Earlier, in an article entitled "
Protease dis-inhibitors? The gay bareback phenomenon" Nicolas Sheon and Aaron Plant, associate editors of
HIV InSite, say that new treatments based on protease inhibitors and other antiretroviral drugs have changed the perception of risk of contracting HIV for many gay men who now believe that the benefit of unsafe sex outweighs the risks. "The new treatments have led some men to conclude that the consequences of HIV infection for themselves or their negative partners have been minimized," they say. The latest available annual report produced by the San Francisco Department of Public Health (
2001 San Francisco HIV/AIDS Epidemiology Annual Report) has some alarming data on sexual risk behavior among men who have sex with men (MSM). The department surveyed MSM reporting unprotected anal intercourse in the previous six months for the years 1998 to 2001 (
see graph), and MSM reporting unprotected anal intercourse with multiple partners in the previous six months for the same years (
see graph). While both measures of unsafe sex have increased in the last years, the proportion of MSM practicing unprotected anal intercourse with multiple partners is alarming.