Wednesday, May 15, 2013

HIV MEDS ADHERENCE???

Exactly what level of adherence to HIV medications is required to maintain virological control?

Dear Dr. Young:

This is a question that has always intrigued me, ever since I started on an effective antiretroviral treatment combination in 1997. Back then we were warned that even missing a single dose of our medications could spell disaster i.e. HIV resistance and subsequent loss of virological control. So I mustered all the self-discipline I could and took my medications as "correctly" as humanly possible and attained virological control (viral load measurements below the limit of quantification using whatever technology at the time) that I have maintained. Recently I undertook a very rigorous audit of my adherence that disclosed that in fact I take about 99 per cent of my doses and completely miss about one per cent in a one-year timeframe. Despite this error and lack of perfection my viral load remains undectable. I was just curious because even with the utmost of care that I bring to the task I still fall short of one hundred per cent perfection. Thank you for any insight you can provide.

Please accept my best regards,

Wayne Toronto, Canada

______________________

Response from Dr. Young

Hi Wayne and thanks for posting from Canada.

Perfection might be a goal, but rarely achieved.

You're adherence is exemplary- 99% is excellent and not associated with any decline in viral suppression. I would not be concerned about a 1% missed dose at all.

While we continue to quote a 95% goal (from a ~1999 study), with current medications, it's quite likely that lower levels of adherence continue to provide very good viral suppression.

In my clinic of less-than-perfect patients, loss of viral control has been exceptionally rare, and often the result of complete discontinuation of medications, rather than the inadvertent missed dose. So, worry not.

Be well, BY


Source: http://www.thebody.com/Forums/AIDS/Meds/Q229268.html?ic=700101

 

Sunday, May 5, 2013

THE CURE! IS IT ALMOST HERE?

By Jake Wallis Simons (6:30PM BST 27 Apr 2013)

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/10022664/Scientists-hope-for-HIV-cure.html

Researchers are working on "novel strategies" to find a cure for HIV, with the first results expected “within months”.

Danish scientists are hoping for results that will show that “finding a mass-distributable and affordable cure to HIV is possible”.

They are conducting a clinical trial to test a “novel strategy” in which the HIV virus is "reactivated" from its hiding place within human DNA and potentially destroyed permanently by the immune system.

The move would represent a step forward in the attempt to find a cure for the virus, which causes Aids.

The scientists are currently conducting human trials on their treatment, in the hope of proving that it is effective. It has already been found to work in laboratory tests.

The technique involves unmasking the “reservoirs” formed by the HIV virus inside resting immune cells, bringing it to the surface of the cells. Once it comes to the surface, the body’s natural immune system may be able to kill the virus.

In vitro studies — those that use human cells in a laboratory — of the new technique proved so successful that in January, the Danish Research Council awarded the team 12 million Danish kroner (£1.5 million) to pursue their findings in clinical trials with human subjects.

These are now under way, and according to Dr Ole Søgaard, a senior researcher at the Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark and part of the research team, the early signs are “promising”.

“I am almost certain that we will be successful in activating HIV from the reservoirs," he said.

“The challenge will be getting the patients’ immune system to recognise the virus and destroy it. This depends on the strength and sensitivity of individual immune systems, as well as how large a proportion of the hidden HIV is unmasked.”

Fifteen patients are currently taking part in the trials, and ithe first results from the trial are expected to presented in the second half of 2013.

Dr Søgaard stressed that a cure is not the same as a preventative vaccine, and that raising awareness of unsafe behaviour, including unprotected sex and sharing needles, remains of paramount importance in combating HIV.

With modern HIV treatment, a patient can live an almost normal life, even into old age, with limited side effects.

However, if medication is stopped, HIV reservoirs become active and start to produce more of the virus, meaning that symptoms can reappear within two weeks.

Finding a cure would free a patient from the need to take continuous HIV medication, and save health services billions of pounds.

The technique is being researched in Britain, but studies have not yet moved on to the clinical trial stage. Five universities — Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial College, London, University College, London and King’s College, London — have jointly formed the Collaborative HIV Eradication of Reservoirs UK Biomedical Research Centre group (CHERUB), which is dedicated to finding an HIV cure.

