HIV Testing
HIV over the last few years
In 2000, there was a rise in new HIV infections in Victoria: this was followed in later years by rises in Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia and Tasmania. To put it in a nutshell Australia was observing an increase in the incidence of new HIV infections, a level not observed since 1997.
The increase is not people who had HIV for some years and recently found out. It is people who have recently become HIV positive and most of them are gay men.
A little bit of study
HIV testing rates in Australia are actually quite high. Research done by the National Centre in HIV Social Research indicates that a large majority of men have never tested for HIV. Further, slightly lower but still a high proportion of men test at least every twelve months.
So... Why the need to highlight testing?
As stated above there are increases in new HIV infections - this means that the viral pool has increased (i.e there are more people with HIV now than ever before). This means the possibility of getting HIV has increased, especially for men who practice unprotected anal intercourse, primarily with casual partners.
Risk reduction strategies are being used by men in casual sex so that condoms don't need to be used, 'Sero-sorting', finding a partner with the same HIV status is one such strategy being used. However this strategy only works to reduce the risk if a person accurately knows their HIV status.
The merits of this risk reduction strategy are another article. The point is can you be sure the person that says they are negative is? If they have had unprotected sex with other people isn't it possible they got HIV without knowing it? Is it not possible that they are HIV positive and believe that they are still negative? After all there are no signs and symptoms of HIV and the only way to know is by getting tested.
Why aren't men testing?
With HIV still being a real risk for many gay men, and gay men having an in-depth understanding of HIV, it raises a question as to why testing is not a common practice any more. Wouldn't gay men want to know? Wouldn't they want to find out and get treatment and take care of themselves? There is no clear reason as to why gay men are not testing, or not testing as often but here are some possible reasons:
- Fear
Despite HIV not being central in the lives of most gay men, most are still very fearful of it. They don't want to get HIV and despite treatment optimism there is still a largely held perception that HIV is a death sentence. Fear of a positive diagnosis is almost replaced with an 'ingnorance is bliss' sense of being.
- Guilt/shame
How many times have we seen messages that tell us to use condoms? There has been so much education and information provided to the gay communities about HIV and how to avoid it, that some men feel a sense of guilt of shame about engaging in risk taking behaviours. They don't want to get tested because the guilt and shame will increase if they receive a positive test result.
- Stigma and Discrimination
Now I know that we like to think we live in this little world of love and acceptance, but the reality is quite different.
- Risk has become blurred
Men are not testing as often for HIV as they don't necessarily believe they are engaging in risky sex. Men are 'sero-sorting', they are strategically positioning themselves as either tops or bottoms, and they are using viral loads as risk reduction strategies. Men maybe misinterpreting the risk reduction strategies as effective strategies for eliminating risk altogether. If this is the case, the men maybe assuming the sex they are having is sex where HIV transmission won't occur (perhaps there is also some mentality of 'it will never happen to me'). Negative men also believe that positive men will disclose. This may not always be the case. So if someone discloses that they are negative, then is this information accepted as fact and truth even if a person thinks they are negative but have not been tested in a long time?
For anonymous testing for HIV contact your local GP and/or Sexual Health Service or Family Planning Clinic
If you have any questions about HIV testing please contact us at TasCAHRD on (03) 6234 1242 or our Information and Support Line: 1800 005 900, or send an email to the HIV/AIDS Program Care and Support team: hiv@tascahrd.org.au or MAN2MAN Coordinator m2m@tascahrd.org.au and we will be happy to assist you with your enquiry.