On World Hepatitis Day 2021, we discover how Australian patients, patient advocates and health care providers are working together to reach the WHO elimination targets for chronic Hepatitis C virus infection. Professor Gail Matthews, Infectious Diseases Physician and Program Head of Therapeutic Research and Vaccine Program at The Kirby Institute, Ms Carrie Fowlie, CEO of Hepatitis Australia, and Ms Lisa Carter, Patient advocate and peer educator at Hepatitis SA, join Dr Fabiola Martin to discuss the many different approaches needed to eliminate hepatitis C. Related blog post: https://blogs.bmj.com/sti/2021/07/20/world-hepatitis-day-2021/

STI podcast

2021 World Hepatitis Day

July 2021 marks 40 years from the first reports of a 'strange disease' soon to be known as HIV/Aids. In this "very special edition" themed Sexual Diversity and the City, the STI & HIV 2021 World Congress is inviting people from all walks of life, with some being able to participate for free. Listen to all the details in this conversation of STI's Social Media Editor Harrison Austin with Henry de Vries, Professor of skin infections at the University of Amsterdam and President of the Congress, and Mark Vermeulen, Executive Director of Aidsfonds – Soa Aids Nederland. Sexually Transmitted Infections (https://sti.bmj.com/) is the official journal of the STI & HIV 2021 World Congress, held as a virtual event on 14-17 July. The mission is to address diversity, health, and sexuality in the urban context. This bi-annual meeting is organised by the International Society for STD Research (ISSTDR) in collaboration with the International Union against STI World (IUSTI World) and is dedicated to STI in its broadest sense. https://www.stihiv2021.org/

STI and HIV 2021 World Congress: taking virtual and accessibility to another level

Today we focus on the challenges and success stories of HPV vaccine uptake, specifically in Italy and Australia. The HPV vaccine rollout has translated into a significant reduction in the prevalence of cervical and anal cancers. Since its discovery, many different strategies have been used to increase and maintain its uptake in school children, both girls and boys. STI's Podcast Editor, Dr Fabiola Martin, interviews Prof Anna Maria Garretti, Diseases at the Policlinico Tor Vergata, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Chair of the British HIV Association Vaccination Guidelines Panel, and Editor in Chief of the STI Journal; Prof Carlo Giaquinto, Director of the Paediatric Infectious Diseases Unit at the Department of Woman's and Child's Health of the University of Padova Prof; and Ian Frazer, Clinical immunologist and scientist, The University of Queensland Diamantina Institute, Brisbane, Australia. Read the related blog post: https://blogs.bmj.com/sti/2021/05/27/hpv-vaccine/ Related content from STI: https://sti.bmj.com/content/early/2020/09/02/sextrans-2020-054428 https://sti.bmj.com/content/95/5/386 https://sti.bmj.com/content/95/8/608 https://sti.bmj.com/content/early/2020/12/23/sextrans-2020-054726

HPV vaccine uptake: achievements and challenges

Thousands of people are currently being vaccinated against COVID-19 worldwide. In this podcast, we discuss if the authorised vaccines are useful to people who live with HIV. STI's Podcast Editor, Dr Fabiola Martin, interviews Prof Anna Maria Garretti, Diseases at the Policlinico Tor Vergata, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Chair of the British HIV Association Vaccination Guidelines Panel, and Editor in Chief of the STI Journal; Dr Laura Waters, Sexual Health and HIV specialist at The Mortimer Market Centre, London, and chair of BHIVA; and Mr Simon Collins, HIV patient advocate and editor of the HIV Treatment Bulletin at the i-Base. Read the related blog post: https://blogs.bmj.com/sti/2021/04/23/2021episode3/ Related article: https://www.bhiva.org/SARS-CoV-2-vaccine-advice-for-adults-living-with-HIV-plain-english-version-update

COVID-19 Vaccine and People who live with HIV

In this podcast, we explore how the HIV endemic has evolved over time in Indonesia and is tracking against UNAIDS 90:90:90 treatment for all goals. We discuss the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the already stressed health care system in Indonesia. Dr Fabiola Martin interviews Dr Keerti Gedela, Consultant physician and researcher in HIV and sexual health medicine, Chelsea & Westminster NHS Trust, London, and Dr Hendry Luis, general physician with an interest in HIV and Sexual Health Medicine, working at the Bali Peduli Foundation, Indonesia. Read the related blog post: https://blogs.bmj.com/sti/?p=1476&preview=true Listen to our podcasts and subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and Spotify.