They have applied to the Medical Research Council for funding to conduct clinical trials, which will seek to combine techniques to release the reservoirs of HIV with "immunotherapy", which gives patients a better chance of destroying the virus.

In addition, they are focusing on patients that have only recently been infected, as they believe this will improve chances of a cure. The group hopes to receive a funding decision in May.

“When the first patient is cured in this way it will be a spectacular moment,” says Dr John Frater, a clinical research fellow at the Nuffield School of Medicine, Oxford University, and a member of the CHERUB group.

“It will prove that we are heading in the right direction and demonstrate that a cure is possible. But I think it will be five years before we see a cure that can be offered on a large scale.”

The Danish team’s research is among the most advanced and fast moving in the world, as that they have streamlined the process of putting the latest basic science discoveries into clinical testing.

This means that researchers can progress more quickly to clinical trials, accelerating the process and reaching reliable results sooner than many others.

The technique uses drugs called HDAC Inhibitors, which are more commonly used in treating cancer, to drive out the HIV from a patient’s DNA and onto the surface of infected cells. The Danish researchers are using a particularly powerful type of HDAC inhibitor.

Five years ago, the general consensus was that HIV could not be cured. But then Timothy Ray Brown, an HIV sufferer — who has become known in the field as the Berlin Patient — developed leukaemia.

He had a bone marrow transplant from a donor with a rare genetic mutation that made his cells resistant to HIV. As a result, in 2007 Mr Brown became the first man to ever be fully cured of the disease.

Replicating this procedure on a mass scale is impossible. Nevertheless, the Brown case caused a sea change in research, with scientists focusing on finding a cure as well as suppressing the symptoms.

Two principal approaches are currently being pursued. The first, gene therapy, aims to make a patient’s immune system resistant to HIV. This is complex and expensive, and not easily transferrable to diverse gene pools around the world.

The second approach is the one being pursued by Dr Søgaard and his colleagues in Denmark, the CHERUB group in Britain, and by other laboratories in the United States and Europe.

 

Saturday, April 20, 2013

I AM NO VICTIM!

These are just words but it means a lot for the HIV community!

Lets do away with stigma!

No discrimination!

 

ako si BONG

 

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Life Expectancy for PLHIV

Many patients taking HIV drugs can now expect to live into their 70s

Michael Carter

Published: 25 July 2008

A large international study has provided evidence that people taking HIV treatment can now expect to live into their 60s and beyond. The study is published in the July 26th edition of The Lancet, and showed that an individual starting successful HIV treatment aged 20 would be expected to live to be 63, and that a patient initiating an anti-HIV drugs regimen aged 35 could live to the age of 67. It also provided evidence of the dramatic and continued decline in the risk of death amongst people with HIV since effective HIV treatment became available.

What is more, the researchers found that starting treatment with a CD4 cell count above 200 cells/mm3 would mean that a person aged 20 could expect to live to be 70, and that a 35 year-old could survive into their 72nd year.

Nevertheless, they still found that even in their most optimistic estimates, the life-expectancy of HIV-positive individuals was approximately ten years shorter than that of an HIV-negative individual. Furthermore injecting drug users and patients who started HIV treatment with lower CD4 cell counts had lower life-expectancies.

The author of an accompanying editorial calls these findings “exciting” and believes that they underline the importance of prompt diagnosis and treatment of HIV. He also suggests that the risk of death would be diminished and overall prognosis further improved by starting anti-HIV drugs with a CD4 cell count of 500 cells/mm3.

Almost immediately after multi-drug antiretroviral therapy became available in 1996, doctors observed dramatic reductions in rates of illness and death in HIV-positive patients treated with such drugs. A number of studies have shown that antiretroviral therapy has the potential to dramatically improve the prognosis of HIV-positive patients, but they have only considered patients in single cohorts or countries.

Therefore researchers from the Antiretroviral Cohort Collaboration which involves 14 large HIV cohort studies in Canada, Europe and the USA, looked at rates of mortality and the life-expectancy of over 43,000 patients who started HIV treatment for the first time between 1996 – 99, 2000 – 02 and 2002 – 05. They also looked at whether there were any patient characteristics which affected the risk of death or prognosis.

