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London Health Service Begins Offering Rapid HIV Tests
Barts and the London NHS Trust has become the first National Health Service provider in the United Kingdom to offer rapid, oral HIV tests, BBC News reports. Officials hope that the service will increase the number of people who seek testing because requirements of giving blood and waiting for test results are eliminated with the rapid tests. Barts will offer the rapid, oral tests in non-health care settings such as outreach centers. In addition, sexual health workers hope to be able to offer the test in night clubs in the future. About 200 people in Barts clinics have received rapid tests since March, and officials hope to test 250 people monthly. Merle Symonds, the sexual health adviser at the trust, said the message that HIV is a treatable disease has not "filtered through and stigma does remain around HIV, even if it is waning." Lisa Power of the Terrence Higgins Trust -- an HIV/AIDS organization that also offers rapid, oral tests -- said that a major problem surrounding HIV/AIDS in the United Kingdom is that many people are not aware of their status. She added, "Anything we can do to increase the take-up of testing is welcome, and we think what Barts is doing is fantastic."According to BBC News, the United Kingdom has the largest number of people living with HIV in Western Europe, with men who have sex with men accounting for 41% of new cases. BBC News reports that approximately one-third of HIV-positive people in the country are not aware of their status (BBC News, 5/20).
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Editorial Examines How USAID Programs Used Biblical Lessons To Teach Abstinence In Africa
A recent audit by the U.S. Agency for International Development"s inspector general has "raised questions about several USAID expenditures" on a number of "faith-based" projects initiated during former President George W. Bush"s administration, a Los Angeles Times editorial says. Among other issues, the report highlighted "the use of instructional materials, including biblical references," in an HIV/AIDS prevention program that promoted sexual abstinence in Africa, the editorial continues. It adds that USAID said that it "stopped allowing "religiously infused" curricula after the Justice Department expressed legal qualms."According to the Times, the issue raises several questions, including whether the U.S. Constitution is "violated when U.S. officials abroad ... endorse religious activities in the furtherance of this nation"s foreign policy." It states, "Our answer is no, but policymakers still need to be cautious about mixing religion and diplomacy" (Los Angeles Times, 7/24).
News of the day
Americans Living With No Insurance, Or Less Insurance, During Recession
Decisions about forgoing care because of the cost for the long-term uninsured have been a way of life, "but for a sizable group, being without a job and insurance is a new, deeply distressing condition," The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports.
Public Health

Link Between Pressure To Look Attractive And Fear Of Rejection In Men And Women

People who feel pressure to look attractive are more fearful of being rejected because of their appearance than are their peers, according to a new study by researchers at the University at Buffalo and the University of Kent. The study of appearance-based rejection sensitivity among college students was conducted by Lora Park, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology and graduate student Ann Marie DiRaddo, of the University at Buffalo, and Rachel Calogero, Ph.D., a lecturer in psychology at the University of Kent. It was published in the spring edition of Psychology of Women Quarterly (Vo. 33, Issue 1), a publication of the American Psychological Association. The researchers found that overall women showed greater sensitivity to appearance rejection than did men. This was particularly true of women who felt they needed to look attractive in order to be accepted by their peers. The study also found that men and women who had internalized media ideals of attractiveness had higher levels of appearance-based rejection sensitivity than did their peers. No relationship was found between parents" perceptions of attractiveness and study participants" increased sensitivity to appearance-based rejection. Thus, peer and media influences, rather than parental influence, play a key role in appearance-based rejection sensitivity. "There is a lot of research to suggest that physically attractive people are less stigmatized by others in this society, and have significant advantages in many areas of life than those who are viewed as physically unattractive," Park says. "Our study suggests that when people feel pressure to look attractive, whether from their friends or the media, they may be putting themselves at risk for experiencing negative outcomes that may limit their development and enjoyment of life in many ways." Indeed, previous research by Park found that appearance-based rejection sensitivity is related to negative mental and physical health outcomes, such as feeling unattractive, feeling badly about oneself when comparing one"s appearance with others, feeling lonely and rejected when thinking about disliked aspects of one"s appearance, and showing increased risk for eating disorders. The study sample consisted of 220 (106 women, 114 men) U.S. college students ranging from 18 to 33 years of age. Participants responded to a series of questionnaires, including scales that assessed the perceived influence of peers and parents on sensitivity to appearance-based rejection, and the Sociocultural Attitudes Toward Appearance Scale-3, which assesses dimensions of media influence related to body image and appearance. These results were found even after controlling for people"s self-esteem, self-perceived attractiveness and sensitivity to rejection in general. Although the current study focused on a predominantly young, white college-age sample, Park says future research should investigate appearance-based rejection sensitivity across diverse age and ethnic groups, in order to better understand its prevalence and to examine how it might be reduced. Patricia Donovan University at Buffalo


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