Alarm over rising HIV infection among gay men

Dr Somchai Chakrabhand, directorgeneral of the Disease Control Department, said yesterday that a recent survey looking at the situation across the country of HIV/Aids among this group had found that the risk areas were concentrated in tourism centres such as Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Phuket.

He was speaking at the conclusion of a oneday conference on lessons learned from the project to develop a network of men who have sex with men. About 200 health activists and gayrights advocates attended the meeting.

In Bangkok, a survey of homosexual men found that the incidence of HIV infection had increased from 17 per cent in 2003 to 30 per cent last year. The rate of infection in Chiang Mai rose to 16.9 per cent last year from 15.3 per cent in 2005, while Phuket jumped from 5.5 per cent in 2005 to 20 per cent last year.

The survey also found that half of men in this group do not use condoms with their lovers or temporary partners.

Male sex workers formed a highrisk group for infections due to their unsafe sex behaviour and lack of knowledge on protecting themselves from getting the virus, Somchai said.

"Most of them have anal sex with their partners without using a condom and lubricant. This could cause deep damage to anal tissue and easy transmission of HIV," he said.

He admitted that one factor was that over the past few years the campaign for HIV infection prevention among men who have sex with men, especially raising awareness to use condoms during sex, was discontinued.

Manoon Jaikueankaew of the Disease Control Department's Unit 10 in Chiang Mai, said men who have sex with men could not gain access to public healthcare services and receive medication for HIV/Aids and other sexually transmitted diseases.

Most of them are suffering from gonococcal urethritis, gonorrhoea, syphilis or HIV/Aids. But they do not go to a general clinic or hospital to receive treatment, such as antiretroviral drugs, because they are afraid of presenting themselves to the doctor or do not want others to know about their symptoms.

There are not enough agencies and budget to support operations in local areas and provide knowledge about HIV/Aid prevention to men who have sex with men. Some of them even do not know about the use of condoms and lubricants. So they need a special clinic to provide medication and consultation about HIV/Aids infections.

"A onestop service is really needed to provide information and healthcare to them. This is the only way for them to protect themselves from HIV," he said.

Chatwut Wangwon, of a joint programme of the Public Health Ministry and the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, said that while working in Phuket for four years, he found that most men who have sex with men and become infected with HIV are students, of working age and single.

At least 27 per cent of them could have sex with men or women, which means they could transmit the disease also to women.

About 50 per cent of them do not use condoms while only 26 per cent do. Some of them do not use a lubricant but try other substances such as detergent, which could easy destroy a condom.

The best way to reduce HIV infections among this group is providing free condoms and lubricant, Chatwut said. The health authorities also have to raise their awareness of health checks for early warning signs of HIV infections so they can provide medication immediately.

"The best thing that we need to do is make them know earlier about the infection and their symptoms," he added.