HIV endemic in Indonesia: Are we there yet?

In this podcast, we focus on why health care services need to adapt and provide inclusive and non-discriminating services for people independent of their gender or sexual preferences. Dr Fabiola Martin interviews Dr Jae Sevelius, Associate Professor at the University of California San Francisco, USA, and Dr Graham Neilsen, Sexual Health Specialist at Royal Brisbane Women's Hospital and Stonewall Medical Centre, Brisbane, Australia. They also discuss gender affirmation and healthcare empowerment research and actions taken to improve provide inclusive health care provision. Read the related blog post: [LINK]

Trans and Gender Diverse People and Health Care Services

In the third episode to honor World AIDS Day, on the 1st December, we are discussing the U=U message with Professor Paul Volberding, University of California San Francisco. We touch on the recently published multicentre study: Undetectable equals untransmittable (U = U): awareness and associations with health outcomes among people living with HIV in 25 countries discuss by Okoli et al. Read the open-access paper on the Sexually Transmitted Infections website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/sextrans-2020-054551 . Please subscribe to the STI podcast via all podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and Spotify to get the latest episode onto your device.

The U=U Message, ep. 3/3: a conversation with Prof Paul Volberding

In the second episode to honor World AIDS Day, on the 1st December, we are discussing the U=U message with Brent Allen, HIV patient representative. He explains why U=U means so much to people who live with HIV and those who are HIV negative. Read the related paper: Undetectable equals untransmittable (U = U): Awareness and associations with health outcomes among people living with HIV in 25 countries. Read the open-access paper on the Sexually Transmitted Infections website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/sextrans-2020-054551 . Please subscribe to the STI podcast via all podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and Spotify to get the latest episode onto your device.

The U=U Message, ep. 2/3: a conversation with Brent Allan

To honor World AIDS Day, on the 1st December, we are bringing you three special interviews over the next few days. In this first episode, we are discussing the U=U message with Chinyere Okoli, clinical pharmacist at ViiV Health care and principle investigator of the study: Undetectable equals untransmittable (U = U): Awareness and associations with health outcomes among people living with HIV in 25 countries. Read the open-access paper on the Sexually Transmitted Infections website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/sextrans-2020-054551 . Please subscribe to the STI podcast via all podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and Spotify to get the latest episode onto your device.

The U=U Message, ep. 1/3: a conversation with Chinyere Okoli

Dr Fabiola Martin talks to Dr John McSorely about the rapid adjustments applied to UK's sexual health care services as a response to COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and deployment of sexual health care providers to support other health care services. They discuss implemented service innovations such as 'Digital First' and 'Telehealth'. Dr John McSorley is a Consultant Physician in Sexual Health and HIV Medicine and President of BASHH (https://www.bashh.org/bashh-groups/board-and-trustees/elected-officers-and-representatives/dr-john-mcsorley/). To read more about this subject, please visit the STI section about COVID-19: https://sti.bmj.com/pages/collections/covid19/ and read the related blog post: https://blogs.bmj.com/sti/2020/10/12/sexual-health-and-covid-19/

Sexual health and COVID-19

The Sexually Transmitted Infections podcast is back and we start with relevant advice for both clinicians and patients about HIV and COVID-19. STI podcast editor Dr Fabiola Martin* talks to Associate Professor Dr Edwina Wright, who’s leading the COVID-19 Taskforce for the Australasian Society of HIV, viral hepatitis and STIs (ASHM), and Mr Adam Ehm, President of Living Positive Victoria and is a member of the COVID-19 ASHM Taskforce.  They discuss the recent statements released by the British HIV Association and ASHM to assist health care providers and people living with HIV during the COVID-19 pandemic. *Dr Fabiola Martin is a Consultant Physician in Sexual Health, HIV and HTLV medicine in Brisbane and Senior Research Fellow at School of Public Health, University of Queensland.Read more about this subject on the Sexually Transmitted Infections blog: https://blogs.bmj.com/sti/2020/04/07/covid-19-and-hiv-calling-attention-to-the-importance-of-ensuring-hiv-status-and-testing-is-included-in-the-management-of-covid-19/ https://blogs.bmj.com/sti/2020/06/04/hiv-covid-19-podcast/ Join the conversation on Twitter and Facebook and please subscribe to the podcast on your favourite platform to get the latest episodes.

HIV and COVID-19 - what do we know so far?

