Positively Aware

05/19/2026

The FDA has approved Idvynso, which combines two drugs made by Merck—doravirine (which has been available for several years under the brand name Pifeltro) + islatravir, the first of a new drug class, nucleoside reverse transcriptase translocation inhibitors.
positivelyaware.com/fda-approves-idvynso

05/15/2026

Immigration raids, funding cuts and fear are disrupting HIV care for Latina/o communities. In a First Person commentary for PA, Carlos Saldana Ochoa, MD, describes how missed appointments, detention and research instability threaten decades of HIV progress—and what community leaders say must happen next.

https://www.positivelyaware.com/when-fear-disrupts-hiv-care

05/14/2026

05/07/2026

When we dismiss tools like PrEP or DoxyPEP because they don’t align with our personal beliefs, we’re not protecting anyone, writes public health advocate Jason Watler in a First Person essay for Positively Aware. Too often people disguise their antagonism to effective sexual health interventions as morality.
positivelyaware.com/in-prep-we-trust

05/06/2026

The California state supreme court is hearing oral arguments in a lawsuit by 24,000 people living HIV, charging that drugmaker Gilead Science delayed development of a safer version of tenofovir in order to protect profits. In a First Person commentary for the magazine, PrEP4All executive director Jeremiah Johnson examines the stakes of the tenofovir lawsuit—and what it could mean for patients’ rights and drug development.
positivelyaware.com/tenofovir-lawsuit-arguments

04/22/2026

Single-tablet regimens simplify HIV treatment, improve adherence and help prevent resistance and transmission. In a First Person commentary, policy advocate Scott Bertani notes that some cost-cutting efforts fail to take into accounts these benefits.
https://www.positivelyaware.com/articles/when-cost-cutting-undermines-hiv-care-case-single-tablet-regimens

04/14/2026

An investigative documentary produced by the BBC Eye Investigations team explores the consequences of a 2019–2025 HIV outbreak among children in Pakistan, caused by unsafe medical practices. The use of contaminated, reused syringes in clinics resulted in hundreds of children acquiring HIV. The children now face stigma from their community, friends and their own family.

An undercover investigation by has exposed serious malpractice on the children’s ward of a government hospital in Pakistan.Click here to subscribe to...

04/07/2026

04/02/2026

If you’re attending NMAC’s Biomedical HIV Prevention Summit in Chicago, Positively Aware is planning a group photo shoot featuring 30 people living with HIV for the cover of the 30th anniversary HIV Drug Guide. PA wants to reflect the many experiences of life with HIV by portraying people of different backgrounds, ages, identities and years living with HIV.

Contact Rick Guasco for details: rick@positivelyaware.com

03/31/2026

To see someone as the person they are is the beginning of respect. To see someone as the person are is the beginning of compassion.

To see someone as the person they are is the beginning.

03/29/2026

“I knew how I wanted my hair, nails, outfit, coffin and what funeral home I wanted it to be at,” writes Kim Canady in a First Person essay. “I knew how I wanted my service and how I wanted the repast. I planned my funeral better than my own wedding that I never did get. I planned so hard for that time in my life that I let time around me pass without a life plan.”
positivelyaware.com/first-person-kim-canady