Explosion of HIV in (Gay) men of the UK

[Deleted]

You will notice i placed gay in brackets because it is affecting them strongly, and hetreosexual couples are not mentioned.
I have nothing agaisnt gay men, and am extremely happy that they are er... sexually socializing (Bad joke here)? with each other without fearing old prejudicial social consequenes (Which will sadly arise as certain minorities and people within them will vye to claim about ethics/ rights of said relationships).

Besides that however, i fear that the explosion of this sexual boom within the gay community is that they are severly neglecting the STI's + STD's risk of the relationships and as such need to be reminded and educated.
And going further, to greatly improve the sexual education WHICH can be avoided entirely by parents choosing not letting little andy or susie learn about the meat and veg, sausage and mash, or bees in the bush! (Im looking at 13+ - 18 here btw). Thats my take on the matter at hand however, and feel free to call me a unreasonable biased dick or whatever

(Hopefully not, but the MMOchamp community can be sometimes be prone to unreasonable and unfair perspectives/ opinions)

And without further adue the article in matter.

The number of gay and bisexual men being diagnosed with HIV in the UK reached an "all-time high" in 2011, according to the Health Protection Agency (HPA).

It said there had been a "worrying" trend since 2007, with more and more new cases each year.

Nearly half of the 6,280 people diagnosed last year were men who had sex with other men.

Overall, one in 20 such men are infected with HIV.

Of those diagnosed in 2011, nearly two-thirds had not been to a sexual health clinic in the previous three years.

The HPA said the figures showed there was "room for improvement" in testing people in at-risk groups.

Dr Valerie Delpech, the organisation's head of HIV surveillance, told the BBC: "Obviously this is a serious illness and it is worrying that we're still seeing a lot in men who have sex with men and this is a record year.

"Transmission in the UK is largely sexual, so safe sex is the best way to prevent yourself getting HIV."

Rising

The total number of people living with HIV in the UK rose to 96,000, up from 91,500 the previous year. The issue is most intense in London.

Due to advances in drug treatment, having HIV should not affect life-expectancy. However, the data suggests that one in four people with HIV are completely unaware of the infection, meaning they cannot receive treatment and may still be spreading the virus.

The chief executive of the National Aids Trust, Deborah Jack, said: "It is vitally important that gay men test at least once a year for STIs [sexually transmitted infections] and HIV, and every three months if they're having unprotected sex with new or casual partners.

"HIV-negative gay men diagnosed with an STI should really treat it as a 'wake up call'. You are at serious risk of getting HIV in the near future and need to take steps to prevent that happening - such as consistent condom use and reduction in number of sexual partners."

Sir Nick Partridge, the chief executive at the Terrence Higgins Trust, said: "HIV is an entirely preventable condition, yet each year we see thousands more people across the UK receive this life-changing diagnosis.

"Reducing undiagnosed HIV by encouraging those in high-risk groups to test more regularly is one way we can put the brakes on the spread of infection."


Article link is here. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20526380

[OneSent]

Something I've always wondered, is why HIV seems to be more prevalent in the gay community. Or the black community for that matter.

Besides the obvious, are they doing something secret or crazy in bed that other couples are not?

[Spectral]

Something I've always wondered, is why HIV seems to be more prevalent in the gay community. Or the black community for that matter.

Besides the obvious, are they doing something secret or crazy in bed that other couples are not?

One big reason is a form of founder's effect.

Gay men are at higher risk because of a higher rate of anal sex and increased number of average partners relative to heterosexuals.

[Kraenen]

Something I've always wondered, is why HIV seems to be more prevalent in the gay community?

Besides the obvious, are they doing something secret or crazy in bed that other couples are not?

Wasn't the second part the obvious part?

[starkey]

They dont take a umbrella with them and that chocolate star fish could have diseases

[Straamibuu]

I worked in a sexual health charity for a while, sadly there seems quite a few men (gay and straight) who seem to have this loathing of condom usage I know they're not perfect but it's a hell of alot safer than without

[Deleted]

Something I've always wondered, is why HIV seems to be more prevalent in the gay community. Or the black community for that matter.

