Myles Helfand
@myhelfy.bsky.social
he/him | exec editor of TheBody and TheBodyPro | journalism-ing for HIV communities since aught-one | unsecret gamer | personality type: Mets fan
Pinned
Myles Helfand
@myhelfy.bsky.social
· Feb 4
We've put together an initial report, on TheBodyPro, of federal HIV resources that have been removed and where alternative sources can be located. It's just a start, so tips and notes are welcome. Cheers to @larrybuhl.bsky.social for his initial reporting here!
www.thebodypro.com/hiv/hiv-data...
www.thebodypro.com/hiv/hiv-data...
Reposted by Myles Helfand
#FDA has approved a new 1st-in-class oral antibiotic for the treatment of #gonorrhea, which has been making its way through the armamentarium of available antibiotics. Nuzolvence was brought to market through a private-public partnership involving @gardp.bsky.social. www.statnews.com/2025/12/12/f...
FDA approves first new kind of drug to target gonorrhea in decades
The bacterium that causes gonorrhea has developed resistance to nearly every antibiotic used against it
www.statnews.com
December 12, 2025 at 7:23 PM
#FDA has approved a new 1st-in-class oral antibiotic for the treatment of #gonorrhea, which has been making its way through the armamentarium of available antibiotics. Nuzolvence was brought to market through a private-public partnership involving @gardp.bsky.social. www.statnews.com/2025/12/12/f...
This is cool.
December 11, 2025 at 1:29 AM
This is cool.
Oh for crap's sake www.courthousenews.com/military-ask...
Military asks Fourth Circuit to let it disqualify applicants with HIV
The military argues that HIV-positive service members pose significant financial and logistical burdens, while advocates argue the concerns are outdated thanks to modern science.
www.courthousenews.com
December 10, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Oh for crap's sake www.courthousenews.com/military-ask...
This is a useful breakdown! And a compelling argument -- though I'm not sure I'm convinced that this can hold true for gender/sex-specific data. We know trans erasure is happening -- but do we know if every research team is handling that the same way? "Sex assigned at birth" isn't always known.
Sharing a great article on why you can still trust CDC’s data. One reason is health data move from local and state health departments to the CDC making federal interference more difficult. Just sad that we even have to talk about this at all. 😥💔😩
yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/p/why-cdc-he...
yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/p/why-cdc-he...
Why CDC health data are still reliable
...even amid challenges to communications and integrity
yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com
December 10, 2025 at 5:23 PM
This is a useful breakdown! And a compelling argument -- though I'm not sure I'm convinced that this can hold true for gender/sex-specific data. We know trans erasure is happening -- but do we know if every research team is handling that the same way? "Sex assigned at birth" isn't always known.
Reposted by Myles Helfand
1. In a Sunday Night surprise, the trans healthcare coverage ban has been removed from the military NDAA.
Congressional leaders released the negotiated bill this evening, and though the House AND Senate contained the provision, it is not in the final bill!
Subscribe to support our journalism.
Congressional leaders released the negotiated bill this evening, and though the House AND Senate contained the provision, it is not in the final bill!
Subscribe to support our journalism.
Trans Healthcare Coverage Ban Stripped From Negotiated Military NDAA Bill In Sunday Night Surprise
Anti-DEI and sports ban provisions for the military still exist in the bill, but the removal of a health care provision is a major victory for transgender people in congressional legislation.
www.erininthemorning.com
December 8, 2025 at 2:02 AM
1. In a Sunday Night surprise, the trans healthcare coverage ban has been removed from the military NDAA.
Congressional leaders released the negotiated bill this evening, and though the House AND Senate contained the provision, it is not in the final bill!
Subscribe to support our journalism.
Congressional leaders released the negotiated bill this evening, and though the House AND Senate contained the provision, it is not in the final bill!
Subscribe to support our journalism.
Reposted by Myles Helfand
Commemorating #WorldAIDSday is an act of defiance against ideology driven policies that will end our progress to end the epidemic.
December 1, 2025 at 10:13 PM
Commemorating #WorldAIDSday is an act of defiance against ideology driven policies that will end our progress to end the epidemic.
