GMFA survey reveals just how many gay and bisexual men have bareback sex
A new survey has revealed the number of gay and bi guys having sex without a condom.
According to FS, the magazine of sexual health charity GMFA, almost two in three men who have sex with men are doing it bareback.
Shockingly, the investigation also found that 32% of men did not know if their sexual partner is HIV-negative before having sex.
65% of respondents said that they did not use condoms the last time they had anal sex – with just 8% saying they or their partner were on HIV-prevention drug PrEP.
11% of men who took part said they have bareback sex and did not worry about the risk, while 27% of respondents admitted to having a “risky sex life”.
The charity is now calling for improved sexual health education for gay and bisexual men.
Ian Howley, Chief Executive of GMFA, said: “The results of the survey has shown that sex is complicated and there is no one size fits all safer sex strategy.
“First we need to define what is risky sex in this day and age.”
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He explained: “Safer sex in 2017 is more complicated that it was twenty years ago when your only options were condoms or abstinence as a way to protect yourself from HIV and STIs.
“The advancement of treatment, the fact that gay men who are on HIV treatment and have an undetectable viral load so can’t pass on HIV, added to the increased number of gay men who are taking PrEP, means that gone are the days when sexual health education was just about telling people to use condoms.
“We now must do more to increase gay men’s knowledge about all the options open to them.”
“Of course condoms still play an important role in preventing other STIs and should still be a major part of a safer sex strategy, however, it’s not a one size fits all approach any more.
“We need to meet gay men where they are in their lives.
“We need to keep on pushing the message that there is more than one safer sex strategy.
“We need to increase people’s knowledge about PEP, PrEP and what HIV-undetectable actually means in the real world.”
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14% of the 523 men surveyed said they had bareback sex with someone who is HIV-undetectable.
GMFA’s CEO added: “HIV-positive men who are undetectable cannot pass on the virus to anyone.
“If you are living with HIV and are not undetectable yet then we suggest you still use condoms with HIV-negative men, unless they are on PrEP.”
Stats released earlier this year revealed that the number of new HIV infections in London has fallen by a third since PrEP usage became more common.
NHS England is due to roll out a trial of PrEP involving 10,000 men in the coming weeks, after previously trying to block the drug through the courts.
