Consistent Condom Use Falls Among Aussie Gay and Bi Men

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More are relying on serosorting and antiretroviral treatment as prevention for HIV risk reduction.

November 22, 2016

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Over the past decade, the consistent use of condoms among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Australia has declined, aidsmap reports. More of them are relying on serosorting (choosing sex partners or favoring sexual positions based on a partner’s HIV status) and antiretroviral (ARV) treatment as prevention (TasP) for HIV risk reduction.


Researchers released these and other findings in an Australian annual report about trends in behavior with regard to sexually transmitted infections. They reviewed data from the Gay Community Periodic Surveys from 2006 and 2015.


In 2006, 34 percent of HIV-negative men reported consistently using condoms, a figure that dropped to 26 percent in 2015. Among HIV-positive men with an undetectable viral load, the condom use rate dropped from 30 percent to 13 percent; among those with a detectable viral load, the rate dropped from 25 percent to 10 percent.


Men reported more often using condoms with regular sexual partners rather than casual partners, especially those younger than 35.


Three quarters of the men with diagnosed HIV in 2015 said that knowing they had a fully suppressed virus was one of the ways they mitigated the risk of transmitting the virus to others.

To read the aidsmap article, click here.

Read more articles from POZ, here.