by Janet Smith
Despite a decade of AIDS prevention campaigns, about half of young gay and bisexual men are still having unprotected sex, according to a new local study.
"Some people may find our numbers hard to believe," says Steve Martindale, coordinator of the Vanguard Project, a BC Centre for Excellence on HIV/AIDS study which released its first results this week. "There might be a sense in the gay community that everybody's protecting themselves. Because our study's confidential, people have the opportunity to be really honest with us."
Of the participants in the study, all gay or bisexual Lower Mainland men between 18 and 30, half reported at least one incident in the past year of unprotected anal sex - one of the highest-risk practices for the transmission of HIV.
About 24 per cent of participants who reported having casual partners (men they have sex with less than once a month) had at least one incident of unprotected anal sex over the last year.
The most common reasons they gave were being drunk or stoned, or not having a condom at the time. Other cited being in longer-term, monogamous relationships as the reason they did not use condoms.
"We're quite concerned about the level of unprotected anal sex," says Steffanie Strathdee, an epidemiologist and manager for the Vanguard Project. "We know from other studies that if people think they're safe because they're in a monogamous relationship, they aren't necessarily."
The findings are based on the first 300 questionnaires completed by participants in the project, an ongoing study launched in May 1995. Vanguard organizers are trying to recruit, through clubs, condom hand-outs, posters and pamphlets, 1,000 gay and bisexual male participants. To date, they have 625. Participants have a varied cultural make-up, and range from street youth to young professionals to men who lead a "double life" as straights. Each fills out a questionnaire, and takes an HIV blood test, once a year. (Vanguard is still looking for more participants; for information, call 687-2469). The project's principal investigator is Dr. Martin Schechter at St. Paul's Hospital. The study is done in cooperation with UBC and has funding from Health Canada.
Martindale has ideas about why younger gay men, though still one of the highest-risk groups, are not protecting themselves in all sexual encounters.
"A lot of young guys don't know a lot of people with AIDS, whereas a lot in their 30s and 40s have seen the devastation in the community," Martindale says. "Young gay and bisexual men are not different than young people in general in that they have a sense of immortality."
Equally dangerous, he adds, is the more cynical belief among some of the younger generation that they're going to get HIV at some point anyway. "The media have played a role in that as well, saying AIDS is the same as being gay."
On a positive note, Strathdee points out, half of Vancouver's gay and bisexual men are using condom protection for all sexual encounters. She notes the average number of partners is also down from a local study of gay and bisexual men done ten years ago (an ongoing study call the Vancouver Lymphadenopathy-AIDS Study). Vanguard's preliminary findings are that 10 per cent of respondents had one or zero male partners in the last year, while about 31 per cent had between two and five and another 31 per cent had between six and 19.
The use of public places, such as bathhouses or parks, for sex is also down. The vast majority of participants - more than 70 per cent - had sexual relations at home. Unfortunately, Strathdee points out, the number of partners does not erase the risk of AIDS. "What we have to do is support people's decisions to have protected sex," she asserts.
Chris Buchner, of the Youth Community Outreach AIDS Society (YouthCo) had this statement to make about the findings: "Young people are generally well-educated about HIV transmission and prevention. What's missing is the support they need to take care of themselves and to implement sustained behavior change."
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