A total of 2056 (5%) patients died. The mortality rate fell from 16 deaths per 1000 person years between 1996- 99 to 10 per 1000 person years between 2002 – 05.

They also noted significant improvements in the prognosis for HIV-positive patients in the ten years of the study. Overall, a 20 year-old starting HIV treatment between 1996 and 2005 would be expected to live another 43 years. Between 1996 and 1999, they calculated that such a patient would live to be 56 years old, but in the period 2002 to 2005 this had improved to a little under 70 years.

There were also impressive improvements in the prognosis of 35 year-olds starting treatment, with an expectation of a further 32 years in life after HIV therapy was initiated. But, once more, prognosis improved over time from an expectation of a further 25 years of life in 1996 – 99, to 32 years by 2002- 05.

Patients who started HIV treatment with a low CD4 cell count (below 100 cells/mm3) had much higher mortality rates than patients initiating antiretroviral therapy with a CD4 cell count above 200 cells/mm3 (aged 20 – 44, 20 per 1000 person years vs. five per 1000 person years).

Furthermore a 20 year-old starting treatment with a CD4 cell count below 100 cells/mm3 would have a life-expectancy of 54 years compared to a life-expectancy of 70 years for a 20 year-old starting treatment with a CD4 cell count above 200 cells/mm3. The importance of CD4 cell count at the time of therapy initiation to prognosis was also seen in 35 year-olds, with patients with a CD4 cell count below 100 cells/mm3 expected to live until they were 62 compared to a prognosis of 72 years for patients with a CD4 cell count above 200 cells/mm3.

The investigators also found that women had a better prognosis than men, but that injecting drug users had a life-expectancy that was up to 20 years shorter than non-injecting drug users.

“There has been an improvement of outcomes with combination antiretroviral therapy between 1996 and 2005, characterised by a marked decrease in mortality rates” write the investigators. They attribute such reductions in mortality and improvements in life-expectancy to “improvements in therapy during the first decade of combination therapy.”

But they note that their study suggests that the prognosis of people taking antiretroviral therapy is still not normal. Picking up on this point, the author of the accompanying editorial highlights the findings of the SMART study which showed that patients with lower CD4 cell counts had a higher risk of serious non-HIV-related illnesses. The SMART study’s conclusions were one of the factors leading to HIV treatment guidelines recommending that antiretroviral therapy should be started at a CD4 cell count of 350 cells/mm3. The author notes the “clinical mischief of untreated HIV infection” and looks forward to the results of a clinical trial which could show if there is any benefit in starting HIV treatment at a CD4 cell count of 500 cells/mm3.

Reference

The Antiretroviral Cohort Collaboration. Life expectancy of individuals on combination therapy in high-income countries: a collaborative analysis of 14 cohort studies. The Lancet 372: 293 – 299, 2008.

Cooper DA. Life and death in the cART era. The Lancet 372: 266 – 267, 2008.

 

Monday, March 25, 2013

BATTLE WEARY

Battle Weary: A Poem by River Huston

 

Is it over yet?

crawling from a foxhole

made in the dirt

thirty years deep

the bodies are piled up

some old as cordwood

other freshly departed

Goodbye Ben

baby honey boy

you texted me

just last night

don't get it bro

but you're in God's hands now

You didn't get the memo?

it gets better, man

but I get it

you just worn out

worn down

How long can you live

with death firmly planted by your side?

it's that way for everyone

but for us it's visible loud

intrusive

bony hand on your shoulder reminding you

of everything you ever done wrong

I manage it

just some days the insides

turn to mud

and i can't get a grip

When the smoke cleared and the artillery

went from heavy mortars

to the occasional sniper fire

you'd think I'd handle it

cause i did the big fights

I survived sister

but it seems to have gotten worse though

when everyone was dying

somehow it was easier

it's that lone warrior

falling when you least expect it

it takes me down every time

This sadness is fierce

grief rolled up like punch

my ghosts

are loud

especially late at night

waking to conversations

long forgotten

My love, my love

how i miss you

Sunrise brings another day

some tea

put on the good face

the sea helps

if it doesn't make me cry

it gets me through another day

 

____________________________

i heard of a fellow pusit committing suicide a few weeks ago, even after a "self empowerment training" he has undergone --- sad!

ako si BONG

ito ang aking diary

 

Saturday, March 16, 2013

ANNIV NI DAN!

