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HIV prevalence in gay men is catching up in eastern Europe, survey finds
Gus Cairns, 2011-11-24 17:30:00
The EMIS survey of nearly 180,000 gay men in Europe has found that, while HIV prevalence in the richer countries of western Europe is twice as high as in eastern Europe, similar proportions of gay men were diagnosed with HIV last year in eastern and western Europe, suggesting rising HIV incidence in eastern Europe.
This could be due to increased rates of testing in eastern Europe, but HIV testing rates in gay men in that region are in fact not much lower than they are in western Europe, and the fact that the average age of respondents in eastern Europe was lower may indicate increased incidence there. Either way, without changes in behaviour or HIV prevention methods, HIV prevalence rates in gay men in eastern Europe are likely to catch up with HIV prevalence in western Europe in years to come.
EMIS is by far the largest survey of sexual health and sexual risk behaviour ever conducted in gay men. There were a total of 174,209 valid responses from men in 38 European countries to the survey, which was translated into 25 European languages. Aidsmap has already reported on the survey’s findings on sexual health services, HIV testing and internalised homophobia, and rates of risky sex.
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