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Study: HIV ignorance hurts Chinese gays
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-12-15 16:07
Chinese health officials are warning that if China's gay community does not
get more education about the risks of HIV/AIDS, the country could face a hard
time.
Chinese health officials are warning that if China's gay community does not
get more education about the risks of HIV/AIDS, the country could face an
explosion of the deadly virus.
More than 80 percent of China's estimated five to 10 million gay men
erroneously believe they are safe from HIV/AIDS, according to China's first
survey on the habits of its gay community.
Lu Fan, chief of the center for AIDS control and prevention, told Xinhua, the
official Chinese news organization, that among sexually active Chinese men,
about 2 to 4 percent are gay, and as many as 1.35 percent of those are infected
with AIDS.
But infection rates are expected to rise rapidly because of limited knowledge
about the disease and unprotected sex with multiple partners, said Lu.
According to the survey, about 50 percent of Chinese homosexuals have more
than one partner, with some having had more than 100.
Most of the scant information that gay men get about HIV/AIDS comes from TV,
radio, newspapers and magazines. Only 16.6 percent of those surveyed said they
talked about the virus with their doctors.
"The gay community is one of the most vulnerable groups, but they have long
been ignored in China," said Lu.
Health officials are also worried that some of the men who have sex with men
also have female partners. Men in heterosexual marriages accounted for 12.6
percent of the men having sex with men in the survey, while 17.4 percent of
those surveyed admitted to also having sex with women.
The survey was conducted in Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang. Because gay
men in China are largely closeted, information was collected at bars, parks,
public bathrooms and cyber cafes.
Health experts warn that the fear of prejudice could add to this potential
health threat, and they are now urging health authorities and the general public
to have a balanced attitude toward gay men in the hopes of preventing a
catastrophe.
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