HIV-positive
Californians are dying of AIDS-related complications at much
lower rates since the arrival of combination therapy in the
mid 1990s, and as a result there are now a record
number of HIV-positive people in the state, the San
Francisco Chronicle reports. The number of
HIV-positive residents of the state has increased 40%
during the past seven years, with much of the increase
linked to effective treatment, according to a study by
the University of California's Universitywide
AIDS Research Program. There are currently about
151,000 HIV-positive people in the state--more than
13% of the total estimated U.S. HIV cases--up from
108,000 in 1998, according to the report.
But AIDS experts
also worry that there also is an upswing in risky sexual
behavior that may be leading to more HIV infections in the
state. "We look at 39 different [infection rise]
indicators, and most of them--two
thirds--are going in the wrong direction,"
Universitywide AIDS Research Program director George
Lemp told the Chronicle. "We're very concerned about
the significant increases in higher risk sexual
behaviors and also some of the increases that we're
seeing in drug-using behaviors that can lead to HIV
infection. I think we really have a challenge to try to turn
around these indicators."
Among the
troubling signs mentioned by Lemp are reports from the
state's HIV Counseling and Testing Program
showing that the percentage of Californians seeking
HIV antibody tests who have had more than five
sex partners in the previous two years has increased from
10% in 1995 to 24% in 2003. The percentage of gay men
diagnosed with HIV infection in Los Angeles who
reported not using condoms increased from 11% in 2000 to
26% in 2003, while in San Francisco studies show that rates
of unprotected anal sex among gay men have increased
from 42% in 1997 to 67% in 2003, according to Lemp.
(Advocate.com)
