Although the medical literature is full of data as it relates to HIV and MSM senior Conservative Lord Norman Fowler appears to be ignorant of the facts and makes a particularly foolish presentation in the House of Lords which is carried in Gaystarnews below. To quote Professor Chris Beyrer of John Hopkins University ” In 2012, HIV epidemics in MSM are expanding in countries of all incomes”.
Testifyingtotruth’s position is that removing the buggery law is neither necessary nor sufficient to decrease HIV among MSM but holds that agressively discouraging anal penetration is to be virgorously recommended much as the MOH vigorously discourages cigarette smoking.
Foolish secular persons such as Lord Norman Fowler may well be a part of the reason for the initial onset and intractable nature of the HIV epidemics among MSM.
Removing sodomy laws etc have demonstrably not worked to decrease HIV in MSM.
What , however, removing buggery laws have demonstrably achieved is a reordering of societies to allow LGBTTTI…….(?MZ ) dominance, same-sex marriage, loss of freedom of religion, loss of freedom of speech etc.
Is this Lord Norman Fowler’s agenda
A)
B)
Global epidemiology of HIV infection in men who have sex with men
Chris Beyrer et al.
In 2012, HIV epidemics in MSM are expanding in countries of all incomes. Available
incidence data from Thai, Chinese and Kenyan samples of MSM suggest those epidemics
are in rapid expansion phases.
HIV infection rates among MSM are substantially higher than those of general population adult males in every epidemic assessed. A comprehensive review of the burden of HIV disease in MSM worldwide found that pooled HIV prevalence ranged from a low of 3% in the Middle East and North Africa to a high of 25.4% of MSM in the Caribbean.
Biological and behavioral factors make the dynamics of the MSM epidemic different than for general populations.
o The disproportionate HIV disease burden in MSM is explained largely by the high per-act and per-partner transmission probability of HIV transmission in receptive anal sex.
Modeling suggests that If the transmission probably of receptive anal sex was similar
to that associated with unprotected vaginal sex, five year cumulative HIV incidence in
MSM would be reduced by 80-90%.
o Many MSM practice both insertive and receptive roles in sexual intercourse, which helps HIV spread in this population. Were MSM limited to one role, HIV incidence in this population over five years would be reduced 19-55% in high-prevalence
epidemics.
o Taking both factors (per act transmission probability and role versatility) into account explains 98% of the difference between HIV epidemics among MSM and heterosexual populations—behavioral differences account for 2% of the
difference.
C)
Successes and challenges of prevention of HIV prevention in men who have sex with men Patrick Sullivan et al.
HIV prevention approaches to date have been insufficient to curb the HIV epidemics in MSM.
Because of the high biological risks of HIV transmission associated with anal intercourse,the bar for HIV prevention may be higher for MSM. To date, no single HIV prevention approach is sufficient to control the expansion of HIV epidemics among MSM.
In most parts of the world, restricted resources and legal barriers complicate delivery of HIV prevention to MSM. Policy changes to align resources with the magnitude of HIV epidemics among MSM, and to allow MSM to safely access medical care and prevention services, are urgently needed to create an enabling environment for prevention, and an adequately resourced prevention response.
Several behavioral interventions are somewhat efficacious in reduction of risk behavior among MSM, but do not effectively decrease the incidence of new HIV infections. Behavioral interventions alone are necessary, but insufficient, to address HIV in MSM.
Coordinated behavioral, biomedical and structural interventions that incorporate efficacious strategies could substantially reduce the incidence of HIV in MSM if delivered at scale.
Modeling suggests that, with sufficient coverage, appropriate “packages” of already available interventions are sufficient to avert at least a quarter of new HIV infections in
MSM in diverse countries in the next decade.
Despite the potential of current prevention tools, we must continue to develop new prevention modalities. For example, we need continued research into a rectal microbicide, into the optimization of oral PrEP, into an HIV vaccine, and into the efficacy of treatment as prevention for HIV positive MSM.
Making an impact in HIV epidemics among MSM will require achieving adequate coverage of packages of prevention interventions. According to our data, it may be necessary to reach more than half of at-risk MSM to have substantial impact. To achieve such coverage, policy reforms, including decriminalization of male-male sex, are needed to create enabling environments in which men can safely access care and prevention services.