Reposted by Myles Helfand
there’s a scene in the new documentary where Elizabeth Taylor is talking about the stigma of AIDS and how she got involved in the movement and it’s fucking everything
August 10, 2024 at 3:21 PM
there’s a scene in the new documentary where Elizabeth Taylor is talking about the stigma of AIDS and how she got involved in the movement and it’s fucking everything
Reposted by Myles Helfand
On #WorldAIDSDay, we got a snapshot of data from NYC, which is a bellwether for the epidemic. All progress has stalled and HIV rates have increased. This is in the midst of funding cuts, poor data gathering, and no govt leadership. The fight goes on
December 1, 2025 at 9:01 PM
On #WorldAIDSDay, we got a snapshot of data from NYC, which is a bellwether for the epidemic. All progress has stalled and HIV rates have increased. This is in the midst of funding cuts, poor data gathering, and no govt leadership. The fight goes on
👀
I think apart from undermining the fight against HIV, trump also knows on World AIDS Day he can't hide from the violence he has committed by slashing treatment, prevention and research in the U.S. and around the world.
His White House is full of cowards, *hiding* from World AIDS Day.
His White House is full of cowards, *hiding* from World AIDS Day.
1/ ⚠️ Breaking: At CDC, we've been told the US Government will not officially commemorate World AIDS Day this year. No explanation given.
November 25, 2025 at 9:47 PM
👀
This! @emilybass.bsky.social's headline in her blog is really good - it grabs attention and is technically true as a federal thing - but as she notes, the federal gov't didn't invent #WorldAIDSDay and the community certainly doesn't need their permission to mark it substack.com/inbox/post/1...
November 25, 2025 at 8:49 PM
This! @emilybass.bsky.social's headline in her blog is really good - it grabs attention and is technically true as a federal thing - but as she notes, the federal gov't didn't invent #WorldAIDSDay and the community certainly doesn't need their permission to mark it substack.com/inbox/post/1...
Reposted by Myles Helfand
A regular reminder that HHS Secretary RFK Jr is an AIDS denialist who uttered this egregious falsehood about #HIV to a journalist just two years ago:
"There are much better candidates than HIV for what causes AIDS" nymag.com/intelligence...
"There are much better candidates than HIV for what causes AIDS" nymag.com/intelligence...
1/ ⚠️ Breaking: At CDC, we've been told the US Government will not officially commemorate World AIDS Day this year. No explanation given.
November 25, 2025 at 6:46 PM
A regular reminder that HHS Secretary RFK Jr is an AIDS denialist who uttered this egregious falsehood about #HIV to a journalist just two years ago:
"There are much better candidates than HIV for what causes AIDS" nymag.com/intelligence...
"There are much better candidates than HIV for what causes AIDS" nymag.com/intelligence...
Yep, that's one word for it
Wow.
1/ ⚠️ Breaking: At CDC, we've been told the US Government will not officially commemorate World AIDS Day this year. No explanation given.
November 25, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Yep, that's one word for it
Reposted by Myles Helfand
Dieffenbach was 'detailed' to an NIH institute (Fogarty) that has much less authority, in a lesser role. This is a way to move him out.
November 24, 2025 at 3:33 AM
Dieffenbach was 'detailed' to an NIH institute (Fogarty) that has much less authority, in a lesser role. This is a way to move him out.
Reposted by Myles Helfand
Hearing news that Carl Dieffenbach, the Director of the Division of AIDS at #NIH (NIAID), has been removed from his position because he was "not aligned with HHS/OMB."
Russell Vought continues to remove great scientists as part of the Project 2025 mission to politicize and destroy NIH.
🧪 1/
Russell Vought continues to remove great scientists as part of the Project 2025 mission to politicize and destroy NIH.
🧪 1/
November 24, 2025 at 3:31 AM
Hearing news that Carl Dieffenbach, the Director of the Division of AIDS at #NIH (NIAID), has been removed from his position because he was "not aligned with HHS/OMB."
Russell Vought continues to remove great scientists as part of the Project 2025 mission to politicize and destroy NIH.
🧪 1/
Russell Vought continues to remove great scientists as part of the Project 2025 mission to politicize and destroy NIH.
🧪 1/
Reposted by Myles Helfand
Since last year’s Transgender Day of Remembrance, at least 55 trans folk have been lost to violence in the U.S., according to the Trans Murder Monitoring Project.
