A new BC study predicts infection rates will increase for young gay and bisexual men, making concrete what Vancouver AIDS agencies have been warning about for the past years.
On Jan 11 the Canadian Medical Association Journal published a study from the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS which cites a two percent infection rate per year for a study group of queer men. If that trend continues over 20 years, 25 percent of gay men will have HIV.
AIDS physicians and activists saw a change in 1998 in the proportion of new infection, with a shift away from drug users and a higher proportion of gay men. And traditional AIDS agencies, like BCPWA and AIDS Vancouver, have criticized the Vancouver/Richmond Health Board for ignoring a possible third wave of infections among young queers, which at the time had yet to manifest itself in this city.
The Study cites a high incidence of alcohol and drug use as
a factor in high risk sex.
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