Gay men having more unsafe sex
Fewer gay men are practising safe sex and gonorrhoea is on the rise, according to new data released this week.
And while HIV infections are still stable at around 1000 a year, there has been a drop in the number of gay men getting regular STI tests.
The annual sexually transmissible infections data Annual Surveillance Report by the Kirby Institute showed more than 10,000 people were diagnosed with gonorrhoea in 2010 — a jump of 25 percent on 2009. The increase was predominantly among men who have sex with men.
“Increases in the rate of these sexually transmissible infections are of concern and imply the need for renewed and targeted prevention efforts along with coordinated surveillance and monitoring,” the Kirby Institute’s Associate Professor David Wilson said.
According to the Surveillance Report, there were 1043 new diagnoses of HIV in 2010 — up on 2009’s figure of 973 and 981 in 2008 — with declines in NSW and Victoria, but jumps in Queensland and Western Australia.
“Importantly, overall rates of HIV remain low compared to other countries due to ongoing prevention strategies,” Wilson said.
The Trends in Behaviour report, released by the National Centre in HIV Social Research (NCHSR), found stigma was still a major issue for people with HIV, hepatitis C or drug dependence.
While it found safe-sex practice was still “well embedded” in the gay community, gay men’s diversifying social networks were becoming a challenge to educators.
“As gay men have become more integrated into mainstream society, they have become a less cohesive group to target in HIV education and prevention,” NCHSR’s Dr Martin Holt said.
The report also found almost 40 percent of gay men who have casual sex were doing so unsafely.
“These are often isolated or occasional incidents of unprotected sex, and may occur in situations where both partners believe they have the same HIV status,” Holt said. “However, attempts by gay men to limit HIV transmission by disclosing HIV status are not always effective.”
Less than 60 percent of gay men surveyed had had a recent STI test, suggesting easier methods for sexual health check-ups are needed.
“The proposed changes to Australia’s National HIV Testing Policy to allow community-based rapid HIV testing may make testing more accessible to at-risk groups,” Holt said.
Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations executive director Rob Lake said Australia could do more than hold new infection rates at a plateau.
“As a signatory to the UN Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS, Australia has committed to a goal of a 50 percent reduction in new HIV infections by 2015,” Lake said.
“Gay men remain the group most at risk of HIV in Australia, and although many Australian gay men get tested for HIV regularly, there is clearly still room for improvement if we are to take the 50 percent reduction goal seriously.
“Australian testing guidelines currently recommend most gay men and other men who have sex with men should get tested at least twice a year, but we are a long way from achieving that.
“To get there, we need to make testing more convenient. Introducing rapid HIV testing will help us do that, but it will require funding support and a willingness to change how health services are delivered.”
Acting ACON CEO Geoff Honnor backed calls for the introduction of rapid testing.
“Gay men have been pretty clear about their preference for testing that’s quick, cheap and convenient,” Honnor said.
I just did the above poll and found that 1 in 2 of us who responded would actually drag our arse over to get tested if the rapid test was available!
Hell……loooo! When are they gonna get it in their thick skulls. Introduce it already and give us the counselling if you insist but just introduce it already.
We are young & gay! We may be superficial and have fast gadgets so go along with us on this. All my friends are waiting!!!!
“disclosure is not always effective” … “stable at 1,000 a year” … let’s just keep rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic shall we. i mean, we have until 2015 to “cut it down by half” – plenty of time to find even newer ways to perpetuate HIV and talk about that as though it’s all perfectly normal. idiots.
doesnt come as a surprise. People have become very complcent when it comes to HIV. I agree with you Jack, you have some good points! Its up to the individual too to be responsible and young people not to be too lax about it, otherwise the numbers will increase.
This is hardly surprising headline – one upon a time our AIDS Councils had regular unmissable adverts running in the community press that served as a constant reminder about the constant need for vigilance where safe sex was concerned.
Now all we seem to see from said AIDS Councils are notices about their latest fundraising grab. It is the source of much discussion between my group of friends (from many different age demographics I might add).
Yet from the looks of the comments they supply here, they are looking for other avenues of blame – that being the changing demographic of our community.
Well here’s awake up call fellas …. we all still read our community press – especially this one – and its website, and prevention is still the most important message you could be spreading.
Perhaps you should be looking a little more closely at how your internal decisions have led to this situation and stop blaming the community.