(Vancouver) Over 500 gay and bisexual men in the Vancouver area have already signed up for a new study of HIV rates and risk factors, and another 500 are still needed.
"We have been very pleased with the response from the community," says project coordinator Steve Martindale. "People are signing up as quickly as we can keep up with them."
Participants in the study visit doctors or medical clinics on an annual basis, where they are tested for HIV and asked to complete a detailed questionnaire about their sexual practices, risk reduction efforts, life experiences and degree of social support.
Organizers are now targeting their recruitment efforts at specific populations, including ethnocultural and Aboriginal communities, street-involved youth, and sex trade workers. A registered nurse, Mary Lou Miller, has recently been hired to assist with the recruitment and testing of participants.
Findings from the study will be presented at the upcoming XI International AIDS Conference to be held in Vancouver in July. The researchers have submitted an abstract to the conference describing their preliminary analysis of the hundreds of questionnaires received to date.
The study is open to all men who have sex with men, whether they define themselves as gay, bisexual or straight. Eligible participants must be between the ages of 18 and 30 and live in the Lower Mainland. Information gathered on participants will be kept strictly confidential.
Launched in May 1995, the Vanguard Project aims to recruit a cohort of 1000 young men from throughout the Lower Mainland. Under the direction of Dr. Martin Schechter and colleagues at the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, the study is expected to provide an accurate picture of infection rates among this population, still considered to be at high risk for HIV despite a decade of prevention education efforts.
The Vanguard Project is a follow-up to the existing Vancouver Lymphadenopathy-AIDS Study (VLAS), which has followed a cohort of 1000 gay men since 1982 in a study of the natural history of HIV/AIDS. The BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS is a joint activity funded by the BC Ministry of Health which operates as a program of St. Paul's Hospital. The Vanguard Project is funded by a grant from the National Health Research & Development Program, Health Canada.
Anyone interested in participating in the Vanguard Project is encouraged to contact Steve Martindale at 687-2469 or by e-mail at <stevem@hivnet.ubc.ca>.
For more information, contact:
Bonnie Devlin
Vanguard Project Coordinator
608 - 1081 Burrard Street
Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6Z 1Y6
Tel: (604)806-8306
Fax: (604)806-9044