1/3 poz men report unsafe sex
GAY.COM/PlanetOut.com Network
Tuesday 1 May, 2007 12:00 | More from this date | Today's headlines
A new survey reveals that one in three HIV positive gay men admit to having unprotected sex.
The findings, published in the journal of Sexually Transmitted Infections, are based on a survey of man across gay venues on London, Manchester, and Brighton from 2003- 2004.
2640 questionnaires were completed, and 2311 respondents agreed to provide saliva samples, yielding results that suggested that Brighton has the highest rate of HIV infection, at 14%, with Manchester at 8.6%.
The survey also reveals one in five HIV negative men have unprotected sex.
The rates of undiagnosed infections still runs high, as across the survey sample, one in three in Brighton doesn’t know he is infected. Likewise, one in four in London has HIV and doesn’t know it.
The authors of the article titled, "A tale of three cities: persisting high HIV prevalence, risk behaviour and undiagnosed infection in community samples of men who have sex with men” concludes that despite availability of treatment and free HIV testing, a high proportion of infections still remains undiagnosed.
Although the findings appear that infection is dangerously high, Will Nutland, Head of Health Promotion at Terrence Higgins Trust warns to “to look behind the headlines”.
“The Gay Men's Sex Survey shows that these men are more likely to have unprotected sex with other HIV positive men, rather than with those who don't have the virus.”
"The new research also backs up other evidence which demonstrates the need for ongoing, targeted HIV prevention work with gay and bisexual men in the UK. The number of gay men with undiagnosed HIV infection is not reducing. Large numbers - especially in the UK's major cities - have HIV and don't know it."
Subscribe to Gay.com UK's free weekly HIV e-News, in association with Positive Nation
No comments:
Post a Comment