Recent reports have shown that HIV is the biggest threat to the sexual health and wellness of gay men, and can also affect their mental wellbeing. These same reports have also suggested that the rates of HIV infection amongst the gay male community are out of control. But is the disease really as ‘out of control’ as all that?
This was a direct quote from The Lancet Infectious Diseases, an important scientific journal and is just one of a number of recent publications that has made this alarming claim about the HIV rates amongst gay men. Another article noted that young gay men in Belgium were generally showing high rates of unprotected sex, leading to reinfection amongst one another. It showed that the young men who had HIV were hooking up with one another and not using condoms, and this circle was widening as more men became infected.
HIV studies are very difficult to conduct properly, because there is a hugely variable time between infection of the disease and diagnosis. You could get HIV from having a one night stand and then discover it a few weeks later when you start to suspect that something has gone wrong. On the other hand, you could get HIV from a long-term partner who is not aware that they have the disease and only find out years and years later when you show symptoms of having AIDS.
However, studies do not seem to support the use of the alarmist ‘out of control’ type phrases being used. The transmission of HIV does not appear to have increased amongst any of the populations.
On the other hand, the rate of decline in HIV transmission amongst gay men is significantly lower than the decline in any other population. So whilst rates do not appear to be ‘out of control’, the reduction in infection is not what it should be, and further research is needed into why this is.