Let remembrance turn to resolve, to make a world where every life is respected and cherished.
tdor.translivesmatter.info
Let remembrance turn to resolve, to make a world where every life is respected and cherished.
tdor.translivesmatter.info
November 20, 2025 at 11:59 PM
Since last year’s Transgender Day of Remembrance, at least 55 trans folk have been lost to violence in the U.S., according to the Trans Murder Monitoring Project.
Let remembrance turn to resolve, to make a world where every life is respected and cherished.
tdor.translivesmatter.info
Let remembrance turn to resolve, to make a world where every life is respected and cherished.
tdor.translivesmatter.info
It’s such a bummer. (I know that’s a huge understatement; it’s just the word in my head right now.) It is so surreal, as a health journalist, to acknowledge that the CDC is no longer a reliable primary source of information for a story or a “what you need to know” article unless the page is pre-2025
This is basically the destruction of trust in our public health institutions…
If there was any doubt at all that the CDC is fully destroyed, this page on autism and vaccines on its website confirms it. It's now just another vessel of dangerous health misinformation. I have no words. This is beyond sad.
November 20, 2025 at 1:40 PM
It’s such a bummer. (I know that’s a huge understatement; it’s just the word in my head right now.) It is so surreal, as a health journalist, to acknowledge that the CDC is no longer a reliable primary source of information for a story or a “what you need to know” article unless the page is pre-2025
Reposted by Myles Helfand
This sounds reasonable but is 100% wrong. Whether you or agree or disagree with a study is completely immaterial. What matters is whether the study was conducted properly and generates valid results. And it's impolitic to say but it's true: you have to have some level of expertise to judge that.
JD Vance: "Science as practiced in its best form is that if you disagree with it, then you ought to criticize it and you ought to argue against it."
November 12, 2025 at 5:57 PM
This sounds reasonable but is 100% wrong. Whether you or agree or disagree with a study is completely immaterial. What matters is whether the study was conducted properly and generates valid results. And it's impolitic to say but it's true: you have to have some level of expertise to judge that.
👀
With record sales of its Biktarvy and PrEP drug Descovy and the debut of Yeztugo, its six-month injectable for PrEP, Gilead Sciences reported $7.3 billion in 3rd-quarter sales—$5.3 billion of it from its HIV business. Also, Biktarvy gets an extended lease on life.
positivelyaware.com/gilead-3q-sales
positivelyaware.com/gilead-3q-sales
November 10, 2025 at 4:42 PM
👀
Reposted by Myles Helfand
See the film and my update on the ongoing, pointless, man-made loss of life here: bsky.app/profile/agaw...
Today @TheNewYorker released our short documentary “Rovina’s Choice” online.
It traces the ongoing effects of the sudden shutdown of US foreign aid through the story of one mother in Kenya as she seeks to save her daughter from sickness and starvation. 🎥 1/ www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
It traces the ongoing effects of the sudden shutdown of US foreign aid through the story of one mother in Kenya as she seeks to save her daughter from sickness and starvation. 🎥 1/ www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
The Shutdown of U.S.A.I.D. Has Already Killed Hundreds of Thousands
The short documentary “Rovina’s Choice” tells the story of what goes when aid goes.
www.newyorker.com
November 6, 2025 at 10:34 PM
See the film and my update on the ongoing, pointless, man-made loss of life here: bsky.app/profile/agaw...
Reposted by Myles Helfand
I helped make a film, out this week, called “Rovina’s Choice,” about the deaths this man without conscience or accountability has caused — already 600,000, ⅔ of them children.
November 6, 2025 at 10:34 PM
I helped make a film, out this week, called “Rovina’s Choice,” about the deaths this man without conscience or accountability has caused — already 600,000, ⅔ of them children.
Reposted by Myles Helfand
HIVMA and fellow members of the Emergency HIV Clinical Response Task Force warn that proposed federal funding cuts could severely disrupt HIV prevention, care, and treatment nationwide.
Learn more in the new data brief: https://bit.ly/3LnWEHt
Learn more in the new data brief: https://bit.ly/3LnWEHt
National HIV Clinician Survey Warns of HIV Service Disruptions
bit.ly
November 5, 2025 at 4:29 PM
HIVMA and fellow members of the Emergency HIV Clinical Response Task Force warn that proposed federal funding cuts could severely disrupt HIV prevention, care, and treatment nationwide.