 

hi everyone

aun, kaya nga pla ako nagsulat ng story kc aniv ko na sa pagiging HIV + gusto maging memorable ang experience and ma share ito

kc until now marami pa akong d alam at gusto matutunan about HIV

nakakaloka dba pero wla na kong magagwa eto na ko....

ako nga pla si Dan 25 yrs old pero pag nakita nyo ko am look like 17, gaya ng sabi sakin dun sa HIV seminar namin baby face kasi ako eh, small built white complexion tska appealing ( uy am not making my self proud ah hahahahhaha description lang) going back i want to share my story kc gusto maging makabuluhan ang pagintindi ko sa sakit natin at matuto ng sobra.. takot eh... TAKOT AKONG MAMATAY

i was diagnose last 2012 April un the second un ang pinaka malungkot na pangyayari sa buhay ko, gusto ko lang mag patest nun sa HEPA B kc para un sa ojt ko sa hotel requirement eh, so i went to my auntie aun di ko alam she tested me for HIV aun sapul ako, i went to several test lahat positive, nakakalungot dba, ako nga di ko talga alam ang aggawin, i can't even tell it to anyone.

limipas ang mga buwan, days, and weeks, nag start ako mag pa baseline test awa ng diyos lahat negative until now ni hindi ako nag kaka sipon or ubo, even any sympthoms wla. healthy tlga siguro dhl wla pang manifestations, early detection eh

pasensya na pero magiging emotional na ako, gusto ko lang malabas lahat na alam kong un din ang nararamdaman ng marami sa atin...

lumipas ang araw at buwan naramdaman ko na ang sympthoms ng sakit ko i had lymph node sa leeg, sa armpit at sa shoulders siguro mga 10 sila lahat wla nmn akong nararamdaman kya deadma lang... i took anti boitics kc sabi nila mamwawala daw ang lymph pag ng anti bacterial mali pla ako

pang 7month ko na andyan parin sila nakatatak na sa leeg, balikat at dibdib ko, nakakatakot, nakakaalarma

pumunta ako sa treament hub ko sa alabang

pinagpala ako wla nmn findings kc sa totoo lang ni hindi ako nagkasakit or what even khit wla akong vaccine ( thank you lord )

pero di nagtagl nakakaranas na ko ng back pain upper part it almost last for now cguro mga 8 months na di nawawala di nmn ganun kasikt tolerable but mararamdaman mo

natatakot ako, ayoko nmn mag pa xray bka may lumabas at di ko nmn matanggap, kc honestly nung nalaman ko na meron ako gusto ko gumanti at i kalat ito, para patas patas tyo, kso naisip ko ako nga di ko matanggap hahayaan ko pa bang maranasan to ng iba?

di pa ako nag gagamot kc last CD4 ko 567 pa sya naun di ko na alam kung anu scheduled para para sa susunod na CD4

nagyoyosi at nagiimon pa ako

at malala kc di ko na maiwasan mag yosi at maginom

pasensya na pero simula ng malan ko to nalungkot parang ninakaw nya sakin lahat

ung kababtaan ko, ung kagustuhan kong i enjoy ang buhay ko, ang paginom at pakikibarkada

lahat un nawala na

pero alam nyo ba ginawa ko parin sya madalas pa din akong maginom at mag yosi

un na siguro ako

pero natatakot ako madami sa kaibigan ko ang namatay dhl din sa HIV

maswerte ako dhl wla pa akong OI anu ba gagawin ko? para matigil ang mga bisyo kong ito PLEASE HELP ME

naun gagraduate ako sa HRM ang saya ko nga eh, pero malungkot pa din kc wla pa din tyong gamot

nga pla marami akong kilala sa mga kaibigan ko parang positibo pero nahihya ako iapproach to take test anu ba gagagwin ko dun?