Besides the obvious, are they doing something secret or crazy in bed that other couples are not?

Well the black community isn't that hard, assuming you're talking about africa and whatever countries where aids is high
They simply don't have the right education, money for condoms etc and treatment. ( i do know it can't be cured )
Rich countries try to help but its spreading faster because of the first 2 reasons

As for the gay community. I don't really know why.

I found this on yahoo answers:

"It is true that there are more straight people out there with HIV, but proportionally, the percentage of gays with HIV in the west is higher than the percentage of straights.

Reason being? Gay men are less likely to use condoms and thereby commit to safe sex. Why? Because seeing that there is no risk in causing a pregnancy, gays feel less obliged to use condoms that straights. The reason is as simple as that.

Furthermore, since anal sex carries an increased likelihood of creating cuts which allow the exchange of blood/semen, gay men who perform anal sex have yet again an increased likelihood of getting HIV"

I guess it makes sense. I do wonder what a gay person thinks of the above ^

[Deleted]

Im not entirely sure of where everybody in this thread is located, and i know my evidence of britans sexual education is er... anecdotal at best but i feel this is whats biting the UK in the ass so much. The UK has established itself as a privileged nation within the world community but is failing rather astonishingly at sexual health related issues, and educating of them.

To give an example i attended a regular primary and secondary school, in my primary i was around 10 when we were first introduced about sexual health (We were all sent home with pages to have our parents sign and of a class of 20ish we fell down to around 6, 2 went mysteriously ill for the day also) and it included nothing more of a brief explantion of sex between a man and woman and a condom, lesson over go home we didnt learn fudge all

Speed forward to my secondary (Of which it was rather respectable, specializing in science and languages ect) It consisted again, of a nurse coming in from the NHS and explaining AGAIN of condoms, birth control, puberty, and wait for it, sex between a man and women. Was i frustrated that a LARGE amount of sexual knowledge regarding diseases and infections was left out for us to find out about on our own?

You damn right are sure i was, so much so i went and complained to my tutour. Who in turn informed my head of house, WHO IN TURN informed the deputy headmaster, WHO THEN INFORMED THE HEADMASTER and the slight change was made (after surveying if it was interest of the said pupils) that we learnt of Aids and HIV.

I left the education system extremely bitter regarding this... ok i lied, i was also bitter about the treatment of my brother whom is autistic. Going to school with him was a pain at the best, and damn right soul destroying at worst but because our mother chose to not send him to a *special* school as they called it he went and endured 6 years of hell and left with severe depression after constant bullying... Rant over sorry

What are your opinions regarding your countrys approach to sexual health besides? Is it any better than i recieved, any worse?

[anveena]

Anal sex carries a higher rate of passing on HIV. That's probably the main culprit.

[urameshi]

1. Anal sex has a higher risk of passing HIV
2. I would say that gay men on average have about 5 times as much sex as straight people, and with more partners. (ie: bath house)
3. Condom use is a lot lower, you can't get another dude pregnant and when you are young its easy to think you are invincible

[Underverse]

It's a cultural thing, mainly. Anal sex also has a higher rate of passing HIV, about 100% higher. This doesn't explain the 400% increase in gay male AIDS representation alone. In addition, an article someone linked states that a significant proportion of heterosexual couples have anal sex, so those numbers also throw off the gay AIDS representation, further increasing the likelihood of strong cultural factors such as drug use, lack of contraception, and many partners.

Edit: as for sexual health education, my church taught "have sex whenever you're ready" and my school taught "abstinence only". lol

The church program I found to be much more useful (unitarian univeralist). But I think there are deeper problems here - that being that NO ONE TALKS ABOUT SEX like its a taboo or something. Considering that we evolved to consistently have sex like 3x a day with ~10-20 different people over the course of a lifetime, I think this is stupid.

