Chicago project aims to complete largest gay health survey

Officials with the Chicago Department of Public Health are aiming to complete the city's largest health survey of gay and bisexual men through the yearlong Chicago Health Assessment Project, commonly called Project CHAT, Chicago Free Press reports. The survey, which will be given to more than 1,000 gay and bisexual men, covers matters related to sexual behavior, drug and alcohol use, and HIV, among other topics. "We're looking at what kinds of behaviors are being sustained, what behaviors are being changed," Nik Prachand of the health department told the Free Press. Chicago officials began Project CHAT in December. About 50 sites around the city were identified as ideal locations to reach a wide cross-section of Chicago's gay and bisexual men. Participants in the 15- to 20-minute surveys are paid $25 for their involvement. The project is part of a nationwide effort by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in more than two dozen U.S. cities to reduce the country's annual HIV infection rate by 50%. This year the outreach effort is focusing on gay and bisexual men; in 2005 the focus will be on injection-drug users, followed by high-risk heterosexuals in 2006.