The high rate of HIV infection among gay and bisexual men has continued in 2004, the AIDS Foundation has revealed, with 73 new infections – most contracted in New Zealand – and evidence that some of these are recent. In 2003 it had been suggested that the high number of new HIV diagnoses among men who had never tested for HIV before might indicate that the increase was a result of historic unsafe sexual activity. But in the 2004 figures, 16 of the men had had a negative HIV test within the previous 12 months. The AIDS Foundation's Research Director Tony Hughes says this shows these men had continued to practice unsafe sex (without condoms) in the twelve months since their last negative test. Thanks to modern treatments, the rate of progression from HIV to AIDS has slowed immensely, but complacency over the safe sex message and regular HIV testing for sexually active men has led to two-thirds of New Zealand's AIDS cases in the last five years developing only a month after the victims' first diagnosis with the HIV virus. Middle-aged men continue to represent the largest number of new infections, with the average age at diagnosis 38, however all age groups are significantly represented in the figures – men under 30 and men aged fifty plus each make up a quarter of the infection numbers. “The fact is, that while HIV prevention remains as straightforward as it has always been – properly used condoms provide near complete protection against HIV – the human factor in this epidemic has become increasingly complex,” says Hughes. “While most MSM (men who have sex with men) do use condoms most of the time, there is still enough unsafe sex behaviour to drive this epidemic forward rather than halt or reverse it.”
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Friday, 18th February 2005 - 12:00pm