While a staggering 61% of new HIV/AIDS infections are found among America's men who have sex with men, funding for HIV prevention and research for MSM remains sorely underfunded, according to the director of the CDC’s HIV/AIDS Prevention Program, Dr. Jonathon Mermin. "When we look at how funds are distributed, we underfund MSM by a significant amount," said Mermin at a recent community engagement session in Atlanta.

Dr. Kevin Fenton, the openly gay Director of the CDC's National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, attributes some of the underfunding to homophobia.

"Historically what we see across the U.S is it’s easier… for states and local jurisdictions sometimes not to put money where the epidemic actually is. In part [it's] because [the] data aren’t there… and [the data] undercounts gay men," Fenton said.

Seattle, WA (Mar 27, 2012) - Gay City Health Project is pleased to be the recipient of a $390,000 grant from Public Health - Seattle & King County for community-based HIV testing and linkage to care services for men who have sex with men. The grant will allow Gay City to continue offering fee, anonymous or confidential HIV screenings to gay, bi and trans men.

"We're so proud of the work we do through our HIV testing and STI screening," said Gay City Executive Director Fred Swanson, adding "And we are thrilled with this renewed investment from Public Health in support of our work."

In 2011, Gay City Health Project, in collaboration with One Degree Events, the producers of Seattle's Annual PrideFest, used a grant from Communities Putting Prevention to Work to become PrideFest's Presenting Sponsor in order to help improve LGBT community health through policy change.

GCTV sits down with Gay City Executive Director Fred Swanson, Gay City Wellness Director Jeff Rinderle, and One Degree Events owner and PrideFest producer Egan Orion in this retrospective of the OurQ project.

The fight against youth tobacco use was accelerated today by Surgeon General Dr. Regina Benjamin, with the release of the Surgeon General’s Report, Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults. This report details the scope, health consequences and influences that lead to youth tobacco use and proven strategies that prevent its use.

To help communicate the report findings and steps every American can take to join the fight against youth tobacco use, the surgeon general also unveiled a guide with practical information on addressing tobacco use in young people, Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults: We Can Make the Next Generation Tobacco-Free. In addition, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Office on Smoking and Health will launch the Surgeon General’s Video Challenge to engage youth and young adults in developing original videos that feature one or more of the report’s findings. More information can be found at www.challenge.gov.

Heroin injectors warned of danger

KING COUNTY, WA—Since Saturday, the King County Medical Examiner's Office has identified seven likely overdose deaths from heroin, possibly due to an increased potency of the drug or mixture with other substances. This is a notable and rapid rise in deaths; King County saw 32 heroin overdose deaths in total over the first six months of 2011.