Many HIV+ men have unsafe sex

Last updated: Wednesday, November 14, 2007 Print

A yearly report on the sexual behaviour of HIV-positive men in the Netherlands said more than two-thirds of men infected with HIV have unsafe sex with multiple one-time sexual partners.

The annual survey was performed by the University of Maastricht and the Schorer Institute - an institute which gives medical advice to homosexuals and bisexuals.

The researchers investigated 3 700 men. Of all the men who participated in the survey, seven percent said they knew they were HIV positive.

The number of homosexual and bisexual men who have unsafe sex increased from 56 to more than 66 percent.

Many have unsafe sex
The vast majority, or 67 percent of the HIV-positive men, said they also did not inform their sexual partners about their HIV status prior to having unprotected anal sex.

HIV-infected men prefer unsafe sex more than other men, the survey said. The incidence increases with drug use and when the men visit "dark rooms," rooms in bars and saunas where men have sex with anonymous partners, or when they have sexual encounters with people they meet through the internet.

The number of men who asked for an HIV test increased from 60 to 63 percent over the period of the annual survey. –(Sapa)