Detailed extracts from the research together with links to the full research reports are given below. In summary: 1. Avoidance and expectations In a survey done in 2000, 79% of HIV-negative men expected a HIV-positive man to reveal his HIV status before having sex with them. 81% of HIV-negative men said they would avoid having sex with people they thought had HIV. 2. What men are actually doing (most recent data as at 2004) In recent surveys (see below): About 55% of HIV-negative gay men told none of their casual partners their HIV-status, 37% told some and 8% told all. About 25% of HIV-positive men told none of their casual partners their HIV-status, 50% told some and 20% told all. Avoidance and expectations For the 2000 Male Out Survey  ,
a question about avoiding having sex with people thought to be HIV
positive was introduced (see Question 49, Appendix). Table 45 presents
the men’s responses to this question. Most men reported that
they practiced such avoidance ‘always’ or ‘sometimes’.
Avoidance was stronger among non gay community attached than among
gay community attached men. And avoidance was only tempered for HIV
positive participants themselves, on-fifth of whom prefer positive-positive
sex; HIV negative and status unknown men reported high levels of avoidance.
From
: Facts & Figures. 2000 Male Out Survey.Paul VAN DE VEN, Patrick RAWSTORNE, June CRAWFORD, Susan KIPPAX MONOGRAPH 2/2001 NATIONAL CENTRE IN HIV SOCIAL RESEARCH FACULTY OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES  Also for the 2000 Male Out Survey, a new question about expectations of HIV positive disclosure was included (see Question 50, Appendix). Table 46 shows the men’s responses to this question. Most men expected that HIV positive men would disclose prior to sex, and this expectation was held particularly strongly by non gay community attached men. Expectations of HIV positive disclosure were equally strong among HIV negative and status unknown men. HIV positive men themselves were less adamant that such disclosure would be forthcoming.  It is interesting to reflect on the countervailing patterns in Tables 45 and 46. On the one hand, most of the participants expected HIV positive men to disclose their status before sex. Yet, on the other hand, large numbers of men stated unequivocally that they avoided having sex with HIV positive men. In such a climate there is little incentive for HIV positive men to disclose at all. What gay men are actually doing The Health in Men cohort 
consists of gay men who are HIV-negativeTables 42 and 43 show that over half of the participants in the HIM cohort who had casual partners in the previous six months did not disclose their HIV status to any casual partners. Likewise, over half did not know the HIV status of any of their casual partners. Very few men told their serostatus to all casual partners (Table 42) and, similary, routine disclosure to participants was very low (Table 43) HEALTH
IN MEN BASELINE DATALimin Mao, Paul Van de Ven, Garrett Prestage, Fengyi Jin, Andrew Grulich, June Crawford, Susan Kippax, Dean Murphy, Brent Allan Monograph 6/2002 National Centre in HIV Social Research Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences The University of New South Wales   Based on the participants’ understandings or assumptions of their casual partners’ serostatus Table 44 shows that among those who had such partners, most of the men had some casual partners whose HIV status was unknown. A small percentage of the HIM participants believed that they had had casual sex with HIV positive casual partners in the previous six months. The table shows the patterns of disclosure of HIV status to casual partners  From : Gay Community Periodic Survey, Melbourne 2004 Peter Hull, Paul Van de Ven, Garrett Prestage, Patrick Rawstorne, Susan Kippax, Gregory Horn, Mike Kennedy, Guy Hussey, Colin Batrouney Monograph 8/2004 National Centre in HIV Social Research Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences The University of New South Wales |