Learn more in the new data brief: https://bit.ly/3LnWEHt
Learn more in the new data brief: https://bit.ly/3LnWEHt
Reposted by Myles Helfand
Putting on my public health hat.
While there are some notable exceptions, note that this map of NYC roughly tracks patterns for poverty, HIV, diabetes, etc.
It also represents the power of the people.
While there are some notable exceptions, note that this map of NYC roughly tracks patterns for poverty, HIV, diabetes, etc.
It also represents the power of the people.
November 5, 2025 at 3:27 AM
Putting on my public health hat.
While there are some notable exceptions, note that this map of NYC roughly tracks patterns for poverty, HIV, diabetes, etc.
It also represents the power of the people.
While there are some notable exceptions, note that this map of NYC roughly tracks patterns for poverty, HIV, diabetes, etc.
It also represents the power of the people.
Reposted by Myles Helfand
#BHIVA issues update to #HIV guidelines for adults. We explain the main changes here:
i-base.info/htb/52587
#HIVsky #HIVguidelines #HIVtreatment #HIVpositive #PLWH #HIVscience #Undetectable #UequalsU #InjectableART #LongActingART #abacavir #cabotegravir @bhiva.bsky.social @bashhuk.bsky.social
i-base.info/htb/52587
#HIVsky #HIVguidelines #HIVtreatment #HIVpositive #PLWH #HIVscience #Undetectable #UequalsU #InjectableART #LongActingART #abacavir #cabotegravir @bhiva.bsky.social @bashhuk.bsky.social
October 28, 2025 at 4:07 PM
#BHIVA issues update to #HIV guidelines for adults. We explain the main changes here:
i-base.info/htb/52587
#HIVsky #HIVguidelines #HIVtreatment #HIVpositive #PLWH #HIVscience #Undetectable #UequalsU #InjectableART #LongActingART #abacavir #cabotegravir @bhiva.bsky.social @bashhuk.bsky.social
i-base.info/htb/52587
#HIVsky #HIVguidelines #HIVtreatment #HIVpositive #PLWH #HIVscience #Undetectable #UequalsU #InjectableART #LongActingART #abacavir #cabotegravir @bhiva.bsky.social @bashhuk.bsky.social
"We are also watching a tide of rapidly diversifying HIV leadership. And it’s coming at a time when the stakes have never been higher—and the political situation may have never been more challenging—for the communities that this leadership represents." —Ace Robinson www.thebody.com/hiv/hiv-new-...
This Moment Calls for a New Brand of Heroes in HIV—And They’ve Arrived
We’re watching a tide of rapidly diversifying HIV leadership. And it’s coming at a time when the stakes have never been higher—and the political situation may have never been more challenging—for the ...
www.thebody.com
October 27, 2025 at 5:47 PM
"We are also watching a tide of rapidly diversifying HIV leadership. And it’s coming at a time when the stakes have never been higher—and the political situation may have never been more challenging—for the communities that this leadership represents." —Ace Robinson www.thebody.com/hiv/hiv-new-...
Reposted by Myles Helfand
🗓️ June 5, 1981: five cases of Pneumocystis Pneumonia, one report, a global awakening.
💙 The MMWR gave voice to what became the HIV/AIDS epidemic—and countless public-health moments since.
🕯️ Honoring the science and reporting that save lives.
www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview...
#MMWR #CDCSavesLives
💙 The MMWR gave voice to what became the HIV/AIDS epidemic—and countless public-health moments since.
🕯️ Honoring the science and reporting that save lives.
www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview...
#MMWR #CDCSavesLives
October 23, 2025 at 5:56 PM
🗓️ June 5, 1981: five cases of Pneumocystis Pneumonia, one report, a global awakening.
💙 The MMWR gave voice to what became the HIV/AIDS epidemic—and countless public-health moments since.
🕯️ Honoring the science and reporting that save lives.
www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview...
#MMWR #CDCSavesLives
💙 The MMWR gave voice to what became the HIV/AIDS epidemic—and countless public-health moments since.
🕯️ Honoring the science and reporting that save lives.
www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview...
#MMWR #CDCSavesLives