Lords follow marriage victory with call for gay sex to be legal globally
The criminalization of homosexuality is ‘abhorrent’ and needs to be scrapped on human rights and HIV-prevention grounds, the House of Lords has heard.
The comment was made by senior Conservative Lord Norman Fowler as Britain’s upper chamber of parliament was debating the UK’s contribution Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB) and Malaria.
It came within a few hours of the Lords voting, by a landslide majority, to support the passage of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill for England and Wales through parliament yesterday (4 June).
Fowler warned the house that homophobia stood in the way of fighting AIDS.
He said: ‘What stands in the way of so much progress in these areas is stigma and discrimination. A further effort is most certainly required there. Stigma infects gay and lesbian people, those with HIV and those with TB.’
He wants Britain to commit to finding a vaccine for HIV as he believes it would ‘cut through’ that stigma.
He then referred to the historic marriage vote.
Fowler said: ‘If I may say so, tonight there has been a historic vote in this house. We have sent out a clear message we in this country believe in equality of treatment for all. That was a massive message, which was underlined by the majority.
‘I believe also we are united, irrespective of which way we voted on that debate, on the criminalization of homosexuality being abhorrent. I hope that message goes out equally strongly.
‘But I put it to the minister it would be even better if tonight she could set out the British government’s plans to help the global fund fight one of the most important health battles that the world now faces. That is a historic battle and this country could make an important and valuable contribution to it.’
Later in the debate, another Conservative, Lord Alistair Cooke, Baron Lexden, said the criminalization of gay sex was a ‘formidable handicap’ for the HIV fund – however much money it is given.
He said: ‘However successful the fund and the efforts of the vast numbers of people working to end the pandemics may be, they will not be able to reach and relieve all the suffering with which they contend.
‘That is because homosexuality is a criminal offence in some 78 countries. Where homosexuals are criminals, HIV cannot be fully relieved or curtailed.
‘The statistics are stark. In Caribbean countries where homosexuality is not against the law, of every 15 men who have sex with other men, one is infected with HIV. In Caribbean countries where homosexuality is criminalized, the rate of infection is one in four.
‘So we come back to the deep-seated problem of criminalization, which is and always should be a prominent feature of our debates on these issues.’
As Britain is at the heart of the Commonwealth, headed by Queen Elizabeth, Cooke said his fellow peers should focus there.
He told them: ‘In 42 of the Commonwealth’s 54 member states, homosexuality is a criminal offence. The Commonwealth’s collective institutions produced clear evidence in 2011 that where homosexuality had been decriminalized, HIV infection had fallen.
‘To the infinite sadness of us all, that has not led to a widespread acceptance of the case for decriminalization. In some countries the situation has got worse. Last week the Nigerian Parliament passed a harsh anti-LGBT bill that is bound to fuel prejudice and hatred in other countries.’
And he slammed the Christian churches for their part in stirring up LGBT hate.
He said: ‘On moral as well as on health grounds, the Christian churches in Commonwealth countries ought to be at the forefront of efforts to stem the tide of oppression and extend basic human rights to all LGBT people. In fact, as we know well, all too often the churches are to be found in the forefront of militant anti-gay activity. The Church of England, which is my church, has great influence in many Commonwealth countries.
‘I end with a fervent plea that it should consider issuing a strong public statement utterly condemning the criminalization of homosexuality. If it did that, it would confer an inestimable boon on those working, through the Global Fund and other remarkable, selfless organisations, to end the pandemics that so disfigure the world today.’
Fowler has long been a campaigner on HIV and AIDS. As Margaret Thatcher’s health secretary in the 1980s, he launched the UK’s first ever government education campaign on HIV.
During the debate, Fowler went on to say the fund has estimated that over the next three years, 2014 to 2016, it will need $15billion (€11.5billion), a large increase on what is currently available, if it is to be as effective as possible.
Responding for the government, Baroness Lindsay Northover stressed the UK goverment’s commitment to fighting this disease, pointing out that we are the third largest contributor, having given a total to the fund of £1billion ($1.5billion €1.2billion) from 2008 to 2015.
And she pledged Britain intends to remain at the forefront of HIV and AIDS prevention.
Commenting for LGBTory, the Conservative Party’s affiliated LGBT group, chairman Matthew Sephton said: ‘I am delighted to hear, as important as yesterday’s vote on equal marriage was, that parliamentarians are remembering there continue to be many issues of concern for LGBT people.’
