruce Rauner’s proposed budget for the 2017 fiscal year cuts $7.4 million from the Illinois state general HIV/AIDS fund compared to about $25.4 million last year. The approximate 30 percent cut raised some eyebrows among local organizations that serve the HIV/AIDS community. On February 17, Gov. Rauner proposed a budget for […]
State Budget miscarriage might see more HIV positive babies
By Ruojing Liu “They saved my life.” When LeSherri James was pregnant with her first baby in 2003, the homeless 21-year-old HIV positive mother-to-be was not left to face the pregnancy on her own. Anne Statton and the Pediatric AIDS Chicago Prevention Initiative (PACPI) she led was there to help. The organization helped James through […]
Chicago promotes safe-sex, HIV prevention program
By Ruojing Liu A coalition of Chicago-based organizations recently rolled out a new city-wide campaign to raise awareness of an HIV prevention program of taking a prescription-only pill once every day. The program, called pre-exposure prophylaxis or PrEP, aims at people who are at high risk of contracting HIV as a way to significantly reduce […]
Black male teens cautious but HIV rates high among same-sex encounters
By Ruojing Liu A report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on HIV-related risk behavior among male high school students who had sexual contact with other males reveals that black males are more cautious in their sexual behavior, despite a higher black male HIV infection rate than white males. The findings are based […]