In the United States the gays prefer to find out whether their partner’s HIV Status. This is the prevention method used rather than use protection to prevent catching the disease. The risky behavior of unprotected sex is a sure way of transmitting the virus, which is on the rise.
In Britain, more than third of the gays are infected with HIV virus and they continue to have unprotected sex. The saliva test also proved that many of the volunteers were unaware of their HIV status. Thirty-seven percent of HIV-positive men said they had had unprotected sex with more than one partner in the past year, while the rate among HIV-negative men was 18%.In Australia about one in five gay men in Melbourne has had unprotected sex with a casual partner at least once, with many not revealing whether or not they were HIV-positive.
In all the three studies conducted it showed that most of the times the HIV infected partner has not conveyed their status to their partner.
Sandra Schwarcz, an epidemiologist at the San Francisco department of public health, said the studies point to a need to better understand the growing practice of choosing a sexual partner based on their HIV status - something researchers termed serosorting. “The behaviors of gay men with committed partners were less risky than (those with) partners they were not committed to.”
The study also noted a growing trend among the young men with a HIV positive status to choose partner who are HIV positive. In such cases risk of transmission is irrelevant.
The authors, led by Julie Dodds of the Centre for Sexual Health and HIV Research at University College London, say they are worried.
More than 25 million people died because of aids virus and 40 million are infected with the disease.
The high rates of unsafe sex and ignorance about HIV status occurred despite an awareness campaign and access to condoms, virus testing and antiretroviral drugs, they note. This showed that the message was not getting through to some communities and more needs to be done to spread awareness.
Source-Medindia
BIN/B