Two women die a week in consequence of domestic violence and abuse in the UK. It is increasingly recognised that enquiry by healthcare practitioners can enable pathways to earlier intervention and support. Editor-in-Chief of Sexually Transmitted Infections, Jackie Cassell, is joined by two specialists in the field to discuss the special issue of the journal on domestic and intimate partner violence, published in March 2018: http://sti.bmj.com/content/94/2. Neha Pathak (Wellcome Trust Clinical PhD Fellow, Institute for Epidemiology & Healthcare, University College London) and Gene Feder (University of Bristol, Centre for Academic Primary Care) discuss the various forms of the abuse and how healthcare practitioners can intervene. Related papers discussed in this podcast: - Highlights from this issue - http://sti.bmj.com/content/94/2/79 - Editorial: Routine enquiry for domestic violence and abuse in sexual health settings - http://sti.bmj.com/content/94/2/81 - Improving the healthcare response to domestic violence and abuse in sexual health clinics: feasibility study of a training, support and referral intervention - http://sti.bmj.com/content/94/2/83 - Assessing for domestic violence in sexual health environments: a qualitative study - http://sti.bmj.com/content/94/2/88 - Sexual relationships, intimate partner violence and STI partner notification in Cape Town, South Africa: an observational study - http://sti.bmj.com/content/94/2/144

Domestic violence affects a quarter of UK women: the role of sexual health practitioners

Dr James Bingham, regarded by many as a father figure of the modern speciality, tells Lt Col Ngozi Dufty about the beginning of the field of venereal disease in the UK and how the origins of the sexual health service developed in consequence of the need to protect the health of the military troops first, and then the general population as a result. This interview is one of two podcasts published by the Sexually Transmitted Infections journal to signal the Centenary of the Venereal Disease Act 1917. Read all the articles here: http://sti.bmj.com/pages/bashh-centenary-of-the-venereal-disease-act-1917.

A century of military sexual health: the origins of the speciality of venereal disease

Dr. George Kinghorn, genitourinary medicine physician with 35 years' experience, talks to Dr. Maryam Shahmanesh (Consultant and Senior Lecturer at the University College London and Mortimer Market Centre) about the “dramatic changes” introduced in the treatment of STIs with the Venereal Disease Act 1917. Professor George Kinghorn also analyses how the effects of the easier access to travel, the introduction of the contraceptive pill and the decriminalisation of homosexuality lead to a “rapid increase in the number of sexually transmitted infections” in the last 40 years and which translated into an increasing need for specialists. Commenting on the particular case of the UK, Dr Kinghorn advocates the need for specialised services in the NHS, saying that an “urgent access to [STI clinics] services is essential to preserve low-cost control of STIs”. He also looks to the main future challenges in this medical field. The interview is one of two podcasts published by the Sexually Transmitted Infections journal to signal the Centenary of the Venereal Disease Act 1917. Read all the articles here: http://sti.bmj.com/pages/bashh-centenary-of-the-venereal-disease-act-1917.

How we treat STIs: Centenary of The Venereal Disease Act

How can burdens and trends of gonorrhoea and syphilis be estimated using surveillance data routinely collected in low- and middle-income countries? Eline Korenromp, epidemiologist from the Avenir Health, Geneva, Switzerland, tells STI Editor Jackie Cassell how the Spectrum-STI tool, developed at request of the World Health Organization, facilitates standardised, country-level estimation of trends in adult prevalence of sexually transmitted infections. The Spectrum-STI is an epidemiological framework which facilitates data review, validation and strategic analysis, prioritisation of data collection needs and surveillance strengthening by national experts. It has so far been applied in Zimbabwe, Morocco and Mongolia. Read the full details of the study, “Estimating prevalence trends in adult gonorrhoea and syphilis in low- and middle-income countries with the Spectrum-STI model: results for Zimbabwe and Morocco from 1995 to 2016”, on the STI website (http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/sextrans-2016-052953).

The Spectrum-STI model: gonorrhoea and syphilis prevalence trends in low and middle-income countries

Sexually Transmitted Infections is the world's longest running international journal on sexual health. It aims to keep practitioners, trainees and researchers up to date in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of all STIs and HIV. * The purpose of this podcast is to educate and to inform. The content of this podcast does not constitute medical advice and it is not intended to function as a substitute for a healthcare practitioner’s judgement, patient care or treatment. The views expressed by contributors are those of the speakers. BMJ does not endorse any views or recommendations discussed or expressed on this podcast. Listeners should also be aware that professionals in the field may have different opinions. By listening to this podcast, listeners agree not to use its content as the basis for their own medical treatment or for the medical treatment of others.

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