[Underverse]

So that means MORE than half were from sexual contact from opposite genders (or from gay women/lesbians). It seems more like the BBC were trying to imply that it's more of a problem in gay men than anyone else. They may be at higher risk (the people above make those points so i won't repeat them), but the stats they claim there indicate it's more of a problem for those in heterosexual relationships than anything else.

I dunno about anyone else... it's good to educate about it, but directing it almost exclusively at one group seems like it was some sort of veiled criticism against them.

I agree with you that it shoudnt be made out to seem like its a gay-only problem. But the representation is skewed heavily (10% pop gay//40%HIV) (90% hetero//60% HIV). So that's what the BBC and a lot of others are pointing out.

[Bathory]

Wrap it up boys. Not worth it.

[Chrysia]

I agree with you that it shoudnt be made out to seem like its a gay-only problem. But the representation is skewed heavily (10% pop gay//40%HIV) (90% hetero//60% HIV). So that's what the BBC and a lot of others are pointing out.

Gays are less likely to use protection is really the crux of the problem, and it's a lot easier to point fingers at those that fall outside the norm.

Statistically, gay men are slightly more likely to contract HIV than other demographics, lesbians a bit less likely. Everybody is at risk though.

[Mormolyce]

Depressingly, HIV infection rates spiked across the board in the last decade after being relatively flat in the 90s. This is largely due to complacency. Here are some UK stats:

Heterosexual sex

Most of the HIV diagnoses transmitted through heterosexual sex in 2011, around 1,244, were in people who acquired HIV abroad.5 In contrast, there were 572 new HIV diagnoses acquired through heterosexual sex within the UK. However, new HIV diagnoses acquired through heterosexual sex within the UK have increased from 325 in 2001, whilst the number acquired abroad is on the decline.6

Men who have sex with men

By the end of December 2011, 53,161 MSM had been diagnosed with HIV in the UK.7 The number of new HIV diagnoses among this group has been steadily increasing since 2001 - peaking in 2007 at 2,811. It is likely this trend is due to an increase in HIV testing, although a rise in high risk sexual behaviour has also been suggested as a contributory factor.

http://www.avert.org/uk-statistics.htm

MORAL OF THE STORY: You are not safe regardless of your sexual orientation. AIDs didn't go away in the 80s. Wear a damn condom.

[Hiricine]

Something I've always wondered, is why HIV seems to be more prevalent in the gay community. Or the black community for that matter.

Besides the obvious, are they doing something secret or crazy in bed that other couples are not?

Anal sex is a higher transmission rate, and Gays use much less barrier protection as theres about 0 risk of getting pregnant. Also, more partners = more spreading.

[Aqua]

Condom. Anal sex is a bit more prone to disease so... keep it safe!

Simple as. Don't get complacent just because the mass media hasn't mentioned it in a while, unsafe sex can still result in some very unsatisfactory results, even if you THINK you're both clean.

[Kasierith]

Anal sex is a higher transmission rate, and Gays use much less barrier protection as theres about 0 risk of getting pregnant. Also, more partners = more spreading.

What evidence do you have that being homosexual automatically equates more partners? That's a very facetious argument.

[Deleted]

Phew... That kinda sucks they only taught you that, then again from the gist of it you went to a faith/ church based school? I was offered to take the intro tests to a catholic private school in cambridge but the skewed faith studies put me off alot. That and my mother was a nut who thought the teacher was giving her the eye

And as for syn, i agree it did seem a little biased from the BBC but the thrust of the article is sound in fact. And of course to put it gently... telling any percentage of the population what to do, especially in sexual health is a touchy risky subject which i guess people have avoided rather than tackle.

[Choptimus]

Probably something to do with all the multiple partner bumming.

---------- Post added 2012-11-29 at 03:41 AM ----------

What evidence do you have that being homosexual automatically equates more partners? That's a very facetious argument.

Something along the lines of men being (generally) more promiscuous than women. Google it.

Ultimately it's down to lots of people bumming each other without protection, on the regular.