HIV prevention programs stress knowing your status, but despite efforts to slow the spread of HIV/AIDS a new report shows that fewer than half of infected gay and bisexual men in the U.S. have taken medication to prevent the spread. That’s according to Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports about one-third of infected gay and bisexual men don’t know they are infected. David Purcell, deputy director for behavioral and social science in the CDC’s HIV prevention division, says men stay away from treatment out of denial, because they don’t understand the need, don’t have insurance or for many other reasons.
The report, released Sept. 25, also shows indications of less treatment among infected young men and black men. It says 77 percent of newly diagnosed gay and bisexual men in 2010 went to receive initial care, but researchers found only 51 percent of these infected men sought continuing care.
When it comes to actually seeking drug treatment, only 30 percent of infected men under age 25 received drug treatment. The percentage rose with age, where men 55 years and older reported a 68 percent drug treatment rate. Races also affect the treatment rate.
“People may not want to go to a clinic that is called ‘the HIV clinic’,” Purcell said.
The CDC reports almost 600,000 of the 1.1 million people living with HIV in the U.S. are men who have sex with men, with two-thirds of new infections still occurring in that group.
