More HIV-positive gay men are having unsafe sex

[CShine]

A third of gay men with HIV are unaware that they are infected yet an increasing number of them are engaging in unsafe sex with other men, a study has found.

The scientists who carried out the research have warned that the high level of risky behaviour among HIV-positive men - whether they have been diagnosed or not - is a serious public health concern. The findings, published today in the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections, will re-ignite the debate over whether the safe-sex message has lost its impact among gay men.

The survey of more than 8,000 men visiting gay bars, clubs and saunas across London revealed an increase in unprotected sex since the study of gay men's behaviour began nearly 10 years ago. The proportion engaging in risky sexual behaviour increased from about 30 per cent in 1996 to 42 per cent in 2000, said the researchers, from the Royal Free and University College Medical School and the Central Public Health Laboratory.

Saliva samples taken from 1,206 men who took part in the survey were tested anonymously for HIV and about one in nine turned out to be antibody-positive. About a third of those infected with the virus - 43 individuals out of the 132 who were HIV-positive - were undiagnosed, Julie Dodds and her colleagues Danielle Mercey and Ann Johnson said.

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/story.jsp?story=526964

[Dookus]

1. sigh...

this has been a disturbing trend for awhile now. Too many people believe, mistakenly, that HIV/AIDS is now a curable disease.

[Mace]

2. It could be

If Bush allowed stem-cell research.

[Dookus]

3. I doubt it

stem cells don't seem to be a productive pursuit in the management of retroviruses.

The sad fact is, when celebrities like Magic Johnson state on TV that their viral load is "undetectable", the less scientifically literate among us think that means the virus has been removed from his body. That is, of course, false. Unfortunately, people believe HIV is now a "treatable", if not curable, disease.

[arwalden]

5. They Misunderstand The Difference Between Today's Ability

to control the disease for longer (but not indefinitely) and are treating it as though it's a "manageable" disease like high blood pressure or diabetes.

I'm wondering what the age range of these men are? I'm guessing that it's a younger, more "invincible-feeling" generation that doesn't fully appreciate the risks of the disease, the frailty of human life... nor have they lost dozens and dozens of their own friends to the disease.

-- Allen

[minkyboodle]

23. I agree

I think for many young people today HIV has faded into the haze of the many things they are warned about daily yet ignore (anti-drug, alcohol, and tobacco). Its a disturbing trend.

[demigoddess]

14. yes, but last i heard the treatment was verry expensive

that is a lot of money and it could stop working at any time.

[xchrom]

4. sexual behavior is EXTREMELY complicated

with aids in the picture or not.
one the things that san franciscans have learned is that they must always find new ways of reaching out to all communities reagarding sexual behavior -- amd make the message new, freah and meaningful.
there can be no let up in the education war. -- it works but must always be tweeked for maximum effect.
by the way there are also studies out there that indicate hiv rates going down -- but one has to remember -- there will always be new infections.

[The Backlash Cometh]

6. This is what is working at cross-purposes with the gay agenda.

Until the gay community gets a handle on these irresponsible individuals, the right-wing will have something to destroy the credibility of the gay agenda. There is no compromise when it comes to a public health issue.

[Dookus]

8. the supposed "gay agenda"

you refer to is simple:

8:00 am: Wake, shower, shave
8:30 am: Live your life as a citizen with full rights


The right-wing will find "something" to destroy the credibility of the "gay agenda" regardless of HIV transmission rates. The very least of my concerns when reading an article like this is what the freepers will think of me. I already know what they think, and I can't imagine anything that would change their attitudes.

The fact is, HIV is growing in the heterosexual community. Until the heterosexual community gets a grip on these irresponsible people, the right-wing will have something to destroy the credibility of the straight agenda.

[Name removed]

9. Deleted message

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[The Backlash Cometh]

10. Major difference of opinion on this one.

HOW HIV is transmitted is well documented and is the same for all individuals; but WHY we're seeing increases in different groups is a question which isn't going to bear the same answer. For example, among the gay community we have the most informed, educated individuals regarding HIV transmission. Yet, bathhouses are still in existence and even with posters on the walls and free condoms available, there are still a considerable number who engage in risky behavior.

So, the WHY must be different for the gay community than it is for, say, Hispanic women, who have not been targeted well with educational announcements. It's not just the lack of education, but the different cultural expectations, not just based on ethnic lines, but also gender differences. In our culture and even in the Hispanic and Black culture, men are given all kinds of green flags letting them know that it's okay to engage in sexual picadillos. Maybe they're even more genetically prone to be more promiscuous, I don't know and I don't even think that's important because the social influence is enough. So, I wouldn't go around and assume that they "Why" is the same for all groups; and if it is different, then expect people to respond with different levels of tolerance.

