STI Podcast

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

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

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.

How we treat STIs: Centenary of The Venereal Disease Act

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.