gusto ko sana matulungan nyo ko about sa situation ko kc nahihirap ung back shoulders ko may something tlga

atska natatakot tlga ako mamatay alam ko na alam nyo rin di lang ako bka kyo rin may mga kaibigan at mahal sa buhay na namatay dhil dito

natatakot din ako para sa sarili ko, na parang wla na akong karapatan maging bata at ma enjoy ang lahat, ung tipong iinom makikisalamuha ta makikipag yosi sa iba

wla na INAGAW NA NYA

ayoko mamatay, gusto ko mabuhay pero may bisyo ako anu ggwin ko?

naiiyak akokc parang wla na tyong silbi. uu meron tyo HIV pero anu it will eventually become AIDS, mamamatay, tapos paguusapan at pastsitsismisan

nasaksihan ko kc yan sa mga pumanaw kong mga kaibigan na kgayan ntn

alam nyo kapag naginuma kmi at HIV ang topic natatamemme ako, pero pag nagsalita na ko nakiknig sila,sana na aabsorb nila

ang irap noh, ung tipong paniwalain ang sarili mo na wla ka kahit meron ka!

lasing na ko, nagkalakas lang ng ako ng loob na ikwento to dhla natatakot ako sobra... SOBRA d ko na tlga alam ang ggwin

sana di katulad ang istirya ko ng istorya nyo

bsta KAPITBISIG TYO

sana may gamot na

sana paggalingin nila tyo

sana wla na lang ganito

Dan

Hello dan,

salamat sa iyong pagsulat, masaya ako dahil pinagkaabalahan mo ang pagsulat sa akin. hindi madali ang mag share ng ating mga nararamdaman.

lalong masaya ako at mukhang medyo mas upbeat ka na ngayon compared nung makilala kita sa training natin dati. newly diagnosed ka pa lang yata nun di ba at kamamatay lang din ng bestfriend mo? at sa buong batch ikaw nga ang pinaka bata at pinaka maganda! pero ikaw rin ang pinaka mukhang pinagsakluban ng mundo noong panahong yun. kaya sa tono ng sulat mo eh mukhang kinakaya mo naman, kaya masaya na rin ako.

ilang ulit mong sinasabi sa sulat mo na "ayaw mo pang mamatay" - ay maganda yan, ako rin ayaw ko pang mamatay, sinong bang me gusto nun. at sino bang nagsabi sa yo na mamamatay ka na, o mamatay na tayo? hindi ibig sabihin na positive tayo eh mamamatay na tayo. sa panahon ngayon sa tinagal tagal ng panahon na may HIV sa mundo, wala na dapat namamatay sa AIDS related complications. dahil epektibo naman ang mga gamot na available ngayon. kaya lang marami pa rin ang namamatay eh dahil too late na ng madiagnose sila. totally wala silang alam na positive sila, o mas pinili pa nila na wag malaman dahil naduwag sila, or alam nila pero ayaw magpagamot ng maaga, o mas pinili pang madepress, o natatakot sila sa sasabihin ng ibang tao at ituring silang outcast --- pagkaduwag, wala o maling kaalaman, stigma at diskriminasyon sa ating komunidad --- ito ang mga tunay na dahilan kung bakit marami pa rin namamatay sa AIDS. leche kasi ang mga moralista at self-righteous nating kababayan, nakakalungkot nga eh. kung me mga namatay ka ng friends, mas marami sa akin, i lost count na, mga 12 na yata sila. nakita mo ba akong naglulupasay at nawawalan ng pag asa? hinde! dahil the more i feel bad about my being pusit, the more am risking losing points on my cd4 ;) kaya dapat happy lang girl.

maswerte ka, maswerte tayo at maaga pa lang eh alam na natin ang ating status, ngayon pwede na nating alagaan ang ating sarili... sayang naman ang ganda mo kung magmumukmok ka lang dyan.

potah ka! ;) antaas taas nga ng cd4 count mo no. 567 ka pa... pinakamataas ko eh 499 lang. ngayon am down to 382 (feb 2013)... nirerecommend na nga ni doc na mag ARV na ako. sabi ko pagiisipan ko muna. sa next test ko sa august will be my big decision. sana tumaas ulit.

