H.I.V. Rises Among Young Gay Men - NYT Editorial

[while lifelube is happy the new york times is paying attention to the lives of gay men, it is false to state that the rise in hiv incidence among young gay men is ALL about individual behavior choices. there are also structural factors at play that are not mentioned - such as racism, homophobia, poverty, lack of access to health care, the disproportionate number of men of color in the correctional system, substance use/abuse, loneliness/disconnection, depression and other mental illness, partner violence, childhood sexual abuse. all these issues must be addressed, in addition to condom promotion, if we are going to get ahead of the game.]

January 14, 2008
Editorial

AIDS appears to be making an alarming comeback. The Journal of the American Medical Association reports that the incidence of H.I.V. infection among gay men is shooting up, following an encouraging period of decline. The rise of infections among younger gay men, especially black and Hispanic men, is troubling, and the study carries the clear implication that people at high risk of contracting the disease are becoming less cautious.

Statistics gathered by New York City health officials show that new diagnoses of H.I.V. infection — the virus that causes AIDS — in gay men under age 30 rose 32 percent between 2001 and 2006. Among black and Hispanic men, the figure was 34 percent. Most troubling, the number of new diagnoses among the youngest men in the study, those between ages 13 and 19, doubled.

New York officials say increased alcohol and drug use may be partly responsible since they make unprotected sex more likely. Other basic precautions, including finding out whether a potential partner is infected, are also apparently being ignored.

The one bright spot in this bleak picture was the 22 percent decline in infections among men over 30 in the New York study. Awareness of the disease’s devastating effects, as much as maturity, may explain the difference. A large number of these older men came of age when AIDS was all but untreatable. They may have buried friends who died after being horribly ill.

When the disease was new and terrifying, the gay community helped change behavior by preaching loudly against taking sexual risks. From San Francisco to New York, bathhouses notorious for promoting casual sex changed the way they did business or closed down. Condoms were encouraged, and so was H.I.V. testing. “Silence equals death” was the motto of the day.

Silence now seems to be winning the day. Nearly 6,000 gay men died of AIDS in the United States in 2005; still, many young men appear to have persuaded themselves that the infection is no longer such a big deal. It is true that antiretroviral therapy has improved the outlook for anyone who becomes infected. But the treatments are still too new to know whether they can work much beyond a decade. Public health officials need to continue to distribute condoms, encourage testing and treat those who are ill. Leaders in the hardest-hit communities need to start speaking out again. The fight against AIDS is far from over.