British, French and Swiss researchers will report today that combination therapies for HIV can cause complacency among gay men regarding safer sex practices.

A study of 1,004 gay men in central London by the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine found that about one-third were less concerned about HIV infection in light of HAART, and were more likely to have unprotected anal intercourse. One-fifth of respondents thought the new therapies made people with HIV less infectious, though this was not associated with frequency of unprotected anal intercourse.

"It appears to be a belief about the effectiveness of the new therapies, rather than their impact on infectivity, which may influence gay men’s sexual risk behaviour," said epidemiologist Jonathan Elford in a pre-Conference interview. "While the new therapies have dramatically improved the outcome for those with HIV, an option to be considered seriously by those who are HIV-negative is to remain uninfected – and that is an issue to be taken up by health-promotion workers."

French epidemiologist Phillipe Adam will report on a comparative survey conducted by the European Centre for the Epidemiological Monitoring of AIDS in France and the Institut Universitaire de Médecine Sociale et Préventive in Switzerland. "The high level of risk practices among HIV-positive men, regardless of treatment type or status, remains an important component fuelling the continuing HIV epidemic," he told The Bridge.

.

The 1,097 survey respondents from Switzerland and 3,314 from France believed members of the gay community used protection less often than they had prior to the availability of new treatments, Adam found. Five per cent of Swiss respondents and 8% of French said they personally used protection less often. Contrary to concerns expressed by the scientific community, HIV-positive men receiving protease inhibitors were no more likely to take risks than other HIV-positive men.

However, Adam says false beliefs about new treatments have a negative effect on prevention, particularly for HIV-negative men who believe there is a cure for AIDS and who were significantly less likely to use protection.

"We need to make sure that people not only receive good information about the new AIDS treatments, but also that they understand it," he states

this story can also be found in The Bridge, the onsite print newspaper

back