A new study on HIV transmission in Australia reveals an alarming culture shift in which younger gay men appear more willing to take sexual risks and so become infected with the virus earlier. When comparing older men who have sex with men (MSM) with those aged under 35, the younger ones were found to be more likely to have never previously been tested for HIV and more likely to report not knowing the HIV status of regular partners. These men commonly reported inconsistent condom use with casual and regular partners.
The study was published in the latest edition of the Medical Journal of Australia. Authors of the research from Melbourne’s Burnet Institute explained that several factors might be contributing to this trend that include rising rates of unprotected anal sex and the growing prevalence of other infections, such as syphilis and gonorrhoea, which increase the chance of bodily fluids mixing during sex.
Carol El-Hayek, Epidemiologist at the Centre for Population Health at the Burnet Institute in Melbourne said, “Recent focus group data have shown that younger MSM are less likely to discuss HIV and other sexually transmitted infections with peers… It has also been suggested that younger gay men may be more susceptible to engaging in risky sexual behaviour because they are less aware or less concerned about the implications of HIV since the introduction of (anti-retroviral treatment).” These young men she said were less likely to discuss HIV and other sexually transmitted infections with peers.
Figures show that between 2000 and 2009, 1635 gay men or men who have sex with men were diagnosed with HIV in Victoria. According to Ms El-Hayek the median age of these cases had dropped from 38.8 years in 2007 to 35.9 years in 2009. In 2009, the number of HIV diagnoses in gay men aged 25 to 29 years was 62 per cent higher than in 2007 she revealed.
The course of action to stop this trend is difficult she added. She said, “Any response developed would need to consider more diverse health promotion strategies to ensure that prevention messages reached young men who have sex with men.”
Head of HIV and STI research at the Burnet Institute Mark Stoove said that as more HIV positive people continued to live longer with treatment, there was also a greater pool of people who could transmit the virus. He said, “The perception of risk around HIV has become shades of grey, whereas it used to be much more black and white with health promotion messages revolving around condom use … We need much more nuanced messages now around different ways to reduce risk.”
Victoria’s new Health Minister David Davis said his government would produce a new HIV strategy by the end of 2011 saying, “The long-term task of managing the incidence of HIV requires constant focus.”
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