every 6months dapat ang baseline tests teh, baka due ka na for lab tests, go back to alabang na - bakla dont lose your FOCUS, ngayon kelangan mas maging masinsin tayo sa mga health issues natin. pay attention sa lahat ng sinasabi ng duktor.

maganda at ur always paying attention sa mga sakit sa katawan mo, everytime na may nararamdaman, visit your HIV doctor agad, ganyan din ako. madalas nga eh sinasabi ng duktor sa akin na dont worry dahil halos lahat ng ibang nararamdaman ko eh di naman related sa HIV status ko. normal na yatang maging paranoid tayo sa maliliit na bagay. pero dapat iwas stress, wag masyado magworry, basta check up lang lagi ang katapat and trust your doctors.

www.thebody.com --- yan ang bibliya ko sa lahat ng concerns ko, plus meron akong mga kaibigan duktor at nurses na lagi kong napapagtanungan pag kinakailangan. marami ring kaibigan ang nag aalaga sa akin at alam nila ang staus ko kaya kampante ako na di nila ako pababayaan.

sa ngayon am just concentrating on staying happy and living a productive life. living my life as if everyday is my last. masaya lang.

marami akong kilala na mga pusit na matataas ang posisyon sa kumpanya, maganda ang trabaho, malakas, maganda tulad mo. kaya girl wag ka magiinarte na wala ka ng kinabukasan at inagaw na ng HIV (kukurutin kita eh). you have your whole life ahead of you, maaaring mas mahirap ng konti ang landas na tatahakin natin subalit hindi ibig sabihin na sadyang mas kont ang oportunidad na ilalaan sa atin ng mundo. it's all about your attitude sabi nga nila, ikaw lang ang gumagawa ng iyong kinabukasan kaya tigilan na ang kaartehan at rumampa ka na at mabuhay sa matuwid na daan.

matuwid na daan means healthy life, which is what it should be naman, positive or not. minimize if not abolish your bisyo, kung di kaya ng bigla, unti unti. anything na makakapagpababa ng resistensya ng katawan natin, dapat iwasan. ituring mo na lang na mas babasagin ka kesa sa mga tropa mo. mas alagaan mo ang iyong sarili. pwede namang mag enjoy na hindi pinapabayaan ang ating health. sorry na lang tayo dahil pusit tayo, nagkamali tayo, nabawasan ang ating freedom kumbaga, alang alang sa ikahahaba ng ating buhay.

pwede pa rin i enjoy ang sex ng safe, hay naku teh, ang sarap din kaya. ;)

hihi.

madam, baka matagalan pa ang himala! wala pang gamot! how i wish meron na, pero ang kawalan nito ay hindi magiging hadlang para mabuhay ako ng masaya. papaano kung hindi ito dumating sa lifetime natin?

anung gagawin natin?

NGANGANGA*¥^<{}#<~~]{^???

happy anniversary dan, lets hang out soon...

 

ako si BONG

ito ang aking diary

My CD4 Count

 

Sunday, February 10, 2013

CHECK UP @ RITM

RITM ARG CHECK UP. i saw this on their wall.

Am feeling some stuff that they say is totally unrelated to HIV. Pero mabuti na yung sigurado, so here i am waiting for my turn.

 

ako si BONG

ito ang aking diary

 

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Use of Poppers

Jan 13, 2013

I have an undetectable viral load and high CD4 count. I now want to try to try to put myself back into the dating scene. I know that if it gets sexual I need to wear condoms. I just need to know is it safe to take poppers to loosen up before sex. I am currently on Isentress and Complera. Would it be a deadly cocktail and what can I do, because I can't normally maintain an erection being penetrated nor do I ejaculate. I heard men with HIV should not to use poppers. Please advise.

 

Response from Dr. David Fawcett

Thanks for writing. Poppers should be used with caution. They don't mix with protease inhibitors (although neither Isentress nor Complera contain PIs) because of interference with liver enzymes, creating the potential for increased blood levels of certain medications. You mention erectile dysfunction. Poppers are a dangerous mix with ED drugs such as Viagra. The combination can cause a drop in blood pressure, increased heart rate, and even more serious problems like heart attack or stroke.

