General Chat

"The Health Protection Agency (HPA) said that one in 20 men who have sex with men in the UK now had HIV, with the figure soaring to nearly one in 12 in London."

96,000 are now living with HIV, a 26% increase since 1990.

I have very little knowledge of this item of news, and am surprised. I thought after the shockwaves many years ago, illness was well controlled. Be interested in views of those who know something about this issue and this report (jointly done with University College of London (UCL)

"The Health Protection Agency (HPA) said that one in 20 men who have sex with men in the UK now had HIV, with the figure soaring to nearly one in 12 in London."

Therefore 19 out of 20 men in the UK (11 out of 12 in London) who have sex with other men don't.

A bit one sided John, where are the figures for men who only have sex with women?

Right the highest group of people in the UK with AiDs is the Heterosexual community and within those figures the 2 highest groups are Black/African closely followed by White.

Do look up on the net about the spread of Aids in the UK before posting. As OneFootinTheGrave has said your OP is very one sided and could be considered Homophobic.

Me I do not care what people do or who they do it with I have many friends of many sexual preferences and really do find this post offensive.

Did consider RR but could not be bothered.

craving some attention John ? You'll get none from me I have a busy day planned in the real world :-D

Sadly John seems to think he is a moral compass or just 'right on down with the kids'

And states in his OP that he has very little knowledge of the subject and his posting clearly shows that 'a little knowledge is a dangerous thing' :-\

HPA,,,,,,of a diagnoses of 6.280 confirmed cases 2011,,,,,,nearly half were MSM,,,,,,,,so the others were hetrosexual.and possibly even children.

not all people living with HIV have been in a relationship,,,,,,ask the child....!!

The OP is misleading and sways towards it just applies to people who are gay.

John it would be best to delete as your painted picture has flaws.

Excuse me folks. Nice comments but report is near top of the news agenda this morning.

Are we now not interested in items in the news? I have expressed no personal view about this news item - merely thought people could comment (like on other chat boards)

Well put PigletsPal, like you I have friends with various sexual preferences and they would take great exception to John's OP :-|

No comment. I was RRd on a similar post recently for my views.

GP

Surely I am not the only person on this site who was brought up not to discuss in a forum/discussion group either Sex/Religion/Politics - my father always said these subjects would be a surefire way to start an argument.

All three subjects are so personal and 'precious' to each and every one of us that our views can often blind us to the fact that others look at the world totally blinkered

And judging by the spat of RR's at present maybe these subjects should be considered not really for this forum. After all I thought it was for FRIENDLY and FUN discussions etc

Don't shoot the messenger - read the article!

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/rise-in-number-
of-gay-and-bisexual-men-contracting-hiv-due-to-more-having-unprotected-
sex-8497662.html

Edit - copy and paste all 3 lines

"The number of UK men who have sex with men having intercourse without a condom rose by 26 per cent between 1990 and 2010, the study by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) and University College London (UCL) showed.

It comes weeks after a similar study warned that "unsafe sexual behaviour" and a lack of testing was behind a failure to cut the number of cases of HIV among gay and bisexual men in the last decade in England and Wales."

And more worryingly

"But health officials also warned that a quarter of people who have the human immunodeficiency virus are not aware they have been infected. "

I know they say they are guaranteed to cause heated discussion Piglets Pal...but I do (mostly) find them interesting to read. Robust debate on a chat board is great...resorting to personal insults etc is where it all falls down...

It is shocking,,,but HIV is spread in many ways,,,,,,,people who contact HIV through unsafe relationships know the risks....but very many do not know they are a carrier or have been infected.

some know and still have unsafe relationships,,,,,again a risk they take.

perhaps a medical report in the media will see a surge in a drop in numbers,,,in time........but innocent people are cast into the mould when reports are made.

Sex/religion/politics can be some of the most interesting debates and don't have to cause trouble so long as people remember to restrict their opinions to the posts and not the poster.

I have a feeling some people like to play devils' advocate - people who advocate an opposing or unpopular cause for the sake of argument or to expose it to a thorough examination

It is a method used universally in debating societies but doesn't seem to sit well on general chat forums

*some know and still have unsafe relationships,,,,,again a risk they take.*

Whether hetro or homo, its a very selfish attitude, especially if their 'partner' in the act trusts them to be uneffected.

When I read 'statistics' like this, I wonder at the accuracy.

Maybe 11 out of 12 that have been tested are HIV/AIDs free, but how do they know the total number of men in relationships with other men (not necessarily homosexual) in a given area?

Last year ( may still be there don't know) posters were plastered all over the ladies toilets in the shopping centre re the rise in STI's amongst young women.

There is also a rise in the number of STI's in older people, inclusidng women past the menopause, ( lots of older divorcees or those who have lost a partner) because they don't need to use condoms as prevention against conceiving, they don't realise that they are risking getting and passing on an STI.

There may also, chooses words carefully, be a corresponding rise in HIV and STI's due to the recession... so much gloom and doom, sex is a cheaper entertainment.

Also one must remember that as with any sexual orientation, younger people who have not 'felt the fear' of those early days of Aids may be less inclined to worry.

Edit, a point made in a comment on other site, the availability of internet porn 'may' be a contributory factor in the move away from safe sexual practices ( ie using condoms) for all groups.

I think firstly your title needs to be worded differently and either say homosexual men or if you must use the word gay then gay men. A lot of homosexual men and women find the use of the word gay taken out of context derogatory - they are still humans and should not be put into a box. We never say non-gays or even prefix men or women with the term heterosexual so why some people feel the need to prefix any man or woman with the prefix homosexual or gay is beyond me. This is segregating them and making others aware that they are different and why should they been seen as different from any other humans. Sorry if it sounds harsh, but I have seen what can happen when people who others have an issue with are single out.

Secondly, as far as I am aware its not just "gays" of the male persuasion (as you point out) that are affected by this horrid disease. Maybe back in the 1980's when little was known about it - the majority of cases where made known to be men who had a preference to other men, but these days we all hear and know that its likely almost anyone from any walk of life can be affected. A lot we know is transferred via blood transfusions etc and also we know babies can be born with the disease.

As a mother of a teenage son who prefers men to women I know and fully understand the risks and believe me it is a worry, but I am fully behind my child (and yes he is always going to be my child) and have to trust him to make the right choices for himself. It is just as much of a worry of having 2 teenage daughters whom I also need to trust to make the right choices for themselves. I used to believe in this god who condemned men like my son to hell and damnation, as a mother you see the world a lot differently. You stop judging others, you stop condemning. You begin to see that we cannot be perfect in this life - that no one should be condemned for being who they were born to be.

I find this thread distasteful in the light of all the RRing being done at the moment I would urge you to re consider whether we need this thread or not. I will not be RRing your OP - I will leave it to your conscience to decide. One thought though my 16 year old male cousin died of AIDS in 1986, yes he was "gay" as you put it but that doesn't prove he died because he was sexually active with another man!