A recent study has found that nearly one in five gay or bisexual sexually active men have HIV, but local health officials and LGBT representatives cautioned others to be critical of the new findings.
“That’s a really high number,” said Andrea Stokes, director of LGBT Affairs at UF. “I think it begs some further questioning.”
The study, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was based on tests and interviews of 8,000 male adults from 21 U.S. cities.
Forty-four percent of those who tested positive for HIV were not aware they were infected.
“It’s a shame,” said Bobby Davis, HIV/AIDS program coordinator for the Alachua County Health Department.
However, because the study was based in cities, it does not necessarily reflect local statistics, Davis said.
In Alachua County, there are estimated to be 634 people living with HIV, according to the health department. Males make up 65 percent of those infected with HIV and 57 percent of those men are gay or bisexual.
Nationwide, about 1.1 million people are estimated to be living with HIV, and about 75 percent of these are male, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
This amounts to less than one percent of the adult U.S. population.
“AIDS is 100 percent preventable, short of being born to HIV and receiving it through a transfusion,” Davis said. “Every health department offers testing.”
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that sexually active adolescents and adults get tested at least once a year for HIV.
Joseph Antonelli, president of the Gainesville Community Alliance, acknowledged a lack of HIV/AIDS knowledge and people potentially not realizing it’s still a danger.
“I think there’s been a tremendous drop off in HIV-prevention education,” he said. “There’s an absolute need to get tested.”
Donnie Fields, president of Pride Student Union at UF, warned against generalizing the study’s findings and considering HIV/AIDS a “gay problem.”
“”It affects everyone,” he said. “Twenty-one cities can’t be representative of the entire male population.”
“It becomes a slippery slope when you begin looking at statistics rather than human beings,” Fields said.
Editor's note on 09/30/10: The original article incorrectly said the Kaiser Family Foundation conducted the study. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducted the study. We apologize for the confusion.