In my practice I see a high number of men who rarely or never have sex without poppers and/or mood altering drugs. Sex without the benefit of something to "loosen up" can be intimidating and intense for some, but a drug-free experience will ultimately be more much more satisfying (and safer).

Enjoy!

David

www.thebody.com

 

Monday, January 14, 2013

Bong's TOP 3 HIV TEST SITES

IN ORDER OF IMPORTANCE: 1 being the best recommended site for quality services. Klinika Bernardo is fast rising up to the occasion by formally launching their "sundown male wellness" clinic and now operating until 11:00pm. Great work for QC!

1). LOVEYOURSELF HUB (RITM Satellite Clinic Manila)
1850 Leon Guinto St. Malate, Manila.
Contacts: 547.9334 or 0917.835.1038
NEW SCHEDULE effective January 14, 2013!!!
Mondays, Thursdays Fridays & Saturdays 11:00am to 7:00pm (Cut-off at 5:30 PM)
Sunday 9 AM to 4 PM. (Cut-off at 2 PM)
Tuesdays & Wednesdays Clinic is CLOSED

2). KLINIKA BERNARDO
EDSA Across NEPA Q-Mart, Cubao, Quezon City
(at the back of Ramon Magsaysay High School)
Contact #0910.653.5522 (John)
Monday to Friday 8:00am to 11:00pm
every 2nd & 4th Sunday of the Month 2:00pm to 7:00pm

3). MAKATI SOCIAL HYGIENE CLINIC
7th Floor, Makati City Hall, J.P. Rizal St., Makati City
Contact - Teresita Pagcaliwagan, RN or YOYIE
Tel: (+632) 870-1615

also, the loveyourself project is doing a test run of their PLATINUM SERVICES. here are the details.
A special kind of HIV testing, organized for the most discreet of clients. Afraid to be seen? Worry not. Here's the most discreet, by-appointment-only, premium quality HIV testing service in the country today. On January 11, 18, and 25, 2013 -- at a very discreet location in Makati CBD (near Ayala Avenue and V.A. Rufino Street) -- Friday after-office slots available from 5 to 9 PM.
To support this platinum quality service, we will appreciate voluntary donation of P500 and above for each client.
To set appointment, register via this link: http://go.loveyourself.ph/platinum -- someone will contact you to confirm your appointment, and you'll be all set. Your information will be handled with strictest confidentiality.
____________
FOR THE VIPs I WOULD RECOMMEND THE MEDICAL CITY - Ortigas Avenue, Pasig City, Metro Manila Philippines. Tel. nos. (632) 988-1000, (632) 988-7000 email us : mail@medicalcity.com.ph -- i heard they also do home service for full confidentiality --- but their services are not FREE and sobrang mahal daw but hey if money is not a problem, why not. MAKATI MED is also an option.
ALL OTHERS I WOULDN't WANT TO RECOMMEND DUE TO SOME BAD 1st-HAND EXPERIENCES FROM THE PEOPLE I'VE TALKED WITH.
THE WORST PLACE to get tested are the PRIVATE DIAGNOSTIC CLINICS, most of them are not trained and does not follow the pre-test and post-test protocols. plus it's NOT FREE.
ALSO if you know that you had risky behavior and you need to undergo a medical examination as a requirement for working abroad which includes HIV testing - its best that you take the test in any of the above facilities and make sure first that you are negative before taking it at the agency-designated diagnostic clinic. most of them (if not all) have no idea how to deal with a hiv positive diagnosis. if the result is positive then just choose a country that will not require HIV testing.
hope these updated info helps!

ako si BONG
ito ang aking diary

Monday, January 7, 2013

Sign up!



A Call to Action to People Living with HIV

We are people living with HIV.

Over three decades into this epidemic, we are angry that still 4500 of us are dying of AIDS-related illnesses every day. Sixteen years after developing effective treatment, more than half of all of us who need it cannot access these life-saving drugs. The progress that has been made in treatment access is under threat.

Sign here - http://www.hivadvocacynow.org