Maybe you're also tweaked because the term "gay agenda" means something entirely different to you than it means to me? For that I apologize. But, I don't apologize in the least in bringing up the point that the behavior that is making HIV a persistent problem in the gay community is something that also makes them vulnerable to criticism from the right-wing. And because it's a health issue that affects us all, you may not get a whole lot of support from people like me who think it's time for the gay community to recognize that they have been given every bit of information possible and there's nothing left for society to do, short of a cure. So, until a cure is found, they're the only ones that can change the negative trends by adjusting their risky behavior.

[9215]

15. Oops. delete

[Name removed]

19. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Puglover]

26. Great post Dookus!

n/t

[Cronus Protagonist]

12. The Gay Agenda?

I'm not sure if your post was intended to be sarcastic, rather than inflammatory. I have a complete copy of The Gay Agenda and nowhere, nohow could anything in this single news item cast any credibility issues. Rest assured The Gay Agenda will not be sullied by this breathless reportage.


Here, read it for yourself:

http://cronus.com/agenda


Click here for "HERO KERRY ZERO BUSH", "HERO KERRY AWOL BUSH" and other fair and balanced yet stunning, insulting, shocking, funny buttons, magnets and stickers

[Name removed]

16. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[noonwitch]

7. I have a friend who died of it, when he could have protected himself

It's sad-he got carried away when he came out of the closet and wasn't very careful, even though he knew he should be because it was long after the cause had been discovered. He also worked in a job in which he received lots of training regarding prevention, long before he contracted the virus.

I hope a vaccine to prevent it is found soon.

[mike1963]

11. I too had a friend who became way too promiscuous. I told him to be more

careful and take precautions. He said "what the hell difference does it make, most everybody hates me anyway - what do I have to live for?"

He lived to be 30.
:grr:

[Name removed]

17. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[minkyboodle]

21. wow

...."queer loving bullshit" What the hell?

[struggle4progress]

13. I'm confused. The right-wing wants "abstinence before marriage,"

but then doesn't want gays to get married?

[Occulus]

18. Does safe or unsafe matter when

the relationship is monogamous?

Just checking.

If two HIV+ people have sex, monogamously, in a relationship, does it matter if they, between them, use protection?

[AngryAmish]

20. Well, maybe

It is my understanding (and i can be wrong) is that there is a fairly large genetic difference between various strains of HIV. One partner may have a more virulent strain than the other. Or one person may have his virus under pretty good control with his drug regimen and that a new strain may be resistant to his regimen. There are very few anti-virals and changing them around may breed resistance.

I wish there was no such thing as HIV. It is not much of an issue for me but I grew up in which there was much fear about it. My gay friends were terrified. It made coming out so much harder. But every gay person I know well is still alive, HIV positive or not. Part of it is geography (Chicago was not as hard hit as either coast) but safe sex was really drilled into us.

[happynewyear]

22. San Francisco in 1985

By this time, it was estimated that 80% of all gay men living in the City were HIV+. Not funny.

Wise up men and practice safe sex. AIDS is here to stay and if you'd seen 80% of all gay men dying in the mid-80s like I did, believe me, all gay men would be practicing very SAFE sex.

Too bad they seem to forget the past so quickly. :(

And the band played on ...

[DerekG]

24. Is that figure correct?

In 1985, 80% of homosexual males in San Francisco were infected with HIV?!?! I'm not doubting you, per se--I'm just in shock.

[The Backlash Cometh]

25. Castro Street?

There's a street in San Francisco which is alleged to have lost almost all of its gay inhabitants due to AIDS in the 80s. I'm going by memory here from the book, "And the Band Played On."

In the book, Randy Shilts not only condemned Ronald Reagan and the CDC, but also the gay community. He portrayed bathhouses as predatory on the gay community -- something which the movie toned-down. Also, he documented heroic efforts by a few gay men who tried to get the information across to their community, and who were condemned for it by gay men who just didn't want to be told that they needed to temper their behavior.

What is appalling is that there has been waves of AIDs in the gay community since the 80s. And it's largely due to risky behavior in heavily populated areas. For example, the Miami Herald in the 90s wrote about the South Beach culture and the White Parties, which are suppose to be a communal effort to raise AIDs conscience and donations. But my impression of those White Parties is that it's a gay magnet for men who indulge in risky behavior. There are several parties that go on in the city during this time, and not all of them would pass muster.

I tried to tell a friend in New York about the increase in risky behavior in the 90s and he told me that he had heard nothing about it. That all the men he knew were very conscientious about safe sex.