STI Podcast

HPV vaccine uptake: achievements and challenges

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/2021/06/04/hpv-vaccine-uptake-achievements-and-challenges/
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

COVID-19 Vaccine and People who live with HIV

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

HIV endemic in Indonesia: Are we there yet?

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
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Trans and Gender Diverse People and Health Care Services

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.

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

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

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. 1/3: a conversation with Chinyere Okoli

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.

Sexual health and COVID-19

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/

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

The original content of this podcast was removed in September 2022 after a participant withdrew their consent. This was the first in a series of podcasts on HIV and COVID-19 co-infection, and was recorded at a time when vaccines and treatments were not yet available. You can find later episodes on HIV and COVID-19 co-infection on the Sexually Transmitted Infections channel:
- https://soundcloud.com/bmjpodcasts/covid-19-vaccine-and-people-who-live-with-hiv?in=bmjpodcasts/sets/sti
- https://soundcloud.com/bmjpodcasts/impact-of-hiv-infection-on-covid-19-clinical-outcome?in=bmjpodcasts/sets/sti
There's also a blog post with further information and resources:
- https://blogs.bmj.com/sti/2020/06/04/hiv-covid-19-podcast/

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

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